Applications are now open for the $20,000 Natalie Miller Fellowship, which aims to support the next generation of female leaders in the screen industry.Â
Melbourne's Cinema Nova, the Eddie Tamir family-owned cinemas and Village Cinemas' Coburg drive-in will re-open next month - but indications are that most cinemas in other states are unlikely to turn on the lights until July.
On the reasonable assumption that cinemas are trading in July, albeit with staggered seating, audiences can look forward to a raft of Hollywood films and, perhaps, several new Australian releases.
The former CEO of Women in Film and Television (WIFT) Toronto Heather Webb has joined the Natalie Miller Fellowship (NMF) committee.
Most independent Australian distributors are doing it tough, forced to postpone releases while the exhibition business languishes with Victorian cinemas closed and seating capacity restricted in the rest of the country.
Head of programming for both the Gold Coast Film Festival and Brisbane International Film Festival, Sasha Close, has been appointed president of the Natalie Miller Fellowship.
You won't see Marvel films or 'Star Wars' playing at Melbourne's Cinema Nova, something co-founder Natalie Miller jokes is "either clever or stupid, I'm not sure which". For 30 years, the Carlton cinema has carved a niche by sticking to its brand of arthouse cinema programming, and is today the largest independent cinema in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Australian films and feature documentaries released in cinemas this year including holdovers collectively have grossed $39.7 million.