latest notices
La Mirada Announces Special Guests
La Mirada Film Festival 2010 is delighted to announce multi award winning actor ANTONIO DE LA TORRE and acclaimed director JOSE ANTONIO SALGOT as special guests of the 2010 festival. Antonio de la Torre will present the films, Fat People (Gordos)...
New Direction For ABC TV's Indigenous Content
(Nationwide)
Jocelyne Saabs 'What's Going On?' World Avant Premire
(QSL)
Screen Australia Releases Revised Program Guidelines
(Nationwide)
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Creative Collaboration
Stills photographer Lisa Tomasetti has collaborated with cinematographer Seamus McGarvey for her latest project
A Film to Tweet About
Director makes a unique debut feature film inspired by social networking sites
Another Win For Carmilla Hyde
A revenge thriller takes out Best Feature at the 2010 South Australian Screen Awards
Calling All Screenwriters
A new social networking site claims to help aspiring screenwriters showcase their work to industry professionals
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What If?
You can keep your Kodak and your Grauman’s Chinese theatre, when it comes to Australia the Oscars have absolutely nothing on the Kodak Inside Film Awards which were held at Sydney’s iconic Luna Park last night.
Against the backdrop of the sparkling harbour on a beautiful Spring evening, actors directors, models, producers, entertainers and all of Australia's spectacular filmmaking talent strolled down the red carpet chatting to the press and waiting for the celebrations to begin. The red carpet throng may not have been as busy as the Golden Globes, which Oscar winning Catherine Martin ensured goes on for over an hour and half but there were enough cameras flashing and mics poked in faces for the event to have that official feeling.
Robert Connolly (director of Bailbo) was looking forward to enjoying the evening and commented that win or lose, the talent that he was up against made him proud to be among the nominees for the awards. Accompanied by his star Damon Gameau, they wondered where the fantastically short shorts from the film had gone and whether or not they should have sported them this night.
A bustle awaited the big name stars such as Megan Gale and Sam Worthington but it was the imposing figure of Warwick Thornton whose smiling face betrayed no nerves and his shy star Rowan McNamara that the punters were banking on. Samson and Delilah may be Australia's Oscar hope for 2010 but it was sure to take home a few IF awards last night. Unsurprisingly, and deservedly, the film swept the floor. Samson and Delilah won Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Actress, Best Music and Best Script. Nick Giannopoulos (Wog Boy) ensured everyone kept their heads when he announced Best Actress, forgetting to first list the nominees and jumping straight to the winner. As the awards were being recorded for television, the announcement had to be remade but the crowd managed to remain just as excited to hear Marissa Gibson declared the winner (again).
Inside the media room there was chaos as the first of the winners began to emerge, clutching their huge bunch of flowers and their blue and white statuette. Adam Elliot sparked a giggle when announcing the winner of Best Animation (Eddie White and Ari Gibson for The Cat Piano) but giggled himself when he emerged as winner for Best Production Design for Mary and Max, presented by the glamorous Megan Gale who Elliot gushed over when accepting his award.
Australia's biggest film in the last year, Australia, wasn't to go home empty handed when it took out The Cutting Edge IF Award for Box Office Achievement and Baz once again got to take the stage when he accepted the Kodak Living Legend IF Award. His speech was full of thanks to his wife and those that had helped him in his career but mostly he echoed the sentiments of nearly everyone present on the night: that this year's stock of Australian films were a magnificent legacy for 2009 and the talent that has emerged will ensure a thriving industry in the years ahead.
While some of the attendees were on the promotional trail (Jeremy Sims was out in force talking up his war feature Beneath Hill 60 due out in the first half of next year with what seemed like half the cast also in attendance), others were content to just sit back and relax such as the radiant Deborah Mailman (Bran Nue Dae), who didn't just have a pregnant glow about her but also a shining smile due to her Best Short Film win for her directorial debut Ralph. In the hustle and bustle backstage she was also not too busy to procure some chocolate for the hungry press. We hail you Deborah.
As the last few awards were revealed and the media began to subside, the crowds flooded the Crystal Ballroom where the after party was kicking off and the alcohol was flowing. Despite the many sore heads today, Sydney can be proud of the sparkling event held last night and Australia's film industry can hold their heads high as we head into a new decade, awaiting the possibilities.