Syd Film Fest must extend geographic and demographic reach, says Judge
NSW Minister for the Arts Virginia Judge said the $2.2m in additional funding for the Sydney Film Festival should be used to connect with the changing demographics in western Sydney and extend its reach to regional NSW.
“I don’t get involved in the actual events are and I would not interfere in that, but the priority, what we want, is to reach more people throughout the state, to have a more tangible presence in western Sydney, and a year-round program of events,” Judge told Encore.
Judge compared these plans to the recent and very successful concert of Indian film musician A.R. Rahman in Parramatta last month, as part of Sydney Festival’s Sydney-wide expansion. She said that while she doesn’t believe the Sydney Film Festival has been elitist in its programming and approach, it’s time it looked at different demographics.
“The last 10 years have been a period of incredible change and growth in the state, and the demographics have shifted enormously, with a number of ethnic communities living in western Sydney. It’s important that we make sure we have a festival that has some appeal to engage with different communities,” she explained. “You might inspire a teenager to want to make a film.”
According to Judge, the festival’s new board will build on past successes, but will also do market research to understand audience demographics and the potential economic benefit to the state.
“Perhaps we could also look at digital media, to maximise the festival’s potential in the future, and it would also be interesting to have a fringe film festival. We have a lot to discuss with them,” said Judge.
The minister announced yesterday that the Sydney Film Festival would receive an additional $2.25m over the next three years, bringing the total to $2.9m, as part of the Government’s strategy to consolidate NSW as Australia’s ‘Screen State’. Other recent initiatives have seen NSW attract the AFI Awards from Victoria and the SPAA Conference and IF Awards from Queensland, as well as the introduction of the ‘Film-friendly Protocol’ to simplify the relationship between productions and local councils.
Fair enough about the demographics (from a former Parramatta kid) and the timings. Those elements need to blend into support for the central Sydney event too. Another demographic wide open is the country and interstate people who have become film-aware from the years of Travelling Film Festival: they would LIKE to come to Sydney for a film event. (If only they knew in time!!). Further, the Festival needs to honour its Sydney base. A strand each year of “They made it in Sydney” with an archive-based program of vintage gems? Much to do yet to put Sydney fest on the Sydney film map.
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Points for the longest headline?
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The customary plethora of coloured photographs depicting Virginia are missing from this announcement of state funding. This pleasing omission in itself is a healthy contribution and signifies a degree of artistic maturity.
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