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Film Festival For The Barossa Valley
The Barossa Valley in South Australia is set to become the home of an international film festival with the help of Aussie filmmaker, Dave De Vries…
Dave De Vries' first feature film, Carmilla Hyde, did very well on the film festival circuit. The revenge thriller also won Best Picture at the South Australian Screen Awards and Best International Feature at the Swansea Bay Festival, the latter one of the largest festivals in the UK run by the AMRITSA - a British association that develops and runs international film festivals. As one whose excursions into film festivals has resulted in rewards, De Vries is now seeking to bring a new festival to Australia, and in particular to the evergreen wine country of the Barossa Valley.
"The AMRITSA operates a number of film festivals around the world," De Vries notes. "They run the Swansea Bay Film Festival, the Heart of England International Film Festival, and Internation Film Festivals in South Africa, Ireland, Thailand, Egypt, India and America...every major country in the globe, except Australia."
After his success at Swansea Bay, AMRITSA approached De Vries in the hopes that he might introduce the organisation to the Australian film industry. De Vries automatically began talks with powerful figures on state and national levels, in hopes that a new event could be worked into the cultural calendar, opening up opportunities not only for the film community, but for Australian citizens, consumers and business enterprises.
"We've already received so much support from the local scene including the Mayor of Barossa Council, the CEO of Barossa Grape and Wine Association and the Marketing Manager of Tourism Barossa," De Vries says.
"Essentially, the Festival would be a sort of conference/convention event," he explains. "It's centered around a headquarters where nearly 200 short and feature films are to be screened. The whole affair would culminate in a black tie, red carpet, award ceremony."
Slated to launch from the Barossa Valley in October 2011, the festival would span four days of screenings, showcasing emerging filmmakers, genre filmmakers, and movies from the independent and underground networks, and opening a new forum through which filmmakers can air their work to the public at large.
"Aside from films, there will be retrospectives, showcases, panels, Q&As, and all the pomp and circumstance of premier screenings and award nights," De Vries says.
De Vries is keen to remind us why the Barossa Valley was chosen as the location to jumpstart this new event. "Barossa is a very high profile wine growing region and a premier tourist location in South Australia," De Vries says. "To put that into perspective, when an Australian version of Monopoly came out, the Barossa Valley was positioned on the top square - the spot enjoyed by Mayfair on the London game board!
"Films will be screened at a number of exotic and iconic venues around the area, including barrel halls, restaurants, on cellar doors, and in amongst the grape fields. Many will be aired in a casual, "carnival" environment - with food and wine being positively encouraged."
It feels and sounds like a scene from a timeless film reel - sitting back, amongst good friends, with beautiful food and priceless wine, taking in all kinds of new and engaging movies.
For more on Dave De Vries and Carmilla Hyde, click here. Watch this space for more on the film festival.
Picture caption: De Vries accepting the award for Best Feature for Carmilla Hyde at the South Australian Screen Awards 2010