Monday 6 August 2007

Only One Week Left…

We’re pinching ourselves because we can’t believe it… MIFF 2007 has now sailed past the halfway mark. Of our 19-day festival, we’re up to Day 13 and, for those who may be a little more ‘numerally challenged’, that adds up to a mere seven days before Closing Night. The good news is there are still heaps of films screening this week and plenty of special events to sink your teeth into. Read ahead for more details…

Highlights of today’s screening schedule include:

• A multiple award-winner from Africa bringing into vivid focus the aftermath of Chad’s 40-year civil war, Dry Season (Daratt) (5pm @ Regent)
• Rafa Cortés’ stunning debut that was chosen as FIPRESCI’s Revelation of the Year, Yo (9pm @ Regent)
• The lawlessness and brutality of a Haitian slum, the most dangerous place on earth, in the documentary Ghosts of Cité Soleil (7pm @ Greater Union)
• A humorous drama about a real-life music industry con called ‘song sharking’, of which the filmmaker’s father fell victim, The Great World of Sound (7pm @ ACMI)

Ghosts of Cite Soleil

Q&A with Geoffrey Rush and Shekhar Kapur

We are thrilled to announce that acclaimed director Shekhar Kapur and Academy Award winner and MIFF patron Geoffrey Rush will be guests of the Festival on Saturday 11 August.

MIFF and X|Media|Lab will present a special and exclusive opportunity to hear director of Elizabeth and The Golden Age Shekhar Kapur and actor Geoffrey Rush talk for the first time about their experiences working together over the past few years leading up to their ‘Golden Age’. Tom Ryan will be hosting the session.

Sat 11 Aug, 6pm at Coopers Festival Lounge (Forum Theatre).
Tickets $16 via the MIFF Box Office at Forum Theatre or phone 03 9662 3722

Come to Cannes

We can’t promise the sun but we can promise a bit of glitz and glamour at the Regent and Forum theatres for MIFF’s inaugural Come to Cannes day, taking place all day this Sunday. Cannes-direct features – like You, The Living , Mister Lonely , Alexandra , Savage Grace, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and Man from London – have been packaged together in back-to-back sessions to give you a taste of the Croisette without leaving Melbourne. Many sessions are selling out already, so make sure you book now.

Melbourne Citymission’s PJ Day

This coming Friday, MIFF’s official charity partner, Melbourne Citymission, are encouraging everyone to kit-up in their best sleeping attire as part of PJ Day. The idea is to remind yourself of your warm and cosy bed, something thousands of young people don’t have on these cold winter’s nights. So pull on the flannelettes, get everyone in your office to participate, or simply schlep along to your Friday MIFF screening in your bedtime best. Visit melbournecitymission.org.au

best BigPond MIFF shorts

Put a red circle around Friday 10 August in your diary for the short film event to end all short film events; best BigPond MIFF shorts Screening and Awards Night. We’ll be proving that the short is just as mighty as the feature as we hand out the gongs to the best films from our impressive programme of 100 short films. Hosted by Adam Zwar, best MIFF shorts promises to be a night to be remembered, and it all happens in the glamorous surrounds of the Regent Theatre at 9.15pm.

Hard to Swallow

Every drink has a sequel

To celebrate MIFF, festival sponsors Yalumba and Coopers and the City of Melbourne are offering a special drink offer -
EVERY DRINK HAS A SEQUEL! Buy one glass of Yalumba wine and get another free. Buy two Coopers beers and get one on the house. Simply present your Melbourne International Film Festival paper ticket, Mini Pass or Passport at any participating city venue on the day of the movie. For complete details of participating venues, visit thatsmelbourne.com.au

Filmmakers present…

Coming up this week, Leonard Retel Helmrich will introduce his documentary about a quest to meet three men convicted of the 2002 Bali bombings, Promised Paradise (tomorrow 7pm @ Greater Union); filmmakers Steve Thomas, Sue Brooks and Kim Anning will present their story of Amal, one of the seven survivors of an Indonesian people-smuggling boat that pitched 400 asylum seekers into the sea, in Hope (this Friday 9pm @ ACMI); and Accelerator alumnus Ben Hackworth joins us to introduce his enigmatic feature debut, Corroboree (this Saturday 3pm @ Greater Union).

Coopers Festival Lounge @ Forum

Have you visited the Coopers Festival Lounge yet? When it comes to good grooves, great ambience, funky furniture and free Internet access, MIFFophiles would be hard-pressed to find a more congenial venue. And it’s open every day of the Festival from afternoon until late at night. Not only that, but the Coopers Festival Lounge is the one time during the year that you can sit back and relax under the glittering stars of the Forum without paying a cover charge.

At 6pm tonight, The Ivan Hutchison Sessions sees us playing classic interviews from the 80s in memory of Melbourne’s Mister Movies. Then from 8pm, DJ Tendekasha brings us his world tunes.

Talking Pictures @ ACMI

Join industry specialists, Festival guests, filmmakers and actors as they discuss everything ‘film’. Get up close and personal, and come armed with your best questions. Admission is free.

Tonight at 6.15pm, Speaking Up! Global Women’s Rights Issues in association with Amnesty International uses MIFF’s screening of Shame (this Sunday 11am @ ACMI) – the inspiring triumph of Mukhtaran Mai who stood up to the tribal laws of rural Pakistan and changed a nation – to discuss current women’s rights in the world. Where do we want to go and how far have we come? Panellists include director of Shame, Mohammed Naqvi, and Amnesty International’s Louisa Schillingford-Brown , hosted by women’s rights expert and RMIT lecturer Tahmina Rashid.

Ellikon Fine Printers

Proud sponsors of MIFF, Ellikon Fine Printers are an environmentally friendly print company offering a comprehensive suite of communication services.

Since 1974, Ellikon has organically grown into a medium size, leading print provider through the application of new technology. A sophisticated and high quality print service has been achieved by competitive pricing.

Print service is driven by a policy to leave only the lightest environmental footprint without compromising either dynamic service or cost competitiveness.

Contact: Chris Collins, Sales Manager – chris@ellikon.com.au

Sold Out and Selling Fast

Ticket sales are running hot at this year’s Festival and, with only seven days to go, there’s no time to dilly dally… start booking right now.

The following sessions are sold out:

• Inland Empire – this Tuesday 9pm @ ACMI & this Thursday 9.15pm @ Forum
• I Served the King of England – this Wednesday 7pm @ Forum (tickets still available for this Thursday 7.15pm @ RMIT Capitol)
• Spicks & Specks Trivia Night @ Coopers Festival Lounge – this Thursday 7pm
• Azur and Asmar – this Friday 1pm @ ACMI
• Once – this Friday 7pm @ ACMI
• Control – this Saturday 9.20pm @ Forum
• Savage Grace – this Sunday 3pm @ Forum
• Manufacturing Dissent: Michael Moore and the Media – this Sunday 7.30pm @ ACMI
• This is England (Closing Night feature) – this Sunday 7.30pm @ Regent
  

The following sessions are selling fast:

• Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory – today 3pm @ ACMI
• Little Red Flowers – this Thursday 1pm @ ACMI
• Hope – this Friday 9pm @ ACMI

To unsubscribe from MIFF news, please follow this link:
http://www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au/account/subscribe.php