"The 55th Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), to be held from July 26 – August 13, will present an unparalleled programme of cinema from around the globe.
Executive Director James Hewison said, “ we have attempted to streamline the MIFF programme and have thus sought to underline our commitment once again to critical areas in contemporary cinema - be that renewed vigour in our local filmmaking community to our Asia Pacific neighbours, from immediate work from the Middle East exemplified in our filmmaker in focus, Iranian Jafar Panahi, to the Danish phoenix rising from the ideological strictures of Dogma. If cinema may have the power
to effect change then it’s in evidence in Globalised and, finally, in the concrete wastelands of Los Angeles, a remarkable selection of Super 8mm skateboard films that evoke the freedom and creative spirit of the Seventies – get into it!”
Australian cinema is championed again in this year’s festival – buoyed by the successes of films as varied as Little Fish, Wolf Creek and Look Both Ways, which all premiered locally at MIFF 05, new Australian cinema looks set to power through 2006 with some innovative and unexpected new work.
Leading off the charge is the World Premiere of Em 4 Jay, the fourth feature from Melbourne iconoclast Alkinos Tsilimidos; an unflinchingly confronting, romantic tragedy. The Australian Showcase will also feature George Gittoes’ searing documentary Rampage, a stark and, at times, painful portrait of three brothers in an American ghetto; Jeremy Sims directorial feature debut, Last Train To Freo – a tense psychological drama about five individuals will have its World Premiere at
MIFF 06 too; and Peter Cattaneo’s Opal Dreams starring Jacqueline McKenzie and Vince Colosimo, plus introducing newcomers Christian Byers and Sapphire Boyce. This year MIFF highlights a distinctive new strength in Australian filmmaking.
The Festival programme will once again feature the work of world-renowned filmmakers, and more than a couple of unknown gems, in its popular International Panorama, Regional Focus, Backbeat and Documentaries series. The most highly regarded short film competition in the Asia Pacific, best MIFF shorts screens approximately 100 short films, competing for a prize money of AUD$35,000..."
W: http://www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au
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