Reels from Oz

Steve Waters,Consul General,Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,Australian Government,who was present at the festival’s inauguration on Tuesday,regards this as an excellent opportunity to connect with Indian audiences. “The entire idea for this project goes back to Kiran Shantaram from Federation of Film Societies of India. He saw the film festival in Mumbai and suggested we take it to other places as well. So after organising it in three places in Mumbai,we brought it to Pune. And we plan to take it to other cities like Ahmedabad,Delhi,Chennai,Trivandrum and Bengaluru.”

Tuesday saw the screening of a seven-minute film – Plastic post the inauguration of the fest by Waters. Two films,Spider and Rose and Tempted ,both directed by Bill Bennett,were also screened. The festival will also see three more films by Bennett – Kiss or Kill and Uninhabited on August 24 at 4 pm and 6 pm respectively and Nugget on August 25 at 4 pm. “ Bill is an ace film-maker. He had started off as a journalist and soon began making documentaries before switching to feature films. His ability to bring out the characters is what defines his movies in the best way,” said Waters,who was also the chief guest for the event.

The festival brings together a combination of thriller,romantic,comedy and animation films. Kings of Mykonos ,directed by Peter Andrikidis,will be screened on August 25 at 6 pm followed by Samson and Delilah on August 26 at 4 pm. Mary and Max by Adam Ellio,an animation movie,will be screened on the same day at 6 pm.

Referring to the collaborations between the two countries,Waters admits that the racism episode impacted the Indian film projects in Australia. “For as long as two years,Indian film producers were not interested to come and shoot in Australia. We have gone through a long hiatus and much due to the misreporting done on the Australian racism stand. We are hoping to dilute this and strengthen our bond with the Indian industry.” The consulate has also negotiated with FICCI Frames to co- produce a couple of films,details of which will be finalised in a few months.