Press release from Screen Australia
Three of Europe’s most prestigious film festivals, Berlin, Rotterdam and Clermont-Ferrand, will feature an impressive Australian line-up this year.
The 61st Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, one of the most highly regarded film festivals in the world, will screen two Australian feature films and three short films in the Generation program.
The Berlinale has also selected Australian filmmakers to participate in marketplace initiatives and one as a jury member.
Two Australian features will screen at the 40th Rotterdam Film Festival in the Netherlands, a major event for the international independent film sector.
Four Australian short films will screen at the 33rd Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France, the world’s leading short film festival and marketplace.
At the Berlin International Film Festival, Red Dog (p: Nelson Woss, Julie Ryan, d: Kriv Stenders) along with Griff the Invisible (p: Nicole O’Donohue, d: Leon Ford) will screen in the Generation section.
Berlinale represents the world premiere of Red Dog, the film adaptation of Louis de Bernières’ worldwide best-selling novel about a stray dog that unites and changes the lives of a group of locals from a mining town. The film stars Josh Lucas and Rachael Taylor.
Griff the Invisible has been invited to screen as the Opening Night film for Generation which will be the film’s European premiere. The story of an office worker by day and a superhero by night whose world is turned upside down, the film stars True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten and Maeve
Dermody.
The three Australian short films selected for Berlin’s Generation program are: Lily (w/d: Kasimir Burgess), the story of a girl and a father who share their last holiday; Minnie Loves Junior (w/d: Andy Mullins, Matt Mullins), a love story set in a seaside fishing village; and Pig (w/d: Tom McKeith), about a boy trying to make sense of the desolate world he lives in, capturing a small moment in his life that leaves him changed forever.
Filmmaker Rachel Perkins (Bran Nue Dae) has been invited to be an international jury member of the Berlinale’s Generation section.
Four filmmakers, Kate Matthews, Conall Cash, Anna McGrath and Sam Voutas have been selected for the Berlinale Talent Campus, a creative academy and networking platform for 350 filmmakers from all over the world. Kristina Ceyton has been selected for the Talent Project Market with her project, The Babadook.
“We expect more than 60 Australians to attend Berlinale. The festival, its high-level talent programs and associated film market combined, represent one of the international industry’s top tier events,” said Kathleen Drumm, Head of Marketing at Screen Australia.
“It’s great to see Australia recognised once again as a place for discovering great films and talented new filmmakers.”
Screen Australia will have a stand at the European Film Market in the Martin-Gropius-Bau and will co-host a function with the Australian Embassy in Berlin for Australians and significant international film professionals who do business with Australia.
Two Australian films have been selected for the Rotterdam International Film Festival, award-winning feature Animal Kingdom (p: Liz Watts, d: David Michôd) and Machete Maidens Unleashed! (p: Veronica Fury, w/d: Mark Hartley).
Crime family drama, Animal Kingdom has secured international attention and acclaim since its prize-winning debut at the Sundance Film Festival last year. Machete Maidens Unleashed! features busty babes, mutated monsters and midget secret agents in an exploration of the Filipino genre films of the 70 and 80s.
At the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival two films have been selected for the International Competition. The Kiss (w/d: Ashlee Page) is a story involving two teenage girls who get trapped in a firewater tank after seeking respite from the heat and Last Beautiful Friend (d: Mischa Baka) is about a divorced art teacher who is forced to confront what his life has to offer.
Two Australian films will screen in Clermont-Ferrand’s special program for children. Minnie Loves Junior (w/d: Andy Mullins, Matt Mullins) and The Lost Thing (d: Shaun Tan, Andrew Ruhemann), an animated film about a boy and the strange creature he finds.
“Clermont-Ferrand offers a wonderful opportunity for upcoming filmmakers to show their films to enthusiastic audiences and to experience the marketplace,” said Ms Drumm. “Screenings are usually sold out, while the market is attended by over 550 film executives including buyers,
distributors, press, festival selectors and talent scouts.”
The 61st Berlinale will run 10–20 February 2011
www.berlinale.de.
The 40th International Film Festival Rotterdam will run 26 January – 6 February 2011
www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/en/.
The 33rd Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and Market will run 4–12 February
2011
www.clermont-filmfest.com.
BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL SCREENINGS
FEATURES
Griff the Invisible
Official Website: www.grifftheinvisible.com.
Writer/Director: Leon Ford
Producer: Nicole O’Donohue
Cast: Ryan Kwanten, Maeve Dermody
Sales: Fortissimo market@fortissimo.nl
Synopsis: Griff – office worker by day, superhero by night – has his world turned upside down when he meets Melody, a beautiful young scientist who shares his passion for the impossible. Starring True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten.
Red Dog
Official Website: www.reddogmovie.com.
Director: Kriv Stenders
Writer: Daniel Taplitz
Producer: Nelson Woss, Julie Ryan
Cast: Josh Lucas, Rachael Taylor, Noah Taylor, Keisha Castle-Hughes
Sales: Essential Entertainment info@essential-ent.com
Synopsis: An adaptation of Louis de Bernières’ worldwide best-selling novel, Red Dog. A stray dog changes the lives of and unites a disparate group of locals living in a rough and tumble mining town.
SHORTS
Lily
Writer/Director: Kasimir Burgess
Producer: Julia Ciccarone
Cast: Eloise Raits, Richard Stables
Sales: Kasimir Burgess kasimir.burgess@gmail.com
Synopsis: A girl and her father share their last holiday.
Minnie Loves Junior
Website: www.sandhillroadpictures.com.au.
Writer/Directors: Andy Mullins, Matt Mullins
Producers: Tom Birch, Doug Maskiell
Cast: Wyntah Shaw, Lartrell Stuart
Synopsis: What does a girl have to do to get a boy’s attention? Minnie lives in a seaside fishing village. Junior lives there too. Little does he realise Minnie’s unrequited love will soon save his life. Minnie Loves Junior is a heart-warming story of a little boy who loves the ocean, and a little girl who loves the boy.
Pig
Production Company: Australian Film Television & Radio School
Writer/Director: Tom McKeith
Writer: Sam McKeith
Cast: Jack Tompsett, Hayley McElhinney
Sales: Australian Film Television & Radio School distribution@aftrs.edu.au
Synopsis: A young boy wakes one morning to find his mother crying. He takes his father’s rifle from the shed and sets off into the bush. Pig tells the story of a boy trying to make sense of the desolate world he lives in, capturing a small moment in his life that leaves him changed forever.
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM SCREENINGS
Animal Kingdom
Official Website: www.animalkingdomthefilm.com.au.
Production Company: Porchlight Films
Writer/Director: David Michôd
Producer: Liz Watts
Australian Distributor: Madman Entertainment
International Sales: E1 Entertainment
Cast: Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Luke Ford, Jacki Weaver, Sullivan
Stapleton, James Frecheville
Synopsis: After the death of his mother, a 17-year-old boy is thrust precariously between an explosive criminal family and a detective who thinks he can save him.
Machete Maidens Unleashed!
Official Website: www.machetemaidensunleashed.com.
Production Companies: Fury Productions & Bionic Boy Productions
Writer/Director: Mark Hartley
Producer: Veronica Fury
Sales: Celluloid Nightmares, ABC Commercial
Synopsis: A fast-moving, no-holds-barred exploration of the blood-drenched and action-packed world of Filipino genre filmmaking.
CLERMONT-FERRAND INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
SCREENINGS
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
The Kiss
Website: www.thekiss.net.au.
Writer/Director: Ashlee Page
Producer: Sonya Humphrey
Sales: Sonya Humphrey Sonya@thekiss.net.au
Cast: Nicole Gulasekharam, Briony Kent
Synopsis: Returning home after a night out two teenage girls seek respite from the heat. Fuelled by cheap alcohol and teenage hormones they make their way to an isolated firewater tank. They soon discover they are trapped with no way out.
Last Beautiful Friend
Website: www.lastbeautifulfriend.com.
Production Company: VCA Films & Television School
Writer/Director: Mischa Baka
Producer: Clyde Cheng
Cast: Shane Nagle, Isabel Macmaster
Synopsis: Land, a divorced art teacher, invites a student home. She drapes herself on the couch, the same couch where he makes love to his ex-wife, laughs with his daughter and argues with his father. Weaving his way through these relationships within the comfort of his lounge room, Land is forced to confront himself and the reality of what his life has to offer.
SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN
The Lost Thing
Website: www.thelostthing.com.
Production Company: Passion Pictures
Directors: Andrew Ruhemann, Shaun Tan
Writer: Shaun Tan
Cast: Tim Minchin (voice)
Sales: Madman Entertainment madman@madman.com.au
Synopsis: A boy discovers a bizarre looking creature while out collecting bottle tops at the beach. Realising it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but is met with indifference from everyone else, who barely notice its presence, each unwilling to entertain this uninvited interruption to their day-to-day lives. For reasons he does not explain, the boy empathises with the creature, and sets out to find a ‘place’ for it.
Minnie Loves Junior
Website: www.sandhillroadpictures.com.au.
Production Company: Sand Hill Road Pictures
Writer/Directors: Andy Mullins, Matt Mullins
Producers: Tom Birch, Doug Maskiell
Cast: Wyntah Shaw, Lartrell Stuart
Synopsis: What does a girl have to do to get a boy’s attention? Minnie lives in a seaside fishing village. Junior lives there too. Little does he realise Minnie's unrequited love will soon save his life. Minnie Loves Junior is a heart-warming story of a little boy who loves the ocean, and a little girl who loves the boy.