October 2007

MIFF 2008 Festival Dates; Closure of the Erwin Rado Theatre

The MIFF viewing year has begun again. As I write, MIFF programmer Nick Feik, is winging his way to the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea, and I have just returned from the Toronto Film Festival. Apart from being able to sit back and enjoy a festival from the perspective of it being someone else’s it was gratifying to see that many titles in the Toronto catalogue were titles programmed by MIFF this year. Although I wish I could reveal the list of films we would like to invite from Toronto, I can’t. However, I can recommend the new David Cronenburg movie EASTERN PROMISES, that’s if you like your violence dished up with an elegant flourish. Set against the backdrop of the Russian mob, starring our own Naomi Watts, this film was one of the “buzz” titles of the Toronto program. It will be released in Australia soon.

Its early I know, but we have just locked in our dates for 2008. Next year the festival will run from Friday 25th July to Sunday August 10th. Two days shorter than the 2007 program but just as packed with programming variety and activities.

On a sad note - for those who have graced the foyer of the Erwin Rado Theatre on Johnston Street we received our “ Notice to Vacate” yesterday. Although we knew it was coming, it's still sad to know that another of Melbourne’s movie theatres (albeit a small one) is going to close. Our last day of tenancy is December 31st, but bookings are only available until 13th December. So, if you have been planning a celebration – be it a film screening, a wedding or a Xmas party – get in now. Call Chloe on 9417 2011. This will be your last chance to enjoy the Rado.

See you at the movies

Richard Moore

MIFF Travelling Film Festival: Devonport, Echuca and Wonthaggi

MIFF in Melbourne may now be over, but the MIFF Travelling Film Festival continues on. During October the Travelling Film Festival will be rolling into Devonport, Echuca and Wonthaggi.

All three locations will open with the critically acclaimed Australian film The Jammed - the story of a young Melbourne women drawn into a world of human trafficking, illegal prostitution and governmental deportation as she goes about helping a Chinese mother serch for her missing daughter.

Other films to screen across the three locations include: Sicko - the latest rousing and provocative film from Michael Moore, Irina Palm - with an unforgettable performance by Marianne Fatithfull, and MIFF audience favourites Once and After the Wedding. A programme of BEST MIFF SHORTS (including Blood Sisters, Dance Like Your Old Man and Nana) will also be screened.

Full programme, ticketing and venue information can be found for each location by clicking on the links below.

MIFF TRAVELLING FILM FESTIVAL: DEVONPORT 4-7 OCTOBER
CMAX Cinema
Bookings: 03 6420 2111
Check out the entire programme MIFF_Devonport_Leaflet.pdf (pdf file, 385kb).

MIFF TRAVELLING FILM FESTIVAL: ECHUCA 12-14 OCTOBER
Paramount Cinema and Performing Arts Centre
Bookings: 03 5482 3399
Check out the entire programme MIFF_Echuca_Leaflet.pdf (pdf file, 390kb)

MIFF TRAVELLING FILM FESTIVAL: WONTHAGGI 26-28 OCTOBER
Wonthaggi Union Cinema
Bookings: 03 5672 3593
Check out the entire programme MIFF_Wonthaggi_Leaflet.pdf (pdf file, 471kb)

'CORROBEREE' SELECTED FOR BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Congratulations to Ben Hackworth (Accelerator Alumni) on the selection of his debut feature 'Corroboree' for the Berlin International Film Festival.

MIFF PREMIERE FUND CLOSING DATE – REMINDER

The first round of MIFF’s Premiere Fund will close on Monday 8 October at 5pm.

All applications for the first round must be submitted via hard copy at the MIFF office, Level 1, 207 Johnston St, Fitzroy on this date.

The MIFF Premiere Fund aims to support, through various mechanisms, a number of quality feature length film projects that will have their International premiere at MIFF.

The Fund will be a strategic minority supporter of a range of films and will be keen to see diversity on its slate in terms of filmmaking teams and genres of films.

Projects will be assessed on a range of factors as per the General Assessment Criteria in the Guidelines.

For full guidelines and to download an application form please go to:

http://www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au/miff_premiere_fund

MIFF GIVEAWAYS

TELL NO ONE - 10 double passes to the advance preview screening up for grabs (courtesy of Madman).

Directed by French star Guillaume Canet, Tell No One is an award winning thriller based on Harlan Coben’s bestselling novel. Starring Kristen Scott-Thomas and Francois Cluzet in his Cesar winning role.

Pediatrician Alex, devastated since his wife Margot was savagely murdered in the early days of their marriage eight years before, receives an anonymous email. When he clicks on the link indicated he sees a woman’s face standing in a crowd, being filmed in real time. It’s Margot’s face – is she still alive? And why does she instruct him to tell no one? So many questions that our hero will not have time to consider - he barely even has time to raise the lid of this Pandora’s box before the police reopen the case. And eight years down the line the cops are determined to nail him for his wife’s murder.

The first ten people to email cinema@madman.com.au with the 'Tell No One' in the subject line will have their names put on the door. Only winners wil be notified by Madman.

MEMBERS SCREENING

Date: Wednesday October 24
Time: 7pm
Where: Classic Cinema, 9 Gordon Street, Elsternwick

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (MA15+) 160m

Directed by Andrew Dominik (Chopper) and starring Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard, Sam Rockwell, and Mary-Louise Parker.

Jesse James [BRAD PITT] was one of the country’s first bona fide celebrities.
There have been countless books written and tales told about America’s most famous outlaw—all of them colorful and fascinating, all focused on his larger-than-life public persona and daring exploits, and most of them bearing only incidental reference to the truth.

To those he robbed and terrorized, and to the families of those he admittedly killed, he may have been just a criminal, but in the sensational newspaper articles and dime novels chronicling the James Gang throughout the 1870s, Jesse was the object of awe and admiration. He was a Robin Hood, they suggested, targeting railroad owners and banks that exploited poor farmers. He was a man with a tragic cause, a wronged and wounded Confederate soldier striking back against the Union that had ruined his life. Most importantly, to an increasingly buttoned-down and citified population leading ordinary lives, he was the last frontiersman—a symbol of freedom and the American spirit, a charismatic rebel who flouted the law and lived by his own rules…by all accounts, a legend.

Foremost among his admirers was Robert Ford [CASEY AFFLECK], an idealistic and ambitious young man who had devoted his life to the hope of one day riding alongside his idol. He could never have imagined that history would ultimately mark him as the “the dirty little coward” who shot Jesse in the back.
But who was Jesse James, really—behind the folklore and the selling of newspapers? And who was Robert Ford, just nineteen and a member of Jesse’s inner circle, who was able to bring down such a formidable figure when lawmen across ten states had tried and failed? How did they come to be friends and what happened between them in the days and hours leading up to the gunshot that would end one man’s life and become the definition and sum total of another’s?
No one will ever know the whole truth.
Based on the novel by Ron Hansen.

In an opportunity not to be missed, filmmakers around the country will now have until the end of July 2008 to get their entries into the Shorts Film Festival. So keep the entries coming and have a shot at the coveted first prize – return airfare, accommodation and introductions at the Cannes Film Festival – or the opportunity to be selected for a screening at Rushes Soho in the UK!

Due to recent key developments, the 2007 Shorts Film Festival has now been postponed until November/December 2008, with the iconic Shorts Outback highlights screening kicking off 2008 at The Prairie Hotel Parachilna.

While the need to take this rapid decision has been deeply disappointing, Shorts has seized the opportunity to substantially strengthen the event going forward, and continues to encourage emerging filmmakers from across Australia to focus on one thing – strong cinematic storytelling through the genres of animation, claymation, comedy, documentary, drama and digital media.

More information about the festival, prizes, entry forms and guidelines can be found at www.shortsfilmfestival.com . For all enquiries, please contact admin@shortsfilmfestival.com .

The Festival Directors thank all our filmmakers for their continuing involvement and look forward to putting on our best Shorts in 2008!

Shorts Film Festival Directors
Ben Barnett, David Lightfoot & Teri Whiting

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