Antenna International Film Festival line-up announced
The Antenna International Documentary Film Festival has announced their inaugural line-up for the event which runs 5-9 October.
Boasting 15 Australian premieres and 25 Sydney premieres with films from 18 different countries, there is $10,000 in prizes.
Opening night at the Dendy Opera Quays will screen Robert Nugent’s Memoirs of a Plague that looks at the relationship between humans and the locust.
Closing night will be Philip Cox’s The Bengali Detective followed by an awards presentation to announce the winner of the SBS Award for International Documentary (worth $5000) and the Best Australian Documentary ($2500). Both films are in competition.
Other films in International Competition: Michael Madsen’s Into Eternity, Robin Hessman’s My Perestroika, Danfun Dennis’ Hell and Back Again and Marcus Linden’s Regretters – winner of the Prix Europa Best Documentary at Berlin 2010 about two transgender people regretting their decisions to undergo surgery.
In the international special screenings, see Alex Gibney’s Magic Trip – an adventure into the travels and mind of Ken Kasey’s psychedelic ’60s. 40 years on, Pool Party (dir: Beth Aala) takes the rock n” roll lifestyle to an abandoned pool in Williamsburg New York for a series of concerts that would gentrify the forgotten neighbourhood. Knuckle (dir: Ian Palmer) is, on the other hand, a bruising documentary about an Irish tradition of clearing travelling clan disputes by bare knuckle fighting. Meanwhile, equally competitive but much friendlier, Autumn Gold (dir: Jan Tenhaven) is the story of a select group of 80-100 year olds as they prepare for the World Masters Championships.
Films in Australian Competition: Breaking the News about the demands of ethical journalistic reporting and the demands of democracy as one East Timorese, Jose turns from resistance fighter to head of the most successful newspaper. Life In Vitro (dir: Lauren Teiko-Bayliss) is Teiko-Bayliss story to help a couple’s last attempt at in vitro fertilisation. The Triangle Wars (dir: Rosie Jones) is the battle between local government, big business and the community regarding a mega mall’s to go up on crown land. Memoirs of a Plague is also in the Australian competition.
There are three films screening in the Short Competition: Something to tell You (dir: Peter Gleeson) is the story of a cyber-relationship between Gary and his new flame he’s not yet met in person – but there’s something she should know about Gary first. The First Interview (dir: Dennis Tupicoff) presents the first media interview in history which began in Paris in 1886. We Are Illuminated (dir: William Head) follows five revellers clubbing in Melbourne.
For more information on tickets and special events, visit Antenna.
