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2005 Most Popular Films
The most popular films at the Fest are determined by audience vote. Only contemporary titles are included in the listing of most popular films, although we do use your feedback on retrospective titles for our own purposes.
Competition for places in the top ten is very hot: a very small number of votes can make all the difference to a film’s fortunes.
In a year where there has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth over the state of the Australian film industry, it is pleasing to see Australian titles have performed well – eight of the titles listed below are Australian, including the number one film.
And here they are, by your vote!
Showtime Top Ten Features
1. Look Both Ways
2. Machuca
3. Mysterious Skin
4. The Mighty Celt*
5. The Taste of Tea
6. 4th Floor*
7. Paradise Now
8. Moolaadé
9. Up and Down
10. Kept and Dreamless
Showtime Top Ten Documentaries
1. Mad Hot Ballroom
2. I Know I’m Not Alone
3. Blowin’ in the Wind
4. Murderball
5. Coca: The Dove from Chechnya
6. I Told You I was Ill: Spike Milligan
7. Jabe Babe: A Heightened Life
8. The Fearless Freaks
9. Battleground: 21 Days on the Empire’s Edge
10. Based on a True Story
Merchant Solutions Shorts Top Ten
1. Bloody Footy*
2. The Djarn Djarns*
3. Boris
4. Eating Sausage
5. Boy
6. Dog Years
7. Little Witches*
8. Confession
9. Hole in the Wall
10. Lesson from Bam*
*= Cine Sparks screening
BIFF Doc Day
Sunday 7 August is doc day, with almost the entire day’s programming in South Bank Cinema 3 dedicated to documentaries, and two other great docos screening in other cinemas.
The day starts with Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven’s Gate. The 10:00am screening is followed at 11:40am by a screening of Heaven’s Gate, the notorious history of which inspired the documentary. Listen to a podcast of Final Cut director Michael Epstein’s interview with RRR radio in Melbourne here.
At 3:50pm, director Cathy Henkel will introduce her new film, I Told You I was Ill: Spike Milligan. The film sold out at its recent screening in Melbourne International Film Festival. As well as giving us access to the family private collection of remarkable old home movies, the film includes interviews with Joanna Lumley, Eric Sykes and Michael Palin, among others.
At 6:00pm we screen Arakimentari, an upbeat documentary on controversial Japanese photographer Araki Nobuyoshi. First-time director Travis Klose was given remarkable access to Araki’s life and the insanely compulsive method behind his work. Known for blurring the line between art and pornography, Araki stunned and shocked his country by single-handedly breaking the ban on photographing pubic hair in Japan. Accompanied by interviews with a few of Araki’s subjects—actor Takeshi Kitano, Richard Kern and singer Bjork—the film probes Araki’s photos as well as the eccentric mind that conceived them.
At 7:40pm The Fearless Freaks screens. A documentary of The Flaming Lips, a band ‘requested and respected by everyone from Beck to Justin Timberlake’, the film is as anarchic and playful as the band itself. View the trailer at the film’s official site www.fearlessfreaks.com. If you aren’t familiar with the band, get a taste at their official site www.flaminglips.com.
In South Bank Cinema 4 at 4:10pm, we are screening documentary Darwin’s Nightmare. This is what Time Out had to say:
“Hubert Sauper’s acclaimed documentary is a compelling cautionary tale that clearly shows how, in this age of globalisation, things can easily evolve in the worst possible of unforeseen ways. Back in the 1960s someone poured some non-native fish into Lake Victoria. The profoundly predatory Nile Perch was far bigger than its native rivals and, in killing off most species, also had a deleterious effect on the human population: farmers moved to the lake to become fishermen and satisfy the European and Russian demand for fish, which in turn caused massive economic change, sickness, poverty and, inevitably, political skulduggery.
Witty, provocative, angry and heart-breaking, this incisive, imaginative film ranges wide in the subjects it covers. Filming undercover gave Sauper access to an impressive array of people, from businessmen and pilots to prostitutes and EU politicians, some of them alarmingly frank in their admissions. Less an exposé of corrupt individuals than a terribly lucid investigation into mankind’s mad capacity for (self-)destruction, it’s a film that will surely prick the conscience of all who see it.”
Visit the official website www.coop99.at/darwins-nightmare.
Last, but not least, is Simone Bitton’s Wall, which was featured in yesterday’s eNews. In case you missed the item, the film looks at the impact of the ‘security fence’ built along the Palestine/Israeli border – a giant concrete wall – that is supposed to stop the conflicts between the territories..
2005 BIFF Jury Prizes Awarded
The 14th Brisbane International Film Festival presented by Vision, revealed the three winners of the Jury Awards in a ceremony today, Saturday 7 August at 11am.
The award presentation held at the Nepalese Pagoda, South Bank Parklands was hosted by Artistic Director Anne Démy-Geroe and Executive Manager Gary Ellis, along with the invited juries. BIFF is thrilled to announce that the Federation Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique (FIPRESCI) or film critic’s award for Asia Pacific Film, was taken out by Look Both Ways, recently described by At the Movies’ critic, Margaret Pomeranz as “one of the best made in this country in the last five years”.
The debut from writer/director Sarah Watt (winner of the 2004 Premier’s Literary Award for her screenplay), Look Both Ways will screen tonight at 7.10pm in Regent Cinema 3. The FIPRESCI Jurors were the organisation’s General Secretary, Klaus Eder, Mike Walsh – head of the Screen Studies Department at Flinders University, and Julietta Zacharová, Programme Director of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Ms Démy-Geroe was particularly delighted to announce the jury’s choice for the 2005 INTERFAITH Award for a film promoting humanitarian values as Mysterious Skin.
“There were fears Gregg Araki’s film would have its final Australian screening at BIFF, following the review of classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification,” said Ms Démy-Geroe.
“We are thrilled Mysterious Skin’s R18+ rating has now been confirmed, and the film can now be commercially released in Australia.”
Runner up for the 2005 INTERFAITH Award was Yes, by Sally Potter. The INTERFAITH Jurors are academic Mark Byrne, film critic and journalist Jan Epstein and award winning Iranian director, Alireza Ghanie. The NETPAC Award for the Promotion of Asian Cinema went to Spying Cam, from South Korean director Whang Cheol-mean. Part mystery thriller, part psychological drama, this film proves yet again that imagination and intelligence count for more than material resources in making powerful cinema.
Special mention goes to Turkish feature, Boats out of Watermelon Rinds. The NETPAC Jurors are ABC Radio National Film Critic, Julie Rigg and Asian film industry identities Scott Rosenberg and Indu Shrikent.
Over the last 11 days, BIFF has shown a selection of some of the most incredible and interesting films from Australia and around the world, many of which would never have screened commercially in this country. The 14th Brisbane International Film Festival presented by Vision, winds up on Monday evening 8 August with a screening of the hotly anticipated new John Maybury film, The Jacket starring Adrien Brody, Kris Kristofferson and Keira Knightley.
Regent Cinema Screenings May be Moved
Due to temporary unavailability of parts to repair the air conditioning in the Regent Cinema complex, we have been forced to move some screenings in Regent 3 to the Myer Centre cinemas to ensure patron comfort.
At this stage, we have been advised that the system will be repaired in time for the weekend. We will be making decisions on a daily basis as to whether further venue changes are warranted.
If a screening is moved, signs will be posted in the Regent foyer with directions to the new venue. Tickets must still be acquired through the usual channels. Although tickets will continue to list the Regent as the venue, they will be accepted at the new venue.
BIFF 05 Program Updates
Thursday 4 August
12:00pm Nitaboh SOLD OUT
7:00pm 36 Quai Des Orfèvres ALMOST SOLD OUT
Friday 5 August
10:00am Malabar Princess SOLD OUT
Please note the following sessions are selling fast:
The Taste of Tea 5/8 8:45pm
Moolaadé 7/8 5:00pm
Due to a late cancellation by a large school group for The Color of Milk (screening 10:00am 8/8), there are now additional tickets available for that screening.
Coca is Coming!
Late on Monday night we received the news that Zainap Gashaeva, the subject of the documentary Coca: The Dove from Chechnya, has been granted a visa and will be able to attend our screenings of the film.
This is a mixed blessing for the author of these missives, who heard the news after presses rolled on the print newsletter containing the story about how she was unable to get a visa…but we are thrilled Brisbane will be able to meet Coca.
Zainap – nicknamed Coca by her parents – has worked tirelessly for eleven years to try to bring the daily torture, abduction and murder of ordinary Chechen’s to international attention. The documentary on her life and work is a powerful work that was described by Screen International as ‘shattering’.
Don’t miss the opportunity to hear from this courageous woman.
Coca: The Dove From Chechnya screens 4/8 4:00pm & 6/8 7:15pm.
Top Ten So Far….
The voting slips we collect at the end of every session help us to compile a list of the ten most popular contemporary titles, as well as the ten most popular shorts. Based on the raw scores from voting so far, here’s how it stands (for sessions up to midnight on Sunday 31 July).
Showtime Top Ten
1. I Know I’m Not Alone
2. Machuca
3. Mysterious Skin
4. Murderball
5. The Mighty Celt (screens again 2/8 10.00am)
6. Paradise Now
7. The Taste of Tea (screens again 5/8 8.45pm)
8. Me and You and Everyone We Know
9. Phil the Alien (screens again 5/8 10.45pm)
10. Dumplings
The Merchant Solutions Shorts Top Ten
(NB: As only a few shorts sessions have screened to date, we are only listing the Top 5 so far).
1. Boy
2. Little Witches
3. Confession
4. Who’s the Top
5. Goodnight Irene
Mysterious Skin Decision
Following the review of classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification, Mysterious Skin’s R18+ rating has been confirmed, and the film can now be commercially released in Australia.
BIFF presented by Vision heard the news when David Stratton, anticipating the announcement, interrupted the Chauvel interview to take a call from Margaret Pomeranz, who was on stand-by for the decision in Sydney.
We are thrilled with the decision.
BIFF 05 Program Updates
Wednesday 3 August
12:00pm Magnifico SOLD OUT
Thursday 4 August
12:00pm Nitaboh SOLD OUT
Friday 5 August
10:00am Malabar Princess SOLD OUT
Please note the following sessions are selling fast:
Mosaic 2/8 8:40pm
The Taste of Tea 5/8 8:45pm
Moolaadé 7/8 5:00pm
The Color of Milk 8/8 10:00am
Please book early to avoid disappointment.
Paradise Now to be Released in Australia
If you missed out on Friday night’s screening of Paradise Now, you’ll be pleased to hear it is scheduled to be released here in October. One patron who sent us feedback on the film described it as ‘an incredible film’ that was at once ‘shocking, emotive and entertaining’.
www.paradise-now.film.de
BIFF 05 Program Updates
Monday 1 August
12.00pm Different Worlds shorts programme SOLD OUT
Wednesday 3 August
12.00pm screening of Magnifico SOLD OUT
Thursday 4 August
12.00pm screening of Nitaboh SOLD OUT.
Friday 5 August
10.00am screening of Malabar Princess SOLD OUT
Definitely Not Alone
The Friday night session of Michael Franti’s film I Know I’m Not Alone was one of the first sell-out sessions of the main programme (along with Fruit Chan’s Dumplings), and it’s currently leading the tally in the Most Popular Film stakes (first results published Tuesday). Tonight’s session is close to sold out too, so get in fast if you want to be there.
Other titles selling fast include Mad Hot Ballroom (1/8) and Moolaadé (7/8).
Change to Booking Policy
For logistical reasons, we have had to change to booking policy for phone bookings. We can now no longer offer phone bookings less than 24 hours before a given session. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Booking can be made online up to 2 hours before a session.
We have also introduced a new process the reduce queues at peak times. If you are PICKING UP tickets you have booked online or over the phone, please complete one of the TICKET COLLECTION FORMS at the Box Office and place in the box provided. Box Office staff will process requests while films are in session.
Puppy Bounds into Town
Cast and crew of the new Australian feature Puppy have arrived in Brisbane ahead of the Sunday night Australian Premiere of the film. The director Keiran Galvin will be well known to followers of local short films, for his films The Burning Boy (BIFF 2000) and Bad Ass Mono-Winged Angel. Keiran, the producer Melissa Beauford, lead actress Nadia Townsend and a number of the crew will be attending the screening.
Puppy stars Nadia Townsend and Bernard Curry, the first major roles for both actors. Their performances received strong acclaim at the film’s first screening at the Newport Beach Film Festival earlier this year. Nadia, whose previous credits included ABC drama Fireflies and Danny Deckchair, is the daughter of Wonder World host Simon Townsend: both she and her father will be seeing the film for the first time at its screening on Sunday night. Bernard Curry is best known for his role on Neighbours, with other credits including a role in The Dish. Bernard is one of the four Curry siblings, the most famous of which is Stephen, familiar from roles in The Castle and Changi.
Puppy’s soundtrack is almost all-Australian (only one track isn’t Australian), and features Bertie Blackman, whose single You Kill Me is currently on high rotation on Triple J, and local band Zephyr Timbre, both of whom will be attending the screening.
BIFF 2005 Fast Film Winners
Damien Pascoe and Clint Lewis won the major prize, for Best Film, at The Courier-Mail BIFF Fast Film finals on Wednesday Night for a short documentary on the dole, A Dole-umentary. The film included interviews with John Safran, Triple J’s Lindsay McDougall and Democrat Andrew Bartlett, as well as satirical animations of John Howard. Damien and Clint won $3 000 cash and $5 000 in post-production facilities at Cutting Edge, so we hope to see another film from them in the near future.
The winner of the Merchant Solutions Best Young Filmmaker Prize was Rob Barbuto for Freddie’s Story. The prize, $1 500 cash, is awarded to the best film by an entrant under 25 years of age, provided they didn’t win the major prize.
Judges Des Partridge, Jack Sargeant and Kais Nashef commented on the high standard of the finalists. We were also impressed with the effort made by the filmmaker teams on the night – top marks to the Trolley Man team for their great pop-art t-shirts and their fan club in the trolley boy uniform – reflective vests.
BIFF 2005 Documentary Program Highlights
This decade may well be remembered as the decade when documentaries staked their claim on the big screen. Certainly, it’s a big decade for documentaries at the Festival, as this year the Chauvel Award presented by Brisbane City Council will be received by a documentary-maker for the second time in the Award’s history.
We are very pleased that David Bradbury, who has dedicated his life and career to exposing truth through film, will be receiving the Chauvel this year, and are thrilled to be screening his new film Blowin’ in the Wind, which investigates the use of Uranium depleted weapons by US forces – and explores whether they are being tested in Queensland’s Shoalwater Bay. Don’t forget that as part of the Chauvel Presentation, David Stratton will interview David Bradbury in the Regent cinema, and show clips from his films. This always enlightening session will be in Regent Cinema 1 on Monday 1 August at 7.15pm – and its free!
If you are one of the many documentary fans you’ve probably already discovered the documentary section, which includes gem’s such as Festival Guest Caveh Zahedi’s autobiographical film I am a Sex Addict and new Alan Zweig documentary I, Curmudgeon and a brilliant eco-political documentary Darwin’s Nightmare, as well some great films on filmmaking including the story of the making of the world’s most (in)famous porn film, Deep Throat.
But we have docos hidden all over the place! We mentioned the music-themed docs in last week’s newsletter but here’s a few others you may have missed:
Voices from the Pacific is comprised of three documentaries and a docu-drama from our Pacific neighbours. Festival regulars may remember the Won Smalbag Theatre Company, whose film A Piece of Land screened at BIFF in 2003. It is a community theatre group in Vanuatu who use drama to explore social issues: this year we are screening Vanua-Tai…Of Land and Sea, a docu-drama account of how the group are using drama to promote turtle conservation. Local award-winning filmmaker Jan Cattoni is one of the directors on the project.
This spotlight also includes Betelnut Bisnis, the story of Lukas Kaima, a villager from the Highland’s of Papua New Guinea who, like many of his peers has moved to the city to find his fortune; Mauna-Kea-Temple Under Siege which documents efforts to preserve the sacred lands of Hawaii’s indigenous peoples; and Minginui, a study of an isolated Maori village on NZ’s North Island.
In the Australian section are three very different documentaries. Cathy Henkel, whose film The Man Who Stole My Mother’s Face screened last year, is back with a deeply personal portrait of Spike Milligan. It is the first time his family have opened up their personal archives and should be an absolute treat for fans of docos and Spike Milligan alike. Janet Mereweather’s short films have been well-received at the Festival in previous years and we have no doubt that her first extended film will be popular. Jabe Babe: A Heightened Life is an astonishing film, incredibly inventive and visually stunning. Last but far from least is Kathy Drayton’s wonderful portrait of iconic Australian photographer Carol Jerrems, Girl in a Mirror.
People seeking works with political bite will find plenty to satisfy. As well as Darwin’s Nightmare (mentioned above), consider State of Fear a cautionary take about the politics of fear focusing on events in Peru under Alberto Fujimori. Coca: The Dove From Chechnya also serves as a warning, focussing on the atrocities committed in Chechnya and the efforts of one woman to get international attention for the crimes being committed by both the terrorists and the state authorities. Battleground: 21 Day’s on the Empire’s Edge is one of four documentaries included in our Middle East spotlight, Sketches of a New Moon. It looks at the Iraq conflict through the eyes of a Shia Muslim who was forced to flee Iraq during Desert Storm, returning for the first time for the making of this film. Other titles include I Know I’m Not Alone, mentioned in last week’s newsletter, Wall, a study of the ‘security fence’ that has been erected between Israeli and Palestinian territories and Shape of the Moon, an intimate verité portrait of life in modern Indonesia.
But that’s not all! In our Korean Cinema spotlight, there’s My Korean Cinema a series of ‘essays’ on the history of one of the world’s most robust national cinemas. The Road Movie Retrospective, Blacktop Dreams also features documentary titles: Don’t Look Back, The Road to God Know’s Where and Wrong Side of the Road, all music-related, and Gallivant, an unusual inter-generational road-trip around the coastal villages of England, Wales and Scotland.
For information on parking, meal deals and film classification, please refer to www.biff.com.au or the BIFF booking Film lovers are encour aged to subscribe to the Festival newsletter via the website www.biff.com.au for up-to information on guests and programming.
The 14th Brisbane International Film Festival is organised by Pacific Film and Television Commission.
BIFF 2005
27 July – 8 August
www.biff.com.au
14th Brisbane International Film Festival – Immerse Yourself!
Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) , presented by Vision, has an international reputation for challenging, exciting ultimately rewarding its audiences with the most imaginative and highest quality cinema.
The key message to audiences from Artistic Director, Anne Démy-Geroe is to “immerse yourself”, and from 27 July patrons will no doubt find it difficult to avoid doing just that with the amazing program of world cinema, documentaries, showcase films, animated and experimental film, shorts and the brilliant Cine Sparks Australian Film Festival for Young on offer.
In 2005 the Opening Night Event will be a huge Opening Celebration of film, filmmakers and audiences across South free public screening of the best entries in The Courier -Mail BIFF Fast Film Competition will be staged in the Suncorp alongside the traditional and very glamorous Opening Night film screening and party at Southbank Cinemas.
This year’s Opening Night film, U-Carmen eKyahelitsha, awarded the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin International Festival, is an incredible re-working of the famous opera Carmen, set in a Cape Town township. Closing BIFF will be director John Maybury’s mind bending gothic -horror, The Jacket, starring Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley.
Showcase screenings at South Bank Cinemas will be P.S . – a Woody Allen- esque take on modern life and relationships Laura Linney, Topher Grace and Gabriel Byrne and 36 Quai des Orfèvres - starring Gérard Depardieu and Daniel Auteuil, thriller set in the shady world of a Parisian police section fighting organised crime. Other major changes to the 2005 festival are that films will be screened across three separate venues: South Bank host daily film screenings as well as a chill-out zone for young people; South Bank’s Suncorp Piazza will screen an free program of films for all audiences; and the festival’s traditional home at the Regent Cinemas will also host daily screenings.
Expect the return of familiar features such as The Chauvel Award, speciality program focuses, retrospectives, workshops, seminars, charity screening and special guests. The Chauvel Award recognises a distinguished contribution to Australian filmmaking, and the recipient for 2005 is one Australia’s most important documentary producers, David Bradbury. Bradbury’s documentaries Front Line and Cuando? were both nominated for Academy Awards. BIFF is delighted to be screening Bradbury’s latest film Wind and presenting him in conversation with David Stratton.
This year’s major retrospective celebrates 50 years of film from Malayalam, southern India, with focuses on Latin American, Chinese Underground and Korean Independent Cinema. There will also be focuses on Road Movies, Experimental Film and cinema from the Pacific region.
Tickets for the 14th Brisbane International Film Festival go on sale on Wednesday 6 July and are available from www.biff.com.au or by phone on (07) 3007 3007 between 9am and 4pm daily from 6 July to 26 July, then from one the first screening of the day until late during the festival. Tickets are also available from the BIFF ticket box at the Hoyts Regent Cinema (Queen St Mall) or South Bank Cinemas Grey St, South Bank) between 9am and 4pm daily from 6 July to 26 July, then from one hour before the first screening day until late during the festival.
For information on parking, meal deals and film classification, please refer to www.biff.com.au or the BIFF booking Film lovers are encour aged to subscribe to the Festival newsletter via the website www.biff.com.au for up-to information on guests and programming.
The 14th Brisbane International Film Festival is organised by Pacific Film and Television Commission.
BIFF 2005
27 July – 8 August
www.biff.com.au
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