Narrowing down that long list of films for any festival is never an easy task. However, if you want to maintain your relationships, work your day job and get home in time to feed the cat, then it must be done! Alas, who can resist the insatiable pull of this year’s Sydney Film Festival line up? I’ll be honest; I’ll probably end up seeing every random film about potatoes, horses, catcam and a rogue banana. But this year I want to make sure that I plan to see at least a few of the recommended features. So I’ve written myself a little list of must see films of this year’s festival.

First on my list is Brave, the crowd pleaser of this year’s festival line up. We are in for a treat with this film. The mixture of a strong female protagonist, fantasy, adventure and magic is a winning combination in family fantasy films. Not to mention that this is another release from the dream team of Pixar and Walt Disney Studios. Also, Billy Connolly is introducing the film, and quite frankly I’d go to watch him introduce the slicing of a ham.

The Loneliest Planet is next on my list. Gael García Bernal stars as Alex who is in love with Nica played by striking redhead, Hani Furstenberg. Together they embark on a trip through the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, with their guide, Dato (Bidzina Gujabidze). Critics have pointed to the slow pacing of this film; however, it looks stunning enough to warrant such liberties and Gael has never failed me with his choice of films in the past.

Opening film for Cannes Film Festival 2012 and competing for this year’s Palme d’Or, is Wes Anderson’s latest feature film, Moonrise Kingdom. Set in 1965 off the coast of New England, Moonrise Kingdom is about two young adolescents who fall in love and run away together into the wilderness, much to the dismay of their parents, played by Bill Murray and Frances McDormand. The cast alone is reason enough to see this film, with appearances by Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton and Edward Norton.

After the success of Aussie drama series, The Slap, the next logical step is the film adaptation of another of author, Tsiolkas Christos’ gripping novels, Dead Europe. Being a tale of bigotry, ancestry, guilt and family corruption, Dead Europe sounds like just the thing we need to cure us from our withdrawals of The Slap and to reconnect us with the complex tales of our often bleak, yet integral ancestral roots.

The film that I am most curious about this year is Death of a Japanese Salesman. This is a documentary about a recently retired business man who is diagnosed with terminal Cancer. His daughter, Mami Sunada records the final months of his life and turns these precious moments into an existential film about ageing, loss and family.

After so many heart wrenching films, we’ll surely be craving some escapism. For me, this mostly comes in the form of horror. But let’s face it, horror film and television shows have become somewhat conventional of late. The horror genre has been aching for a bite of indecent, evocative and well sculpted gothic horror of the likes of greats such as Dario Argento, Sam Raimi and John Carpenter, to name a few. Let’s hope that we get that fix from Livid, a ghost story about vampire ballerinas a creepy old mansion, and a bunch of ghouls. The selling point for me is definitely the cameo by Betty Blue star Béatrice Dalle, who plays Lucie’s mother in the film.

For more information on session times and ticketing information for this year’s Sydney Film Festival, go to their website at http://sff.org.au/

Los Angelenos Alert: FREE #Sundance Work in Progress Screening of Judith Helfand’s documentary “Cooked” about the worst heat wave in Chicago history. Screens Wednesday May 16 at 7 PM: http://bit.ly/INRexH

We’re excited to announce the four new projects just selected for our annual #Sundance #NativeLab to take place in New Mexico: http://bit.ly/IUKP4V

Chaotic Pictures is excited about Screen Australia’s involvement of these 16 productions, including our own CHRONICAL, written and to be directed by Seth Larney, produced by Lisa Shaunessy, executive produced by Michael Rymer and co-produced by James Whitlam & John Dietz of VisPop.

Sixteen feature projects to receive development support

Media Releases 2012 – Screen Australia announces almost $400,000 in development support for 16 feature projects, enabling filmmakers to take their scripts to the next stage towards production readiness.

FILMMAKER DEVELOPMENT SERIES Saturday 26th May

Forum: Camera Talk with Cinematographer John Brawley
Industry Open Day
Forum: Distributing and Marketing Short Films
Forum: Focus on Editing
Forum: Act. Write. Direct. Those who do it all

http://www.stkildafilmfestival.com.au/2012-s2/page-134/about-the-festival

St Kilda Film Festival · ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

Stkilda Film Festival Melboure – Showcase of the best Australian & International Short Films

Audrey Tautou stars as Nathalie Kerr, a woman whose life changes course after the sudden death of her husband, François (Pio Marmaï). Nathalie becomes withdrawn from intimacy and buries all of her energies into her career. Three years later Nathalie unexpectedly finds herself in an awkward love triangle between her arrogant boss and her goofy Swedish co-worker.

Due to the mainstream success of Jean Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie, elven-featured Audrey Tautou’s beauty has been debated by audiences and critics alike as though it is the only element of her character that should be fallen in love with. We tend to typecast the lovely, Audrey Tautou as our quirky French doll, however, in Coco Before Chanel she proved herself as a reputable actress in her own right, away from our labels and criticisms. Delicacy also proves that to pigeon-hole Audrey as the little quirky French doll would be to miss the point entirely.

With just the right dose of drama, whimsy and comedy, Delicacy is first and foremost a romantic comedy, a Beauty and the Beast fairytale in which two unlikely people fall in love against all odds. The most beautiful thing about this film is that our “beast” is not expected to go through a transformation in order to become a prince. It’s a movie that really embraces our own prejudices in a way that can only encourage people to care less about conventional beauty and more about the forces that keep us together in the first place.

Delicacy screened at the Alliance Francoise French Film Festival 2012.

Cast: Audrey Tautou, François Damiens, Pio Marmaï, Bruno Todeschini, Mélanie Bernier, and Joséphine de Meaux.
Directors: David Foenkinos and Stephane Foenkinos
Screenwriter: David Foenkinos
Producers: André Logie, Xavier Rigault and Marc-Antoine Robert
Cinematographer: Rémy Chevrin
Production designer: Maamar Ech-Cheikh
Editor: Virginie Bruant
Running Time: 108 minutes

Continuing the company’s highly successful Mermaid franchise, Mako Mermaids is the new 26 half-hour children’s spin off of the smash hit H20 Just Add Water, which is enjoyed by an audience of tens of millions in over 160 territories including Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom.

With a budget of $12.3 million, Mako Mermaids centres on three mermaids, Sirena, Nixie and Lyla, who are charged with the task of protecting their magical Mako Island from trespassers, only to be thwarted by the arrival of a 16 year old land-dweller Zac – who forms a special connection with the island and is granted a fish-like tail and amazing powers.

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The 3rd annual Indie Gems festival is back in town, bringing with it a brand new batch of fresh international and Australia films that will be screened at Riverside Theatres Parramatta. Featuring an eclectic line up of diverse Australian and international flicks, the festival will also offer networking events and workshops for independent filmmakers. Indie Gems seeks to highlight and showcase emerging filmmakers from around the world, with a spotlight on Western Sydney.
Indie Gems is proud to be presenting an assortment of independent films to entertain and inspire its diverse audience. The festival is calling for entries across all festival categories including: Feature Films, Shorts, Documentaries, TV Pilots, Digital Creations, Music Videos and Animation.  Professional and amateur filmmakers working in all aesthetic disciplines and genres, including narrative, documentary, animation and experimental films, are welcome!
Film entry forms are available for download at www.titanview.com All film submissions must be received no later than 5:00 pm, May 25.

Indie Gems aims to develop the careers of emerging independent filmmakers; those attending Indie Gems will have the opportunity to receive one-on-one mentorship from leading industry professionals who are experts in new methods of film distribution and marketing.  Indie Gems will also host an awards night where a Mentor of the Year Award will be presented.   This inaugural award recognises local film professionals who have served as trusted advisors to up-and-coming filmmakers in both professional and personal spheres. On Sunday 29th July a special ceremony will be held for this year’s nominees and finalists, where the 2012 INDIE GEMS Mentor of the Year will be announced.
Indie Gems is sponsored by Titan View, an innovative film distribution company that releases award-winning, critically acclaimed feature films with cultural significance to Australia.    For more information visit www.titanview.com

Our alum So Young Kim brings her #Sundance feature “For Ellen” to new audiences in #London, 27 April premiere at @SundancefestUK – get tickets: http://bit.ly/HRcz9J