BIFF relaunch Chauvel Award towards adaptations
Brisbane International Film Festival and Screen Queensland have re-formatted the festival’s Chauvel Award to support novel-to-film adaptations with a $40,000 initiative.
Launched at the Brisbane Writer’s Festival’s ‘Books to Box Office’ session, the Chauvel Award, formerly recognising accomplished veterans of the industry, will now recognise film adaptations.
Maureen Barron, Screen Queensland’s CEO said at the launch: ““With domestic production levels on the rise in Queensland, we want to recognise the work of producers and writers at an earlier stage in a project’s life and, through the Chauvel Award, provide much-needed funds towards the development of a production that could stand alongside other great adaptations by Australian filmmakers.”
Queensland-born Charles Chauvel wrote, directed and produced films In the Wake of Bounty (1933 – starring Errol Flynn), The Rats of Tobruk (1944), Sons of Matthew (1949), and Jedda (1955).
“As a filmmaker, Charles Chauvel’s work reflected the rapidly evolving film industry of his era, and so the Chauvel Award has also evolved to the changing needs of Queensland’s screen production industry.”
The Chauvel Award is open to all Queensland based producers with a $2,000 bonus to the initiative for any producer with aa Queensland writer attached to the project.
Also announced is a new $25,000 BIFFDOCS Award for documentaries.
