January 2008
Enough holidays - its time to plunge back into the darkness of a European winter to begin the hunt for the 2008 program. Both myself, and our new Senior Programmer, Michelle Carey, will be attending the Rotterdam and Berlin Film Festivals - both major events on the European film calendar. Rotterdam is one of the biggest public festivals in the world and is aimed squarely at the cinephile and it provides an opportunity to sense where the tide is turning in world cinema. It’s a festival that has championed the likes of filmmaker Takashi Miike and screened the first of Carlos Reygadas's features, Japon. Its programming is distinctive, original and inspiring.
Likewise Berlin serves as a magnet for festival programmers from all over the world both for the depth of its program and for the European Film Market, where Mark Woods the Manager of our own market program, 37 South, will join us to begin the process of inviting prospective guests to our own event this year.
Think of us while your on the beach soaking up the last of your holiday rays as we trudge through the snow to watch 7 films a day ............... someone's got to do it.
Richard Moore
Executive Director
2008 Festival Dates
Friday 25 July – Sunday 10 August – Mark it in your diaries!Miff Premiere Fund
The Premiere Fund's second round of offers will be made next week. Keep your eyes peeled for announcements.New Office Contact Details
Level 5, 225 Bourke StreetMelbourne VIC 3000
GPO Box 4982
Melbourne VIC 3001
Telephone: +61 3 8660 4888
Fax: +61 3 9654 2561
Email: miff@melbournefilmfestival.com.au
5 Australian Shorts Films @ Sundance
Five Australian short films, all either written or directed or both by MIFF’s Accelerator Alumni are featuring at the Sundance Film Festival which opens this week.MIFF would like to congratulate everyone involved with these productions.
Advantage - Director: Sean Byrne, Writer: Rob Beamish, Producers: Donna McCrum and Andy Canny
A psychological thriller, which explores a couple whose frisky interlude leads into one hell of a night out. Screened as part of MIFF’s Accelerator program 07.
Crossbow – Director/Writer: David Michod, Producer: Angie Fielder
It is the story of a bad thing that happens to a boy on the front lawn of his house – as told by the boy’s sexually confused neighbour. Screened as part of MIFF’s Accelerator program 07. Crossbow won the Film Victoria Erwin Radio Award for Best Australian Short Film at Best MIFF shorts 07.
Spider – Director: Nash Edgerton, Writer/s: Nash Edgerton and David Michod, Producer: Nicole O’Donohue
Always the perpetual prankster, Jack learns the hard way that the practical jokes he plays on his long-suffering girlfriend Jill, won’t always end with laughter. As Mum used to say, it’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye. Screened as part of MIFF’s Accelerator program 07.
Dugong – Director/Writer: Erin White Producer: Melanie Brunt
Tells the story of a loner and his dog who return to repair the past. Screened as part of MIFF’s Short & Local program 07
I Love Sarah Jane – Director: Spencer Susser, Writer/s: Spencer Susser and David Michod, Producer: Angie Fielder
It is the story of a 13-year-old boy who is trying desperately to become part of Sarah Jane’s world. It is the first international screening for the film.
Dugong
Katoomba @ Clermont-Ferrand
MIFF would like to congratulate everyone involved with the Accelerator short Katoomba, which has been selected to screen at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival (1-9 February 2008).Katoomba is the story of a defining moment in the relationship of two best friends, who must decide where their future lies, with or without the other. The film was written and directed by Leon Ford and produced by Melissa Johnston and Nicole O'Donohue.
Katoomba
Bigpond MIFF shorts @ Moonlight
A great crowd turned out to see a selection of Bigpond MIFF shorts at Moonlight Cinema at the Melbourne Botanical Gardens on Sunday 13th January. Pictured here is Sean Byrne Director of Advantage, which screened as part of the program. Sean is off to Sundance this week with his film thanks to the support of Film Victoria.
Sean Byrne (Advantage) - at Moonlight Cinema
MIFF Travelling Film Festival Update
Geelong: 14 - 16 February, 2008
Geelong Performing Arts Centre
Ford Theatre, 50 Little Malop Street
Geelong
Geelong is the next destination for MIFF’s Travelling Film Festival and will feature the following great films: Once (Ireland);
4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (Romania); Vitus (Switzerland); The Jammed (Australia); Eagle Vs Shark (New Zealand); After the Wedding (Denmark); Coeurs (France) and The Home Song Stories (Austraila).
For bookings contact: Ph 03 5225 1200 or www.gpac.org.au 
Widescreen Subscriber Giveaways
Bella - 100 x 2 for 1 In-season Passes up for grabs
For those who missed the American indie charmer Bella at last year's festival, this sweet and life-affirming picture is due for release in selected cinemas on 21 February and is a heart-warming story about friendship, family and our capacity for love in the face of the unexpected.
Bella, which took out the prestigious People's Choice Award at Toronto Film Festival, is about a soccer star who is on his way to sign a multi-million dollar contract when a series of events unfold that bring his career to an abrupt end. Meanwhile a young waitress discovers something about herself that she's unprepared for. In one irreversible moment, their lives are turned upside down, until a simple gesture of kindness brings them both together, turning an ordinary day in New York City into an unforgettable one. Powerful, passionate and always unpredictable, Bella reminds that sometimes it takes no more than a moment to transform our lives forever.
Running time: 96 minutes, Distributor: Hopscotch, Rating: PG.
Release Date: 21 February 2008
For your chance to win one of 100, 2 for 1 In-season Passes, courtesy of Hopscotch, email your name and mailing address to griffen@melbournefilmfestival.com.au by 5pm Friday 18 January. Please include Bella in the subject line. Only winners will be notified by return email.
Bella
The War on Democracy & Lady Chatterley DVD Pack – 2 packs up for grabs
The War on Democracy
The War on Democracy is Australian writer-filmmaker John Pilger’s first major first major feature film, an extraordinary and illuminating documentary with Latin America at its heart. It explores people’s yearning for democracy – government, for, by and of the people – and demonstrates the brutal reality of America’s foreign policy. It also reveals the remarkable rise of true popular democracy and people power among the poorest on earth, whose grassroots movements are often ignored by the West.
Running time: 94 minutes, Distributor: Hopscotch, Rating: M
Release Date: 16 January, 2008, RRP: $39.95
Lady Chatterley
Winning five French Cesar Awards in 2007 and with a gracious break-through performance by Marina Hands, Lady Chatterley, is an elegant, intoxicating, moving and romantic film, which also captures D.H. Lawrence’s vision of a society in transition.
Running time: 168 minutes, Distributor: Hopscotch, Rating: M
Release Date: 16 January, 2008, RRP: $39.95
For your chance to win one of 2 DVD packs, courtesy of Hopscotch, email your name and mailing address to griffen@melbournefilmfestival.com.au by 5pm Friday 18 January. Please include LC & WOD in the subject line. Only winners will be notified by return email.
MIFF Member News
Membership Survey
Thanks to everyone who returned the MIFF Members survey. We had a fantastic response with some great feedback and thought provoking ideas, many of which we hope to undertake and implement in the forthcoming year. Prizes for the returning of the survey have been awarded and will be sent out to the lucky recipients shortly.
Members Screening
Date: Thursday 7 Feb
Time: 7pm
Where: Cinema Nova
The Diving Bell & Butterfly
(Winner Golden Globe Awards Best Picture of the Year - Foreign Language and Best Director Julian Schnabel)
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly is the remarkable true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric), a successful and charismatic editor-in-chief of French Elle, who believes he is living his life to its absolute fullest when a sudden stroke leaves him in a life-altered state. While the physical challenges of Bauby's fate leave him with little hope for the future, he begins to discover how his life's passions, his rich memories and his newfound imagination can help him achieve a life without boundaries.
You can view the trailer on http://www.thedivingbellandthebutterfly-themovie.com
Running time: 112 minutes, Distributor: Icon Film Distribution
Rating: M15+, Release Date: 14 February 2008
We have noted from our Members survey that Sunday morning previews would be a welcome return and with the assistance of our cinema and distribution partners, we will endeavour to schedule previews where possible at this time.
MIFF Members Giveaways
Night – 60 Double Passes for an advanced screening up for grabs
Date of advanced screening: Tuesday 5 February, 2008
Time of screening: 6.30pm
Where: Kino Dendy Cinema, LG 45 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
A new Australian documentary, Night is a stunning and cinematic feature that explores the universal nature of night and how we experience it. People and places, urban and rural, are reflected in its wonder. It captures the mystery, mood and magic of the night and weaves these images into a lush and dramatic symphonic score. Voices from all walks of life tell stories of their ‘affair’ with the night - the pleasure and the pain, reality and fantasy, at work and leisure, past and present – cutting across the aural and visual landscape. People’s stories, connecting us to the universal nature of night, begin to unravel the mysteries and secrets of the night.
Night is the new feature from Director Lawrence Johnston who made the internationally award winning documentary ETERNITY.
http://www.nightthemovie.com/
Running time: 78 minutes, Distributor: Dendy Films, Rating: PG
Release Date: 7 February, 2008
For your chance to win one of 60 double passes, courtesy of Kino Dendy, email your name and MIFF membership number to griffen@melbournefilmfestival.com.au by 5pm Friday 18 January. Please include Night in the subject line. Only winners will be notified by return email with instructions on how to confirm their seats.
Night
Jane Austen Book Club – Film & Afternoon Tea – 10 Double Passes up for grabs
Date: Sunday 27th January, 2008
Time: 3.30 pm afternoon tea, 4.15 pm screening
Where: Classic Cinema, 9 Gordon Street, Elsternwick VIC 3185
This special advanced screening is accompanied by afternoon tea and a book swap! Classic Cinema suggests you bring along a recent favourite read and swap it for another!
Today’s central California may be far removed from Regency England, but some things never change. We’re still every bit as preoccupied with the complexities of marriage, friendship, romantic entanglements, position, and social manners and mores as was Jane Austen at the turn of the 1800s. The Jane Austen Book Club reveals the lives of an ensemble of present-day friends through the witty prism of their literary heroine.
www.janeaustenbookclub.com.au
Running time: 105 minutes, Distributor: Sony Pictures, Rating: M
Release date: 31 January, 2008
For your chance to win one of 10 double passes, courtesy of Classic Cinema, email your name, MIFF membership number and mailing address to griffen@melbournefilmfestival.com.au by 5pm Friday 18 January. Please include Jane Austen in the subject line. Only winners will be notified by return email. 
Jane Austen
Amazing Grace DVD – 5 copies up for grabs
Amazing Grace is the incredible true story of William Wilberforce, who tirelessly led the campaign to abolish slavery in Britain. At a time when the slave trade was not only perceived as acceptable but as a necessary for the economy, Wilberforce and his fellow abolitionists dared to speak out against a massive injustice, fighting long and hard for the freedom of others.
Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four) leads an impressive British cast that includes Rufus Sewell (Paris, Je t'aime), Romola Garai (Vanity Fair) and Michael Gambon (The Singing Detective, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). Directed by Michael Apted (7 Up series, Gorillas in the Mist).
Running time: 113 minutes, Distributor: Madman Entertainment,
Rating: PG, Release date: Available now, RRP: $39.95
For your chance to win one of five DVDs, courtesy of Madman Entertainment, email your name, MIFF membership number and mailing address to griffen@melbournefilmfestival.com.au by 5pm Friday 18 January. Please include Amazing Grace in the subject line. Only winners will be notified by return email. 
Azumi DVD Box Set – 5 copies up grabs
Two Films, One Heroine- Many Dead Bad Guys....
Brought to life from a popular Japanese comic book, Azumi has become one of the most enjoyable action heroines in Asian cinema. Starring Aya Ueto as the delicate but deadly Azumi and featuring action superstar Tak Sakagichi (VERSUS, DEATH TRANCE) and Chiaki Kuriyama (GO GO from KILL BILL VOLUME 1) we follow Azumi and her clan as they fight for justice against some mental and memorable villians. All out action makes the Azumi films essential viewing
Running time: 180 minutes, Distributor: Madman Entertainment
Rating: TBC, Release Date: 23 January, 2008, RRP: $39.95
For your chance to win one of five DVDs, courtesy of Madman Entertainment, email your name, MIFF membership number and mailing address to griffen@melbournefilmfestival.com.au by 5pm Friday 18 January. Please include Azumi in the subject line. Only winners will be notified by return email. 
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