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Six Australian documentaries to screen at IDFA

Six local documentaries will screen across five categories at Amsterdam’s IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) from 16-27 November.

Screen Australia’s documentary manager, Liz Stevens said in a statement: “The inclusion of Australian documentaries at IDFA, one of the world’s top-tier documentary events, is a strong vote of confidence in Australian documentary and a significant achievement for the filmmakers.”

“The quality and range of work chosen for IDFA reflects the strength of craft and creativity found in Australian documentaries which are engaging audiences both at home and abroad.”

Then the Wind Changed, written/directed by Celeste Geer and My Thai Bride, directed by David Tucker and written by Ashleigh Hooker will screen in competition for the mid-length documentary.

Screening in the Green Screen Documentary competition, for environmental films is Tom Zubrycki’s The Hungry Tide while Goa Hippy Tribe, written and directed by Darius Devas will screen in the DocLab section, reserved for showcasing new forms of documentary making and storytelling.

After its screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, Tony Krawitz’s The Tall Man has been selected for the Best of Fests category.

While Bob Connolly and Sophie Raymond’s Mrs Carey’s Concert had already been announced to screen in competition for music documentary.

Goa Hippy Tribe
Writer/Director Darius Devas
Producer Paul Rudd
Synopsis: In the 70s, young westerners travelled the hippie trail to India for free love and to change the world. How have they changed? Reunited through Facebook the Hippies of Goa are returning for a reunion. What impact did their decisions have on their children and what happened to their dream?

The Hungry Tide
Production Company Jotz Productions
Writer/Director/Producer Tom Zubrycki
Synopsis: The Pacific nation of Kiribati is forecast to be the first country in the world to disappear as a result of climate change. Sea-level rise, coastal erosion and drought are threatening the lives of 110,000 people in this impoverished remote corner of the Pacific. Maria Tiimon, a Kiribati woman living in Australia, is taking the message about Kiribati’s plight to the world. The challenge for her is finding a balance between advocacy work, her personal life and the ever-growing needs of her own family back on the islands.

Mrs Carey’s Concert
Production Company: Music Films Pty Ltd
Writer: Bob Connolly
Directors: Bob Connolly, Sophie Raymond
Producers: Bob Connolly, Helen Panckhurst
Synopsis: At a Sydney girls’ school, music director Karen Carey prepares her young students for a concert at the Opera House. Believing passionately in the transformative power of great music, Carey insists upon a challenging classical repertoire, a dauntingly high standard and the participation of every girl in the school. But not everyone shares her passion. Mrs Carey’s Concert is about music making and coming of age, talent and courage, compliance and rebellion. About those prepared to open their minds and hearts to what the world has to offer… and those yet to discover the potential within.

My Thai Bride
Production Company: Showreal Productions
Director/Producer: David Tucker
Writer: Ashleigh Hooker
Synopsis: Ted marries a Thai bar girl but when his money runs out the marriage ends and he returns to the UK destitute, having learned what his Thai wife already knew: without money you lose everything.

The Tall Man
Production Company: Blackfella Films
Writer/Director: Tony Krawitz
Producer: Darren Dale
Executive Producer: Rachel Perkins
Australian Distributor: Hopscotch Films
International Sales: SBS Content Sales
Synopsis: This is the story of Palm Island, the tropical paradise where one morning Cameron Doomadgee swore at a policeman and 45 minutes later lay dead in a watch-house cell.

Then the Wind Changed
Production Company: Rebel Films
Writer/Director/Co-producer: Celeste Geer
Producer: Jeni McMahon
Exec Producers: Rose Hesp, Compass ABC
Synopsis: On 7 February 2009 Australia suffered its worst natural disaster in recorded history. One hundred and seventy-three people died when uncontrollable bushfires swept across the state of Victoria. The next day, headlines pronounced the small rural hamlet of Strathewen ‘The Valley of Death’. The community sustained unimaginable loss of life, environment and property. Then after the shock of survival, just as the adrenalin is finally depleted, the real work starts. In the two years following the fires, the survivors confront natural devastation, loss and despair while mustering the stamina to rebuild their homes, a sense of community and confidence in the future.

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