By Sam Dallas
South Australia’s film industry can breathe a sigh of relief after they survived the dreaded government axe.
INSIDEFILM announced on Wednesday of a leaked budget document, obtained by several SA-based media outlets, stating that the Film Commission’s budget would be stripped by $2.2 million (40 per cent) in 2013-14. On top of that, the Adelaide Film Festival would be “terminated” after next year.
This however has proven to be untrue after the budget was released late yesterday.
The SAFC ended up losing $100,000 out of its annual $5.8 million budget but say the core funding programs – such as the Revolving Film Fund and development initiative FilmLab – will continue.
“Like many other arts agencies in South Australia, we will need to make some operational savings over the longer term to accommodate this reduction in funding, but we are confident we can achieve these without compromising our ability to deliver,” SAFC chairman Cheryl Bart said in a statement.
The internationally-renowned biennial Adelaide Film Festival, which premiered in 2003 and is hosted by Palace Nova Cinemas, won't be axed like previously suggested.
Palace Nova marketing manager Anna O'Connor told INSIDEFILM it had become known as one of the best film festivals worldwide.
"It facilitates production and the showcasing of quintessentially Australian films which may not have had the opportunity otherwise," she said.
"The festival brings a lot of joy to a lot of people."