[Press Release by The Lantern Group]
Flickerfest – Australia’s premier international short film festival – launched its 18th annual program at an intimate star-studded event at Bondi’s Icebergs Dining Room and Bar on Tuesday December 9.
Gracie Otto and Toby Schmitz star in this year’s trailer which is a tribute to the French film Breathless by Jean Luc Goddard. The trailer was co-written by Gracie herself, and Matthew Newton. Inspired by French New Wave cinema, made its debut at the prestigious media launch with a guest list that includes Gracie Otto, Damian Walshe-Howling, Nash Edgerton, Wes Carr, Rhys Wakefield, Leanna Walsman and Minister For The Arts, Mr Peter Garrett, amongst others.
Also shown on the night was the hilarious short film ‘Chicken Of God’ written and directed by Frank Woodley of Lano & Woodley fame.
The world-renowned short film festival will screen under the stars from 9-18 January 2009 at Bondi Pavilion before taking off to 18 venues around the country including all capital cities, and other regional centres such as Byron Bay, Alice Springs and Noosa.
As the only Academy Award accredited short film festival in the country, Flickerfest offers three competitive programs – International, Australian Shorts and Short Documentary.
Flickerfest 2009 also includes the following short film showcases (out of competition programs) Celebrity Shorts – showcasing a range of celebrities who use their artistic talent and creativity to embrace the short film form, and Love Bites – a sexy, fun look at relationships around the world. This program showcases the gamut and intricacies of relationships by examining life, love and all it’s idiosyncrasies.
Flickerfest has received a record-breaking 1350 entries from around the globe this year, showing that the festival continues to attract the latest in cutting-edge and awardwinning shorts from the world’s most exciting new filmmakers. The record number of entries is also testimony to Flickerfest’s growing profile as the most important and largest
short film festival in Australia.
"2009 promises to be another exciting year for Flickerfest with record entries, a new short film show Flickerfest – on EXTRA launching on Movie EXTRA in April and an 18 venue national tour. The growth and success of Flickerfest is testimony to Australian audiences warmly embracing the short film form for the culturally relevant and insightful stories that it contains," says Bronwyn Kidd Festival director.