Documentaries screen at new film festival
WHAT do locusts, nuclear waste, big business and the collapse of the Soviet Union all have in common?
They are among the subjects featured in films being showcased at The Antenna International Documentary Film Festival, the first of its kind to be held in Australia, which is currently being held in Sydney at the Dendy Opera Quays and the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington.
The event is the brainchild of founding director David Rokach, who moved to Australia from Israel in 2008.
During the four-day festival from October 5-9, 25 films from Australia and overseas are being screened, with awards going to the best international and Australian documentaries. The event will also feature panel discussions and a student film competition.
Rokach said festival organisers received more than 400 entries from around the world. “We chose films we hope will appeal to audiences and also challenge them, covering a broad range of content and form,” he said.
“The festival aims to be relevant, diverse, extensive and become an important platform to present the complexities of the world we live in and the strong vision of documentary filmmakers.”
Australian films to be featured include Robert Nugent’s locust-themed Memoirs of a Plague, Lauren Teiko-Bayliss’s Life In Vitro and Rosie Jones’ The Triangle Wars, which explores the struggle between local government, big business and the community.
The international program includes Michael Madsen’s Into Eternity, which tackles the issue of nuclear waste and will be followed by an audience discussion with the director, alongside a diverse range of other works.
“The international films draw on a wide range of stories and experiences, from war epic Hell and Back Again to the collapse of the Soviet Union in My Perestroika,” Rokach said.
Rokach, who studied film and philosophy at Tel Aviv University, began working towards staging a documentary festival after arriving in Sydney three years ago to be with his partner.
“I decided to start working towards creating Antenna after seeing the absence of anything like it in Australia,” he said.
“I saw the impact that Doc Aviv [Tel Aviv’s international documentary film festival which Rokach worked on from 2003-2007] had, not just in the development of new audiences for documentary, but also in the quality of the films being produced.
“So I thought the creation of a festival dedicated exclusively to documentary cinema could be a great contribution.”
Rokach linked up with co-director Alejandra Canales after meeting her at an Australian Documentary Forum event.
Together they assembled a team, secured funding from the NSW Government and a sponsorship deal from SBS, and before long Rokach’s dream became reality.
Rokach’s goal is to continue to grow and strengthen the Antenna festival.
“I want the festival to continue to be a platform that promotes and supports documentary film culture in Australia,” he said.
Enquiries: www.antennafestival.org.
REPORT by GARETH NARUNSKY
PHOTO from Michael Madsen’s film, Into Eternity.
comments