Australian festivals reach 750,000
Screen Australia announced that the festivals, special events and conferences it supports reach an audience of 750,000 nationally.
The latest funding round saw 12 successful applicants, including Flickerfest and Tropfest; the round was “very competitive” as the amount requested was 40 percent more than the agency’s available resources of $2.3m.According to marketing manager Kathleen Drumm, the agency is committed to supporting film-related events, even if it faces a declining appropriation.
“While Screen Australia continues to have a declining appropriation, we remain committed to a significant investment in screen culture […] This triennial investment will provide certainty for their future,” said Drumm.
The events that will receive support are:
- Experimenta, which will tour an exhibition of creative digital content
- Flickerfest Film Festival
- Flickerfest Tour, which will expand to 36 venues by 2013
- Little Big Shots Film Festival and Tour, a children’s festival
- Melbourne Cinémathèque, with a weekly program to be held at ACMI – in addition to a touring program
- Melbourne International Animation Festival
- Australian International Animation Festival
- Popcorn Taxi (one year)
- St Kilda Film Festival
- Tropfest
- Access All Areas Film Festival, screening at wheelchair-accessible venues, with audio description and open captions.
- The Other Film Festival and Tour, a program of cinema with and about people with a disability.
The Festivals and Events program also supports seven major events: the Bigpond Adelaide Film Festival, the Brisbane International Film Festival, the Canberra International Film Festival, the Melbourne International Film Festival, the Revelation Perth International Film Festival, the Sydney Film Festival and the Sydney Travelling Film Festival.
The agency also announced that the Northern Territory Film Office and Screen Tasmania have been provided with funding to develop regional festival strategies.
