ST KILDA FILM FESTIVAL TOUR ENDS IN SYDNEY
August 18th 2007 04:44
Link: www.moviecentre.net
With the national tour of the 24th St Kilda Film Festival now concluded for 2007, it’s time to start looking to preparing for 2008.After Starting in Brisbane two months ago on Jubne 22 and then winding it’s way around Australia via Canberra, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart before landing in the Harbour city on July 20 for a memorable weekend of shorts by amateur and professional filmmakers alike.
After an initial introduction by Matty Scott the national tour co-ordinator which was short and sweet thanking sponsors and filmmakers as well as the audience for attending the opening night on the Friday, the first session of the final leg commenced.
Something that has become more apparent over the past 4 or 5 years is the number of well known professionals becoming involved in shorts and this night was no exception. Gary McDonald (Mother and Son, Norman Gunston) appeared in ‘Marti’s Party’ about a middle aged man paranoid about his 58th birthday ended with a wonderful tongue in cheek finale. Then Brendon Cowell’s black comedy ‘Black Lassie’ about a dog with human emotions who just can’t stay with his fighting ‘parents’ anymore and heads out on to the streets before the inevitable occurs may have a had an important message about one reason kids run away from home. Unfortunately this message may have been missed by many attending the Sydney festival as references to Sydney’s notorious GAP at the South Head kept the assembled crowd groaning and chuckling all the way through to the end.
‘Paper City Architects’ and ‘Extreme Makeover’ looked at differing views of today’s society values with everyone pretty much no longer human, but more part of a mass production without feelings. Yes, some do try to break the mould, but most of us just want to be like everyone else, a weakness that shows that we are human after all. ‘ What They Don’t Know’ also showed how easily it is to make a judgement without finding out the whole story.
A brief look at Australia’s indigenous culture spoke of the painful yet magical journey of this country’s native people, an account of just one section of a past most of us know little about, with a short tale of a young girls visit to the home of her ancestors.
The following film carried a host of well know actors which included Barry Otto and Matthew Newton showed that lavish sets and accomplished performers aren’t necessarily all the ingredients imperative to a successful film. At times the story became over confused with the film at times a little too complicated in the lead-up up to its finale. A sound idea overly worked.
The evening ended with ‘Stalled’ building a dramatic tension as a hapless criminal prepares for a robbery in a suburban toilet. The idea was kept simple and the direction was always there from beginning to end
The second session continued the excellence of Australia’s short film makers with the established names mixing together with the unknowns as eight more films were screened ending with the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts sending itself up in a light hearted musical 'Probably one of Us' bringing the tour to an end. An interesting concept was Pension Day depicting a dead man’s final few minutes leading to his demise.Another standout was ‘Car Pool’ where a mother meets her young son’s new girlfriend revealing some embarrassing home truths which in the end shows the truth can sometimes work miracles
After a short break, for the first time SOUNDKILDA joined the tour with clips from artists such as Missy Higgins Augie March and Eskimo Joe entertaining the audience with some fantastic music videos. Then before you knew it the evening was at a close and it was off into Sydney’s cold winter night after an inspiring weekend of sometimes agonizing, sometimes hilarious but definitely entertaining films.
To view all the awards for the 2007 St Kilda Film Festival you can find it at www.stkildafilmfestival.com.au .
After an initial introduction by Matty Scott the national tour co-ordinator which was short and sweet thanking sponsors and filmmakers as well as the audience for attending the opening night on the Friday, the first session of the final leg commenced.
Something that has become more apparent over the past 4 or 5 years is the number of well known professionals becoming involved in shorts and this night was no exception. Gary McDonald (Mother and Son, Norman Gunston) appeared in ‘Marti’s Party’ about a middle aged man paranoid about his 58th birthday ended with a wonderful tongue in cheek finale. Then Brendon Cowell’s black comedy ‘Black Lassie’ about a dog with human emotions who just can’t stay with his fighting ‘parents’ anymore and heads out on to the streets before the inevitable occurs may have a had an important message about one reason kids run away from home. Unfortunately this message may have been missed by many attending the Sydney festival as references to Sydney’s notorious GAP at the South Head kept the assembled crowd groaning and chuckling all the way through to the end.
‘Paper City Architects’ and ‘Extreme Makeover’ looked at differing views of today’s society values with everyone pretty much no longer human, but more part of a mass production without feelings. Yes, some do try to break the mould, but most of us just want to be like everyone else, a weakness that shows that we are human after all. ‘ What They Don’t Know’ also showed how easily it is to make a judgement without finding out the whole story.
A brief look at Australia’s indigenous culture spoke of the painful yet magical journey of this country’s native people, an account of just one section of a past most of us know little about, with a short tale of a young girls visit to the home of her ancestors.
The following film carried a host of well know actors which included Barry Otto and Matthew Newton showed that lavish sets and accomplished performers aren’t necessarily all the ingredients imperative to a successful film. At times the story became over confused with the film at times a little too complicated in the lead-up up to its finale. A sound idea overly worked.
The evening ended with ‘Stalled’ building a dramatic tension as a hapless criminal prepares for a robbery in a suburban toilet. The idea was kept simple and the direction was always there from beginning to end
The second session continued the excellence of Australia’s short film makers with the established names mixing together with the unknowns as eight more films were screened ending with the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts sending itself up in a light hearted musical 'Probably one of Us' bringing the tour to an end. An interesting concept was Pension Day depicting a dead man’s final few minutes leading to his demise.Another standout was ‘Car Pool’ where a mother meets her young son’s new girlfriend revealing some embarrassing home truths which in the end shows the truth can sometimes work miracles
After a short break, for the first time SOUNDKILDA joined the tour with clips from artists such as Missy Higgins Augie March and Eskimo Joe entertaining the audience with some fantastic music videos. Then before you knew it the evening was at a close and it was off into Sydney’s cold winter night after an inspiring weekend of sometimes agonizing, sometimes hilarious but definitely entertaining films.
To view all the awards for the 2007 St Kilda Film Festival you can find it at www.stkildafilmfestival.com.au .
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SimonC
