All posts tagged: News

EUROPA! EUROPA! ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL PROGRAM

Published by Film Festival Guide

From international film festival favourites to star-studded blockbusters and subversive works helmed by Europe’s most celebrated auteurs, Europa! Europa is set to bring the very best of European cinema to Australian shores for the first time from February 4 – 27 2022.   Featuring 43 films from 42 countries, the Festival brings Europe’s most innovative, audacious and daring films to audiences down under in Sydney and Melbourne. “I am thrilled to present Europa! Europa’s incredible inaugural program, brimming with bold and daring Australian premieres which encapsulate the unrestrained spirit of European cinema and span the full cultural breadth of the continent.” “From terrifying Scandi-horror to acclaimed titles direct from Cannes and powerful ruminations on the experiences of refugees in Europe – the Festival gives Australian audiences the opportunity to see Europe’s hottest titles fast-tracked to their local cinema,” says Europa! Europa Film Festival Director, Thomas Caldwell. Launching the Festival’s inaugural program is The Souvenir Part II, British filmmaker Joanna Hogg’s (Archipelago) sequel to her acclaimed autobiographical feature The Souvenir. Starring film icon Tilda Swinton (The French Dispatch) and her real-life daughter Honor Swinton-Byrne, Hogg’s film is a shimmering story of a young woman’s …

FLiCKERFEST 2022 WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT

Published by Film Festival Guide

After a highly successful 10 day festival at Bondi the 31st annual FLiCKERFEST International and Australian awards were announced this evening at a star-studded ceremony under the stars on Bondi Beach. Attended by celebrated guests from the Australian film industry, the Closing Night ceremony honoured the esteemed entrants in this year’s competition and FLiCKERFEST’s Academy® Qualifying Awards, including Flickerfest Award for Best International Short Film, Yoram Gross Award for Best International Animation, Panasonic LUMIX Award for Best Australian Short Film & Flickerfest Award for Best Documentary. The Flickerfest Short Film Awards continue to cement the festival’s global position as a leading International Short film festival on the world stage. FLiCKERFEST’s Festival Director BRONWYN KIDD said: We are thrilled that the 31st Flickerfest 2022 has been such a success with many filmmakers present to introduce their films, passionate crowds and great enthusiasm expressed for the programmes screened. It’s been great to see short films so warmly embraced by audiences across our ten-day event despite the challenges of COVID and its impact on the arts. I would like to congratulate all of the films selected for Flickerfest in competition this year …

A NIGHT OF HORROR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL RELEASES PROGRAMME

Published by Film Festival Guide

A Night of Horror is making its festival a virtual event, with films streaming on-demand over two weeks, 18 – 31 October 2021, and it promises a spectacular program. Australia’s original and longest-running horror film festival – voted as one of theworld’s best by leading horror website Dread Central – will now take place onlinein the lead-up to Halloween, the most terror-ific time of the year. The features program has thirteen international and Australian premieres, including Addison Heath & Jasmine Jakupi’s wild and blackly comic slasher MY CHERRY PIE as the festival’s “Opening Night”, the sinister supernatural spookery of SUNODfrom festival alumni, Carlo Ledesma (THE TUNNEL), the Schuyler family’s eerielockdown nightmare, RED RIVER ROAD, Keene McRae’s brutal noir-esque debut,SHOT IN THE DARK, the hypnotic, escalating paranoia of Johannes Grenzfurthner’s MASKING THRESHOLD, and the immensely entertaining documentary THE BRILLIANT TERROR, focusing on grassroots horror filmmakers and fans in the US. Thirty-seven sensational short films are spread across two International ShortsShowcases and an epic Australian Shorts Showcase, and, last, but not least, anexclusive live talk with Q&A …

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES AWARD WINNERS

Published by Kyle Goldfinch

The Melbourne International Film Festival has announced the winners of the 2021 MIFF Shorts Awards, which reward filmmakers with more than $63,000 in prizes. The awards are accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, resulting in half of the MIFF Shorts category winners now being eligible for next year’s Oscars. In a virtual ceremony hosted on MIFF Play (Melbourne International Film Festival’s Virtual Platform), eight out of the 80 films in the program received awards from the jury consisting of award-winning journalist Osman Faruqi, writer/director Natalie Erika James and industry expert Alexandra Burke. Winners are below: The Game(dir. Roman Hodel)City of Melbourne Grand Prix for Best Short Film Baltasar(dir. Brietta Hague)Film Victoria Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film Reptile(dir. Jordan Giusti)Award For Emerging Australian Filmmaker Lili Alone(dir. Zou Jing)Award For Best Fiction Short Film Listen To The Beat Of Our Images(dir Audrey Jean-Baptiste and Maxime Jean-Baptiste)Award For Best Documentary Short Film Gravedad(dir. Matisse Gonzalez)Award For Best Animation Short Film Happy Valley(dir. Simon Liu)Award For Best Experimental Short Film Lizard(dir. Akinola …

SUFF

SYDNEY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES PROGRAMME

Published by Kyle Goldfinch

Sydney’s leading festival for cult, underground and independent films, the Sydney Underground Film Festival (SUFF), returns with a packed virtual program for its 15th year, from Thursday 9th September to Sunday 26th September. A cinematic trip you can take without leaving your living room, the 2021 line-up features 30 feature films and documentaries, 20 Australian premieres, a special 40-year anniversary film, and over 100 wild and wacky shorts across nine themed sessions. Joining the program for its third year will be much-loved filmmaking competition TAKE48 Film Challenge. Putting filmmakers’ abilities to the test, TAKE48 takes place for 48 hours from Friday 3rd September to Sunday 5th September. This year’s Challenge will also be entirely online, with entries open to Sydneysiders as well as interstate and international participants, and over $16500 in prizes to be won, including camera prizes from SONY Australia. 2021 Festival highlights include: – Opening film SWEETIE, YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT, from Kazakhstan-based director Yernar Nurgaliyev, a hilarious no-holds-barred road trip film about a man who decides to get away from his nagging …

SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES SHORT FILM AND EUROPE! WOMEN IN FILM PROGRAMMES

Published by Kyle Goldfinch

The 68th Sydney Film Festival (3-14 November 2021) has today announced the return of the 52nd Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films and the sixth annual Europe! Voices of Women in Film program, in partnership with Dendy Cinemas and the European Film Promotion respectively. SHORT FILM AWARDSSydney Film Festival Director Nashen Moodley said, “The Festival is proud to once again showcase the incredible works of Australian filmmakers as part of the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films. Having launched the careers of countless renowned directors, writers, producers and other film creatives over the course of its 52 year-history, the Festival will premiere another cohort of 10 superb new short films.” Ten finalists for the prestigious Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films will screen in the Festival. Australia’s longest running short film competition is now in its 52nd year and has been sponsored by Dendy Cinemas since 1989. Finalists:– DWARF PLANET | 2020 | Australia | Director, Screenwriter: Adrian Chiarella– FREEDOM SWIMMER | 2021 | Australia | Director, Screenwriter: Olivia Martin-McGuire– LIFEBLOOD | 2021 | Australia …

SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL MOVES FESTIVAL DATES

Published by Kyle Goldfinch

In light of the Sydney lockdown extension announced by the NSW Government, Sydney Film Festival has announced that the 68th Edition will now be held 3-14 November 2021. From Wednesday 3 November to Sunday 14 November 2021, the 68th Sydney Film Festival offers Sydneysiders another exciting season of cinema amidst a whirlwind of premieres, red-carpet openings, in-depth discussions, film guests and more. Sydney Film Festival is a major event on the New South Wales cultural calendar and is one of the world’s longest-running film festivals. For more information, visit sff.org.au. The 68th Sydney Film Festival is supported by the NSW Government through Screen NSW, the Federal Government through Screen Australia and the City of Sydney.

FFG RADIO EPISODE 5

Published by Kyle Goldfinch

In Episode 5 of Film Festival Guide Kyle Goldfinch sits down with Flickerfest festival director Bronwyn Kidd about submitting your film into the 2022 Festival and Programmer Paul Struthers about his career working across some of the biggest film festivals both here and Internationally. Listen Here: