What people are saying
Video Interviews
Vincent Sheehan, producer of the Hunter
Australian director Rowan Woods
Australian director Gregor Jordan
Jonathan auf der Heide, director of Van Dieman’s Land
Camille Chen, director, producer, writer of Little Sparrows
Simon Longstaff of the St James Ethics Centre
Producer Trish Lake
Crtitics Reviews
Carol von Opstal
It augurs well for the Breath of Fresh Air Film Festival (BOFA) that on the evening of its launch, the Dungog Film Festival won the IF award for Best Film Festival. Both festivals take place in regional centres, are of an excellent quality, and are notable for bringing a range of high quality films to a broader audience.
Launceston, which boasts the largest film society in Australia, provided a beautiful setting for a film festival. Featuring comfortable, modern venues located within a small radius (requiring no more than an easy stroll between cinemas), and within walking distance from Launceston’s major hotels, the heritage-listed Inveresk precinct was ideal.
After a pilot run in 2010, BOFA débuted this year, with an elegant red carpet function that captured the attention of the press, and which was attended by a warm and receptive audience. Guests were were ushered to the QVMAG, where they were treated to a delicious impressive array of local food and wine, before hearing the opening speeches, and attending the Opening Night feature, Happy, Happy.
From the outset, the convivial nature of the festival was evident, with industry professionals and members of the public mingling freely in a classy but relaxed environment.
BOFA’s aim is to showcase films that “… affect positive change in a modern world”. The brief is broader than one might expect, and allowed for screenings not only of intrinsically positive films, but also challenging ones, that are thought-provoking essays on contemporary life (Lynne Ramsay’s haunting adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s novel, We Need To Talk About Kevin, played to an exceptionally large audience).
Credit should go to the festival Director, Owen Tilbury, his wife, Helen, and their friends and family, who worked tirelessly to get the festival off-the-ground, and for making it such a success. The volunteers and stewards were exceptional: their warmth and friendliness set this festival apart in terms of the atmosphere, which was distinctly pleasant: a breath of fresh air, in fact.
Corporate sponsorship of this event also deserves praise, as the festival would have been an “unknown” enterprise for them when they initially became involved in the project. Special credit should go to My State, whose eagerness to support initiatives that serve the community was patently evident. I was relieved, when talking to employees of My State who attended the festival, to hear that they were so genuine in their support of young filmmakers, as reflected in their sponsorship of the short film awards.
One could excuse an inaugural film festival for being tentative and modest in its line-up. However, in only its first year, BOFA boldly – and successfully – presented the gamut of festival programming, programming an impressive array of excellent films, Q&As, debates, and industry-related events, such as master classes.
There were a number of auspicious events, such as the world premiere of Luke Doolan’s new short, Cryo, as well as a premiere sneak-peak of Beaconsfield, in an excellent presentation given by Production Designer, John Rohde. A debate convened by the St James Ethics Centre: The Screen Is Mightier Than The Sword (moderated by the urbane but suitably measured Simon Longstaff), was stimulating and entertaining, and will be broadcast on television.
Such events would be noteworthy in any Australian festival, but were especially impressive in a festival in its first year. The calibre of the guests that attended and were supportive of the festival, such as Rohan Woods (The Boys), Jonathon auf der Heide (Van Diemen’s Land), Michael Rymer (Face To Face), Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey (Cryo), was a testament to the faith Australian filmmakers have in BOFA.
More importantly, the guests of the festival were approachable. How many festivals can boast an environment in which film critics and members of the public can engage in conversation with industry guests?
Indeed, one of (many) highlights for me, was an informal discussion I had with Rohan Woods, about Snowtown, especially as when I reviewed Snowtown, I had contrasted the approach taken by Justin Kerzel, with Wood’s own film The Boys. I was utterly delighted to hear that Rohan shared my avid appreciation of the understated but portentous opening credit sequence to Animal Kingdom, devised by Jeremy Saunders, and abetted by Antony Partos’s evocative music.
Speaking of Blue Tongue Films: another highlight, was interviewing Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey, following the world premiere of Luke’s new short, Cryo. The Lads at Blue Tongue are multi-skilled and, more importantly, multi-talented, and I’ve been eagerly watching Luke’s work since Miracle Fish. In an interview with Luke and Drew, they quite humbly informed me that their multi-skilling is a result of the need to diversify in order to eke out a living in filmmaking. But anyone who’s familiar with their work would be aware of just how modest they were being. Blue Tongue films is the hub of some of Australia’s most multi-talented and collaborative filmmakers.
A major issue in contemporary filmmaking: the democratisation of filmmaking as a result of the ready availability of recording and editing equipment was a theme explored in one of the workshops – Minimal Gear, Maximum Message – presented in conjunction with AFTRS.
Advancements in, and availability of, technology, have levelled the filmmaking playing field, with some high quality results.
Michael Rymer’s film Face To Face, which screened at the festival, was recorded on DSLR, and Digital SLR shorts competition was similarly cutting edge in outlining the prerequisites for submissions: that films be shot on DSLR (except for Tasmanian filmmakers, who were permitted to submit films from a variety of media).
A positive and supportive air pervaded the Devil Awards night, where guests were invited to step outside to view snippets from each of the winning films, which were projected on a screen on the nearby QVMAG building. The winner, Damien Power’s gripping Peekaboo, was selected from finalists who hailed from around the globe.
In keeping with the overall tone of the festival, topics flowed from the workshops to the banter in the major social hub of the festival: The Balcony, where I had an interesting discussion with Director, Camille Chen (Little Sparrows), who revealed that she has written a great deal of material on her smart phone!
Apart from the festival’s vital role in bringing fine films to a broader audience, it was the ability to chat in a relaxed environment about a plethora of film topics with members of the public and other industry professionals, that made BOFA particularly rewarding. Such discourse is essential, but as we all know, it happens far too rarely.
The festival promised a feast of Big Ideas, which were well introduced by the debates and workshops. But where better to delve into them, but in a relaxed back social setting?
It was, indeed, a breath of fresh air.
Greg King
The inaugural Breath Of Fresh Air Film Festival screens in Launceston from November 23 through until November 27. Held over five days, the festival is screening is a mix of new films, documentaries, Australian features, and films that have done the festival circuit. There are also a number of master classes, debates, and several directors will be in attendance for Q&A sessions.
The Breath Of Fresh Air Film Festival kicked off in fine style on Wednesday night with the lavish black-tie opening night function. VIP guests arrived at Launceston’s Inveresk Precinct in a fleet of classic cars. The champagne and beer flowed freely, as did the canapes and finger food. The vibe was positive, and everyone seemed to be looking forward to the inaugural film festival. I rubbed shoulders with the likes of Face To Face director Michael Rymer, in the foyer of the QVMAG Museum. Festival director Owen Tilbury and other official guests made some welcoming speeches and spoke about the effort in getting this fresh festival up and running. People had a chance to view Patrick Bradley’s photographic portrait of a number of film stars, including Morgan Freeman, Cameron Diaz that were part of the Stories Of Cinema Exhibit that would run throughout the five days of the festival.
Then it was off to see the opening night film Happy Happy, the debut film from Norwegian director Anne Sewitsky. A popular audience award winner at the Sundance Film Festival, Happy Happy is a comedy about sex, family, dysfunctional relationships and finding happiness. It was an enjoyable and edgy comedy, but not the strongest film with which to open the festival.
Over five days the festival screened a mix of Australian films, documentaries, films that have done the festival circuit, and a few Australian premiers. But what added interest to the program were the Q&A’s that followed some of the screenings. But there were also Masterclass sessions, conducted by the likes of Rowan Woods (director of The Boys, etc) and Gregor Jordan (Two Hands, etc), who spoke about the problems of getting their films made. There was also a debate, testing the idea that “The Screen Is Mightier Than The Sword” and ideas about the influence of the media. These sessions were very well attended and were informative. There was also a short film competition, with entries received from Australia, England and the US. I spoke to Haydn Kwan, a Melbourne-based film maker, whose short Red Orchid was screening in competition, and we spoke about his film and the importance of festivals like this in exposing short films to audiences. This competition was judged by Woods and Jordan. The winner was Damien Power’s Peekaboo, a 10-minute suspense thriller with a nice surprising twist at the end.
Channel 9 and Southern Star are making a telemovie about the Beaconsfield mine disaster, which will hit the small screen on Anzac Day 2012. But audiences at BOFA got a special sneak preview of the production, courtesy of production designer Jon Rhode, who talked about the production itself, and showed photographs of the production itself. He also showed a few clips from the series to whet our appetites. Miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell were in attendance and answered some questions at the end of the presentation, and I was able to ask them what it felt like reliving the events while working on the movie and seeing their plight recreated.
I also hosted a Q&A session with film directors Luke Doolan (the AFI award winning Miracle Fish, etc) and Camille Chen, whose debut film Little Sparrows screened at the festival. The discussion touched upon their respective journeys as film makers, in funding their films, the importance of festivals, and a little bit about their careers. Doolan has amassed an amazing amount of credits for one so young, having also worked as an editor and cinematographer on a number of important Australian films, including Animal Kingdom. He also premiered his new short film Cryo, an ambitious 15-minute sci-fi adventure, at the festival. He is also working on the Hollywood blockbuster The Great Gatsby, which is being shot in Sydney by Baz Luhrmann, and starring Leonardo Di Caprio, although he was unable to speak at length about the production.
In all, it was a surprisingly impressive debut for the Breath Of Fresh Air Film Festival, and the feedback was uniformly positive. It augers well for next year.