hello from the director!
katrina sedgwick
Now that the dust has settled post AFF 2007, its great to see the films from our program start to appear around Australia through theatrical release [keep your eyes out for INFAMOUS, DEATH OF A PRESIDENT, INTO GREAT SILENCE, WEST, THE ITALIAN and CLUBLAND all screening at Palace Cinemas now or in coming weeks] - and screening in festivals – Sydney Film Festival’s director Clare Stewart has just unveiled her first program www.sydneyfilmfestival.org
and its good to see she has included a number of AFFIF supported projects – LUCKY MILES, THE HOME SONG STORIES, WHAT THE FUTURE SOUNDED LIKE, SWING, BOXING DAY – with PRA’s SWEET & SOUR up for the Yoram Gross Animation Award as part of the Dendy Awards.
Our office feels strangely quiet after the intensity of the festival but we are beavering away wrapping up loose ends and beginning our planning for 2009 with some ambitious initiatives beginning to get some traction - and enjoying eavesdropping on the AIDC [who share our office] as they plan their 2008 event in Perth. In the short term we are bringing Indonesian filmmaker Garin Nugroho to Adelaide as our guest in June – see below – and starting to look at scripts for consideration for our investment slate – and there are already some fabulous contenders.
And... speaking of the Sydney Film Festival, a few of us are heading over for the Gala Opening Night to swan with the glitterati - keep an eye out for us in the social pages! ;)
FREE SCREENING - "OF LOVE & EGGS"
6.30pm, Tuesday June 12, Mercury Cinema, FREE admission
Presented by the Adelaide Film Festival through the generous support of the Australian Indonesian Institute and in association with the Mercury Cinema, Flinders University and Popcorn Taxi
6.30pm, Tuesday June 12
Mercury Cinema, 13 Morphett Street, Adelaide
We are delighted that, following his attendance at the Sydney Film Festival, Garin Nugroho will be in Adelaide to introduce a FREE screening of his 2004 feature film OF LOVE & EGGS, and will participate in a Q&A facilitated by Stephen Atkinson. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from one of the regions most influential and masterful filmmakers.
"It is perhaps not too great an exaggeration to say that Garin Nugroho has almost single handedly put contemporary Indonesian cinema on the map." 2006 Tokyo International Film Festival
Garin Nugroho is a prolific filmmaker working across both feature film and documentary. OPERA JAWA his most recent film screened to great acclaim at the 2007 Adelaide Film Festival as part of the prestigious NEW CROWNED HOPE slate. OF LOVE & EGGS is his previous feature. His often political films reflect contemporary Indonesian society, yet he is also a master for finding a contemporary voice for traditional Indonesian culture. He is a highly respected social and political activist - breaking new ground in his collaborative processes - and teaches and inspires young and emerging Indonesian filmmakers in Jakarta. His films have attracted critical acclaim around the globe, winning many awards and screening in film festivals including Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Tokyo.
OF LOVE & EGGS (Rindu kami padamu)
Garin Nugroho/ Indonesia/ 2004/ 90 minutes
Bahasa Indonesia with English subtitles
The ever-surprising Garin Nugroho, angered by a Muslim cleric's call for the banning of a comedy for teenagers, responds by making a censor-proof movie about a working-class community in Jakarta during the Lebaran holiday. Shot entirely in the studio (he built a full-scale street-market and adjoining mosque as his set, with painted backdrops to evoke the nearby countryside), it lovingly recreates the tone, style and pastel hues of an Indonesian comedy from the heyday of the studio system. The large ensemble cast enacts a series of slight, interwoven storylines (the struggle to acquire a cupola for the mosque, classroom problems, the vicissitudes of first love and a variety of intrigues involving eggs), all of them haunted by poverty - which is driving many to return to their home villages - and by the threat of government-sanctioned demolition of slum areas.
Beneath its benign and gently comic surface, this is a film about the place of Islam in the lives and minds of believers; it's actually an anti-fundamentalist polemic, although everything it objects to is wisely left off-screen. And it's also a masterly piece of 'pure cinema' in the Michael Powell tradition.
- Tony Rayns
subscriber offer: free FILM tickets!!
get in quick - these things go like hot cakes!
On offer to our subscribers this month, thanks to Palace Nova Cinemas Hopscotch Films, are in-season double passes for the controversial mocumentary DEATH OF A PRESIDENT - which enjoyed its Australian Premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival earlier this year, and won the award for Best Film at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.
To win, simply CLICK HERE and forward this e-news to a friend. By doing so, you'll put you and your friend in the running to win! Tickets are strictly limited, and they always disappear fast, so make sure you get in quick!
ABOUT THE FILM:
DEATH OF A PRESIDENT follows the investigation of the fictional assassination of President George W. Bush in October 2007. The film opens with the ferocious energy of a Tarantino or Oliver Stone film, as frenetically edited archival footage thrusts us into a raging crowd of protesters, waiting for President Bush's procession.
Combining real archival footage with a credible but fictional story, DEATH OF A PRESIDENT presents a fascinating, thought-provoking and imaginative political thriller. It touches on issues such as the Patriot Act, the right to fair trial and privacy, and the apathy of the American public to seek truth and justice. The ease with which "Patriot Act III" becomes law, for instance, is both believable and frightening. DEATH OF A PRESIDENT hints at Governmental manipulation with a 'wag the dog' mentality, and strides towards an unexpected conclusion.
DEATH OF A PRESIDENT is a truly original and intriguing film, and screening exclusively at the Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas from the 31st May, 2007.
"Clever, thoughtful, and totally believable. This is a film without a political agenda that everyone should see." The New York Observer
