Tim Winton’s The Turning the centrepiece of MIFF
The Robert Connolly-led film The Turning will make its debut at the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 3 and act as the centrepiece for the festival which will see a total of 10 Australian films make their world premiere.
The Turning is based on the novel by Tim Winton and is made up of 17 chapters, each with a different director. Under the guidance of curator Robert Connolly, best known as the writer/director of Balibo, first time filmmakers Mia Wasikowska and David Wenham make their directorial debut alongside Warwick Thornton and Justin Kurtzel.
In all 20 Australian feature films will show at the festival with an additional 34 locally produced shorts. Six of the features are part of the Premiere Fund, an ongoing fund established by the Victorian government to support new Australian theatrical films and feature-length documentaries. This year’s Premiere Fund films are The Turning, Zak Hilditch’s These Final Hours, the Father Bob Maguire documentary In Bob We Trust, Patrick, Galore and Aim High in Creation!.
Also premiering at the festival is the Matchbox Pictures scifi youth series Nowhere Boys. The first four episodes of the series will screen at the festival before airing later in the year on ABC3. The screening is a part of the ‘Next Gen’ program of the festival designed to attract the next generation of festival attendees.
The festival runs from July 25 to August 11 and the full program will be available on Friday at 11am via the MIFF website.