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Events | Featured projects | Announcements
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Events
Australasian Computer Music Conference 2009 - Brisbane
2–4 July 2009
The Queensland University of Technology, in association with the Australasian Computer Music Association, will host the Australasian Computer Music Conference for 2009. The conference theme for the 2009 ACMC is 'improvise'—to encourage new ideas and greater levels of participation in the conference. There will be an emphasis on the off-ACMC evening events, held on the Thursday and Friday nights, workshops throughout the conference and a single lunch time concert. The aim is to provide an environment for improvised and collaborative music making. Queensland University of Technology: Kelvin Grove Campus.
The Arab Film Festival - Parramatta, Sydney
Huriyya and her sisters. Image courtesy of the Arab Film Festival.
2–5 July 2009
The Arab Film Festival aims to showcase stories from diverse Arabic-speaking cultures to Australian audiences that reflect the complexity and diversity of Arab communities and experiences. Highlights include the premier of Huriyya and her sisters, Australia's first animated film created by Muslim women in Sydney. Riverside Theatres Parramatta.
Revelation: Perth International Film Festival - Perth
2–12 July 2009
Revelation maintains a focus on progressive and inspiring works and embraces audiences of all ages, tastes and backgrounds. Like the films it presents, the event maintains an energy and enthusiasm for the industry. Areas of pop and youth culture have always figured heavily in Revelation programs alongside some of the most individual and acclaimed works from the local and international scene. Cult author and cineaste Jack Sargeant returns for his second year as Guest Artistic Director for the 12th Perth Revelation International Film Festival. Various locations.
Double Take: Anne Landa Award 2009 - Sydney
7 May – 19 July 2009
The six artists in Double Take consider what it means to transform the self into another persona – as a doppelgänger, a karaoke performer, an avatar, a robot, or as a fantasy alter-ego. Art Gallery of NSW.
Razorhurst - Sydney
5 – 31 July 2009
d/Lux/Mobile, an initiative of d/Lux/MediaArts, launches this July with Razorhurst. Hand-held GPS technology guides players through the streets of East Sydney and Darlinghurst in an interactive game experience, developed by Richard Fox, that brings them face-to-face with the notorious Razor gangs of the 1920s and 30s. The game interface combines video re-enactments with archival photos, animation, maps, ambient sound and voiceovers.
Melbourne International Film Festival - Melbourne
24 July – 9 August 2009
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) hosts a feast of cinematic delicacies from over 50 countries for seventeen days each Winter, heavily garnished with a range of parties and special events that cast a celebratory mood over the city. In addition to screening films from around fifty countries, MIFF is Australia's largest showcase of new Australian cinema and champions both emerging and established local filmmaking talent. Various locations.
Media Art Exhibition: Experimenta Playground - Adelaide, Perth, Bendigo, Albury, Townsville
Barnett, Buchanan, Ballingall, MacKellar and Rubino, Immersion 2007. Image courtesy of the Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art.
May 2008 – November 2009
Experimenta Playground showcases the latest work from Australia's leading media artists alongside media artworks from artists around the globe. The exhibition re-invents the gallery space as an environment of surprise and discovery exploring the notion that play is a means through which we are able to make sense of the world. In Experimenta Playground, media artists invite us to play and consider social behaviour, identity, the real/imagined, material/immaterial, and the role of play in life. Admission is free. Various Locations.
Featured projects
Samson and Delilah - national
Image courtesy of Samson and Delilah
In cinemas from 7 May 2009
Samson and Delilah tells the love story of two Aboriginal teenagers in a remote community. They live in a sparse environment but one that absorbs all manner of cultural influences, where dot paintings and country music exist side by side. Their journey ranges across many of the most urgent issues concerning indigenous people in Australia—but it does so with tenderness, dignity, and even humour.
Marc Goldenfein and Chris Cork, Watch and Win, online video TV
May 2009
Watch and Win is an eight-part animated comedy series that will go live in late May on Australian website TheVine. Created by Marc Goldenfein and Chris Cork, and inspired by the (sometimes shady) world of advertising, Watch And Win is an eight-part comedic experiment, filled with human beings' wildest dreams and the products to help fix all of these, and two ordinary guys called Tim & Ben.
Nicholas Carlton, OzGirl, online video TV
May 2009
OzGirl is an online interactive web drama conceived, directed and produced by 19 year old VCA film student Nicholas Carlton. Starring Sophie Tilson (Sadie), Shanrah Wakefield (Megan) and Richard Askin (George) the show tells the story of Sadie as she moves from country to city to stay with her prima donna cousin Megan in Melbourne.
Winston Furlong, Taj
April 2009
The screenplay, Taj, written by Winston Furlong, was nominated for Best Unproduced Screenplay by the Australian Writers Guild in 2008. Set and filmed in contemporary Melbourne, Taj tells the story of Vjay, a charismatic but self absorbed writer who discovers he may not have long to live and so tries to redeem himself by mending a neglected relationship with his young daughter while his life slowly falls apart around him. Taj starts filming in Melbourne on 15 April, 2009 and is due for release in Australia in 2010.
Two Fists One Heart - national
Image courtesy of Two fists, one heart.
In cinemas from 19 March 2009
Two Fists One Heart is a contemporary family drama set in Perth, Western Australia. Anthony Argo is a champion boxer and nightclub doorman. He is trained by his father Joe who has brought his Sicilian values with him to Australia.
Announcements
Screen Australia announces funding for five features
16 June 2009
Screen Australia has announced support for five feature films generating $38.9 million worth of production. Projects receiving production investment include Stuart Beattie’s directorial debut Tomorrow When the War Began and Nick Giannopoulos' return to the screen in Wog Boy 2: Kings of Mykonos. Writer/director Bill Bennett has also been supported for Uninhabited.
Samson and Delilah's Warwick Thornton in Cannes glory
26 May 2009
The writer-director of the Aboriginal romance Samson & Delilah was elated about winning the Camera d'Or, the prize for best first feature at the world's leading film festival. The Camera d'Or, Australia's first since Shirley Barrett won for Love Serenade in 1996, is a boost for Samson & Delilah's box office and international sales. It increased its takings by 12 per cent on the weekend and has taken a strong $826,000 in three weeks in just 16 Cinemas.
Self taught 23-year-old youngest ever to win IMA award
20 May 2009
23-year-old James Hazelton's media studio EVODENCE has won Outstanding Achievement for Web Design/Development in the 2009 Interactive Media Awards (IMA). EVODENCE is the youngest team ever to win an IMA award by individual ages & team establishment. It is also the first to develop 'full-screen anti-alias cross-browser compatible, aspect scalable imagery using primarily CSS', and exclusively features Hazelton's photography which lead to the award.
Extra funding to ABC for local content and kids channel
12 May 2009
The Government will provide the ABC with $136.4 million in new funding over the next triennium to support the ABC's plans for an advertising-free, digital children's television channel and a significantly increased annual output of new Australian drama. This will bring its local drama content levels in line with commercial broadcasters. It is expected to be able to boost its local content to 90 hours a year compared to 20 hours currently.
Extra funding to SBS for local content
12 May 2009
SBS will receive an additional $20 million over three years, which will allow it to increase its level of local content by an additional 50 hours a year from 2011–12.
Extra funding to ABC for regional broadband strategy and user-generated content
12 May 2009
The ABC will receive $15.3 million over three years under the Rural and Regional National Broadband Network Initiative to deliver more than 50 enhanced ABC Local Broadband Hubs in regional Australia. Funding will be used to identify and employ local producers to work on cross-media stories and to provide training and equipment for the creation of user-generated content the budget papers said. 'It will establish community websites and portals, and create 'virtual town squares' for communities to share experiences.'
New Zealand wins web site production competition FullCodePress 2009
13 May 2009
After a gruelling 24 hours, the teams of six web professionals from Australia and New Zealand participating in FullCodePress 2009 produced two sites for two very worthwhile not-for-profit organisations. The New Zealand team made a site for Rainbow youth which is based in Auckland. The Australian team client was the NSW Disability Discrimination Legal Centre based in Sydney. It took the judges nearly three hours to make their decision and award the trophy to the CodeBlacks from New Zealand.
Excellence in e-Government Award (e-Award) Finalists announced - national
30 April 2009
The Excellence in e-Government Award (e-Award) was introduced in 2006 by the Australian Government to promote excellence in the use of ICT in Australia at all levels of government. The 2009 e-Award will be presented at an ICT dinner at CeBIT Australia 2009 which is planned to coincide with the e-Government Forum, being held at the Sydney Convention Centre on Wednesday, 13 May 2009.
Digital radio to start rolling out across Australia
May 2009
Digital Radio will start rolling out across Australia from May 2009, with test broadcasts starting earlier. Various types of digital radio are now well established in the UK and various other parts of Europe and Asia. The initial rollout of digital radio services will be in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
Key online resources
- Australian Centre for the Moving Image
- Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT)
- Metro Screen
- UNESCO Young Digital Creators (YDC) Educator's Kit
- ScreenWest
Collection resources and online publications
Institutions and government organisations
- National Film and Sound Archive
- Australian Film Institute Award Winners
- Australian Film, Television and Radio School
- Open Channel
- VCA School of Film and TV
- Screen Australia
Peak bodies and associations
- Australian Cinematographers Society
- Australian Screen Editors Guild
- Australian Writers' Guild
- The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
- Screenrights: copyright collection agency for rights holders in film and television
- Game Developers' Association of Australia
People
Featured websites/projects
Other resources
To contact us with your news and events, please email the News Editor, NewsEditor at culture dot gov dot au, including the URL of your website.
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