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LECTURES & SEMINARS |
BIFF offers a variety of lectures and seminars throughout the
festival for the discussion and appreciation of film issues
and their significance.
The writer-director relationship
Writers are notoriously outraged by the director's interpretation
(or misinterpretation) of their script. However, the writer-director
team behind our opening-night film Gettin' Square struck up
such a successful partnership that they are embarking on a
second project together.
To find out more about the dynamics between this duo, come
along to hear Jonathan Teplitzky (director) and Chris Nyst
(writer) in conversation.
Participants
Jonathan Teplitzky
Chris Nyst
Chair
TBC
Time
Wednesday 30 July, 5:30pm
Venue
Regent Bar
I'm too busy making films to watch them
Is it possible to make great films without watching other
films? Is all this film festival chin-stroking really feeding
the film industry?
Come and join us for a drink while our festival guests thrash
it out in an entertaining debate about film culture versus
film industry.
Presented by
File Critics' Circle of Australia (FCCA)
Participants
Megan Spencer (Triple J, ABC Radio), Jane Roscoe (Head of Screen Studies, AFTRS) and other festival guests.
Chair
Adrienne McKibbins, Secretary of FCCA
Time
Saturday 9 August, 4:00pm
Venue
Regent Bar
How long is a short?
Two of our favourite Australian films, Martha's New Coat
and Roy Höllsdotter Live, represent a new genre-the short
feature. As the name suggests, these films act as a stepping-stone
between shorts and features, providing an opportunity for
emerging talent to cut their teeth on a fifty-minute film
before moving on to full-length features.
Rachel Ward (director, Martha's New Coat), and Matthew Saville
(director, Roy Höllsdotter Live), will discuss the pros,
cons, and processes of making their début short features.
Participants
Matthew Saville
Rachel Ward
Time
Saturday 2 August, 2:00pm-3:15pm (following the screening
of both films)
Venue
State Library of Queensland
The horror, the horror
Described by David Stratton as a 'precociously inventive
horror pic', Undead, the début feature by two Brisbane-based
filmmakers, brothers Michael and Peter Spierig, is already
making waves. Only a few months after its world premiere at
the Fantasporto film festival in Portugal, Undead has been
sold to twenty-one countries and has been picked up by distribution
giant Lions Gate. Not content with directing, producing, writing,
and editing the film, the brothers also created the film's
stunning visual and computer effects.
Francis Leach (presenter, The Deep End, ABC Radio National)
will lead a lively discussion with Michael and Peter exploring
the appeal of horror films as well as their disreputable reputation
among film genres.
Participants
Michael and Peter Spierig
Chair
Francis Leach
Time
Monday 4 August, 6:10pm
Venue
State Library of Queensland
Foreigners Out! Schlingensief's Container
After an extreme right-wing political party was elected
in Austria in the year 2000, radical theatre director, artist,
and provocateur Christoph Schlingensief set up a horrible
parody of Big Brother. Twelve genuine asylum seekers were
placed in a container outside the Opera House in Vienna, and
each day two were deported based on the online votes of the
public. More than 800,000 people voted and many more logged
on to view the live webcast of the installation.
Austrian underground filmmaker Paul Poet directed both the
webcast and the subsequent documentary, Foreigners Out! Schlingensief's
Container. Following the film screening, Poet will take part
in a detailed discussion about this alarming project, touching
on the disturbing resonances with contemporary Australia.
Participant
Paul Poet
Time
Thursday 31 July, 7:30pm (following the film screening)
Venue
State Library of Queensland
Morning Sun
'The Gate of Heavenly Peace team turn their attention
back to Mao's Cultural Revolution, focusing on the idealism
and eventual disillusionment of the millions of teenagers
(Mao likened them to the 'morning sun') who ran amok in 1966-1968
as Red Guards. Simply as historiography, this assemblage of
original interviews, archive documentary, and clips from feature
films represents a real feat; it combines an accurate chronicle
of historical events with a precise and credible analysis
and interpretation of what was really going on in the political,
economic, and psychological arenas.' -Tony Rayns
Following the screening of Morning Sun, Geremie R. Barmé
(co-producer/director/writer, Morning Sun) and Sang Ye (archival
researcher, Morning Sun) will discuss the making of this superbly
crafted documentary.
Explanations as to how the filmmakers gained access to a
wealth of archival material that is otherwise off-limits under
government restrictions, and how they secured such frank,
personal interviews about the Cultural Revolution, will make
this an insightful session for filmmakers, history buffs,
and humanitarians.
Participants
Geremie R. Barmé
Sang Ye
Chair
Associate Professor Stephanie Hemelryk Donald
Time
Tuesday 5 August, 7:20pm (following the film screening)
Venue
State Library of Queensland
Meet the filmmakers
Look out for 'Meet the Filmmaker' sessions with special
festival guests:
Helen Bowden (producer, Travelling Light)
Kathryn Millard (director, Travelling Light)
Sue Maslin (producer, Japanese Story)
Sue Brooks (director, Japanese Story)
Adoor Gopalakrishnan (director, Shadow Kill)
Myung Kaynam (producer, Oasis)
Karen Moncrieff (director, Blue Car)
Nawfel Saheb-Ettaba (director, The Bookstore)
Tian Zhuangzhuang (director, Springtime in a Small Town)
Prima Rusdi (script, Eliana, Eliana)
Don't miss Q&A sessions with these filmmakers:
Helen Stickler (director, Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator)
Tom Zubrycki (director, Molly and Mobarak)
Scott Millwood (director, Wildness)
Introductions and special guests:
Kevin Powell (son of Michael Powell, director, The Thief
of Bagdad)
Joyanne Quiqui (actress, A Piece of Land)
Guests featured in Sophie Starlight's Journey
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