by FilmInk Staff
“Neptune Frost was like nothing we have ever seen before,” said Jury President, stage and screen actor and director Shareena Clanton (Wentworth) on behalf of the jury. “By disrupting the colonial gaze and connecting the rising influence of technology in all our lives, this film penetrates deeply into your heart and soul to say that you are not too far disconnected from me. It felt at once absolutely specific, and entirely global.”
The Bright Horizons section of the festival also included Aftersun, The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future, Domingo and the Mist, Leonor Will Never Die, Mass, Playground, Rodeo, Robe of Gems and Australian films Petrol and The Stranger.
“This film was more than just ‘sweet’,” Shareena Clanton also commented on behalf of the jury about Sweet As, the MIFF Premiere Fund-supported film which won the Blackmagic Design Innovation Award. “It crossed worlds and intersected certain realities – incredibly difficult to achieve, even for any accomplished filmmaker. We are so excited to see what happens next in this filmmaker’s journey, and hope that this award encourages their future filmmaking projects; that it not just inspires more Indigenous women to be central characters in their own stories, but helps show just how resilient and beautiful Indigenous women are.”
Other nominees for the Innovation Award were director Del Kathryn Barton (Blaze), Editor Johanna Scott (Fire Front) and director Platon Theodoris (The Lonely Spirits Variety Hour).
The jury comprised world renowned VR artist Lynette Wallworth, cinematographer Adam Arkapaw (Animal Kingdom, True Detective) and Indonesian filmmaker Mouly Surya (Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts).
Another award handed out on the closing night was the 2022 MIFF Audience Award, which went to Greenhouse By Joost, a local documentary exploring global sustainability, directed by Bruce Permezel and Rhian Skirving, also supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund.
