The Sydney Film Festival is taking place this June with a striking line up of film, ranging from mainstream movies to features, documentaries, shorts, restorations and retrospectives. To mark the occaision, UKHotMovies.com brings you a Dummies Guide to the southern hemisphere's largest celebration of the silver screen.
Over the last half century the Sydney Film Festival has grown to hold an esteemed presence among the film-going fraternity. For many Sydney residents it is the highlight of an otherwise relatively eventless winter season. The two week long festival shows cutting-edge world cinema, premiering many movies, and runs a competition for locally-produced short films. Audience figures were up 9% in
and, with over 200 movie screenings showing this year, Sydney is creeping up to rival the great film festivals of the northern hemisphere.
The non-profit Festival has done much to educate both the film industry and Sydney residents, working to increase the public's interest in cultural and political debate. As a professor at the University of Sydney states, "Sydney Film Festival was and remains instrumental in bringing together the filmmaking community in a yearly celebration of their art."
Director George Miller adds, "I think Australian cinema is a kind of hybrid between European and Hollywood film and I think one of the most influential things in the development of that was the [Sydney] film festival."
The Board for the Sydney Festival consists of many major names in the industry and the patrons of the festival include such celebrities as Nicole Kidman. Movie lovers are encouraged to get involved by becoming a Friend of the Festival. Not only do supporters get a discount on screenings, but they also receive discounts on the Opening Night and party tickets as well; Sydney's Opening Night festivities are renowned for their extravagance. As an added incentive, discounts for stores and cultural attractions throughout Sydney are offered.
Each year the Festival opens and closes with Gala parties; many times the theme of the party is in tune with the film being screened during the Opening and Closing Galas. The City of Sydney also offers several free screenings of short films during the festival. Forums and lectures are held with moviemakers, critics, and other professionals discussing events and trends in the profession. Many of these are held at the breathtaking Opera House. The seminars give aspiring film makers and critics an opportunity to learn valuable skills and tips from well-known executives in the industry. High school students are invited to these sessions as well.
Alongside the screenings, a diverse range of entertainment is put on for the film fans attending the event. The World Movies Festival Club is sponsored by the Sydney Festival; the Club is located in the newest lounge bar in town, the Statement at the State Theatre. In this hip venue, DJs and live performers help film fans unwind after a day of screenings.
Half a Century of Sydney: From the Beginning
The Sydney Film Festival was born at the University of Sydney on 11 July, 1954. A sold out screening took place on campus: 1,200 film lovers paid one guinea each to view a film. According to Judith Keene, History Department senior lecturer, "The Sydney Film festival was the first forum which gave Sydney access to international cinema on a large scale, and as such was destined to become one of the city's truly cosmopolitan cultural events." Over the years screenings moved from university cinemas to public venues in the city and suburbs. In 1974 the Festival established its main venue as the magnificent State Theatre (pictured right), where it has remained ever since.
The Festival has often been the scene of much arguing and turmoil. The government, under pressure from Christian groups, has frequently censored films due to be shown at the festival. Many an Opening Night has been marked by rallies where protestors demanded to be allowed to see unedited versions of any film they chose. At the same time, leaders of political parties and the churches would show up to campaign against the increasingly sexual explicit and violent fare they thought was beginning to dominate the Festival. However, as is often the case, the strife only added to the event's popularity. Some of the most controversial films were Woman of the Dunes (Hiroshi Teshigahara), I Love, You Love (Stig Bjorkman) and Hail Mary (Jean Luc Godard).
Despite being located thousands of kilometres away from the Western world's film hubs of North America and Europe, the Festival has grown to become one of the highlights of the film industry calender and has screened and premiered some of the greatest films of our time. Ross Tzannes, president of the Sydney International Film Festival from 1972 to 1987, had this to say to UKHotMovies.com about the Festival (and film festivals in general): "Film, of all the arts, is the most universal. It's the great international medium of ideas and for attitudes and emotions. At a film festival, you can get a veritable united nations over a couple of weeks."
The Festival runs competitions in a variety of categories: Contemporary World Cinema, Documentaries, Regional, Short Films, Omnibus, Discovery, and Australia's premier short film prizes, the Dendy Awards. Some of the celebrated films that have made their Australian debut in these areas have been The Far Side of the Moon, Lightning in a Bottle, Chernobyl Heart, Memories of Murder, 15 and Birthday Boy.
It is hard to believe that a festival can grow from such humble beginnings to become a world-renowned celebration of the moving image. Sydney has done that and much more. The Festival and its ambitious organisers have helped Australia to put its name on the map as a maker of Great Film.
