• The AFC has launched a suite of new programs under the umbrella title IndiVision, designed to foster innovative approaches to low-budget feature filmmaking in Australia. The IndiVision Screenings, a showcase of the best in international low-budget filmmaking, include the films Mon Tresor, 16 Years of Alcohol, Reconstruction, Festen, The Station Agent and Tully. A number of international guests will attend the screenings including co-producer of The Station Agent, Joshua Zeman. The screenings will take place in Sydney (11-14 February) and Melbourne (18-21 February) with other states to follow. Eight projects and their creative teams have also been announced as the successful applicants for the first round of IndiVision funding.


• The AFC website has a range of resources that can help if you are planning to make a low-budget feature. To apply for production funding, take a look at Strand G - Feature Production. There are interviews with filmmakers Lone Scherfig (Italian for Beginners), Khoa Do (The Finished People), Tony Grisoni (worked with Michael Winterbottom on In This World) and Rolf de Heer (The Tracker, Alexandra's Project) on their own brand of low-budget feature filmmaking. Plus articles on writing the low-budget feature, Dogme filmmaking, making digital features and budgeting a film for under one million dollars.


• Two AFC-supported publications were launched late last year. Lounge Critic: The Couch Theorist's Companion, published by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in association with La Trobe University, tackles the role of television in our society. This collection of illustrated essays contains incisive couch potato commentaries by leading academics, arts writers and emerging cultural critics. Edited by Annabel Rattigan and Terrie Waddell, the book is based on ACMI's regular Lounge Critic series and includes Sue Turnbull on Buffy and Kath & Kim, Anna Dzenis on The Sopranos, Martyn Pedler and Saige Walton on Twin Peaks and Chris Boyd on The West Wing. $29.95; available from publishing@afc.gov.au. Read Kirsten Krauth's review.
  
  Short Site: Recent Australian Short Film, published by ACMI and edited by Emma Crimmings and Rhys Graham, includes 10 screenplays of acclaimed short films made in Australia in recent years. Scripts include Cracker Bag (winner of 2003 Palm d'Or at Cannes Film Festival), Harvie Krumpet (winner of 2004 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film), Flower Girl (directed by Cate Shortland, Somersault), Turn Around and Dust alongside interviews with the filmmakers and a personal and passionate essay by contributing authors. This book will be reviewed in an upcoming issue of AFC News. $34.95; available from publishing@afc.gov.au

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• The deadline for Strand G - Feature and Short Feature Production funding for low-budget features and short features is 21 January. Applicants can apply for up to $500,000 for a short feature and $1 million for a feature.


• Five teams were funded in the latest round of the AFC's Strand H — Short Film Production to attend an intensive workshop in Melbourne, 6-10 December, to Test Drive some of their material before going into production. The selected projects were Mind the Gap, Sexy Thing, William, Cool and 3 Months at Sea. A number of director mentors were on hand to share their knowledge and experiences including Tony Ayres, Sue Brooks, Ken Cameron, Nadia Tass and Ann Turner.


• AFC funding approvals.


• The following AFC funding round deadlines are coming up in January/February:
  
  Film Development
  21 Jan: Strand G - Feature and Short Feature Production; Strand V - Early Development
  26 Jan: Internships
  4 Feb: Strand D - Draft Funding
  11 Feb: Strand L - Shooting Time-Critical Material; Strand W - Matched Investment Development Funding
  18 Feb: Strand T1 - Short Animation Production; Strand T2 - Pilot/Trailer Production
  25 Feb: Strand J - Seed Funding
  
  Indigenous Unit
  31 Jan: National Indigenous Documentary Fund 7
  
  Travel Grants
  1 Feb: Mip-TV and MILIA markets
  

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• Christian Jeune, scout for the Cannes Official Selection (In Competition, Out of Competition, Un Certain Regard, Shorts Competition and Cinefoundation) will return to Australia in mid February for one week only. Christian will be available to view feature films and short films (strictly 15 mins or under only). If you have a film that you would like to screen for him, please contact Frances Leadbeter in the Melbourne AFC office (03) 8646 4300 or tollfree 1800 338 430 to discuss suitability and arrangements. Please first ensure your film fulfils festival criteria by reading the rules and regulation found at Cannes Official Selection.


• The Big Screen national festival hits the road again in late February, launching in Mildura. This first outing is a partnership with the Mildura Wentworth Arts Festival and Big Screen will present a program over two weeks of both indoor and outdoor events, including a screening of The Sentimental Bloke with Jen Anderson and The Illustrated Family Doctor.


• January/February deadlines are coming up for the Singapore, San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay, Oberhausen International Short, Annecy International Animated, NY Lesbian and Gay film festivals and the Banff Television Festival. See Festival Profiles for more information.

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• The Canberra parliamentary screening of The Sentimental Bloke will be held on 9 February at Parliament House, with pre-screening drinks for invited guests of Minister Rod Kemp, and a reception afterwards. The Minister will launch the screening at 8.00pm. The public screening will be held the following day at the Greater Union Cinema in Manuka.


• The Movie Network has launched Project Greenlight Australia, a first-time filmmaker competition (originally organised by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in the US) which will become a 12-part docu-series chronicling the making of a million-dollar budget feature film from the winning script. The project is now calling for scripts until 14 February.


• Entry forms are now available for the Sydney Film Festival and Dendy Awards. Deadline for entries is 18 February. Visit the festival website for details.

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• The new AFC catalogue Australian Short Films 2004-05 will be promoted at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. It is now available to download as a PDF online or contact publishing@afc.gov.au for a hard copy.


• Read about the success of AFC-funded films including Bruce and Me, Cable, Dust, Gulpilil - One Red Blood, Moustache and Turn Around.


• Are you looking for details of a particular Australian film title - feature, short, TV drama or documentary? The Searchable Film Database includes Australian and co-produced features, TV drama and documentaries from 1990 and shorts from 1998. It is updated on the AFC website each month.


• Upcoming Production Report.


• Latest updates to Get the Picture Online industry statistics.

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• Welcome to IT helpdesk support officers Anne O'Neill, James Backhouse, systems administrator Anne Platts and legal assistant Nelson de Sousa.


• Positions vacant.

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• Find out what's on at the National Film and Sound Archive in January.


• The Australian features and short features Deck Dogz, The Illustrated Family Doctor, Dreams for Life, Hating Alison Ashley and The Oyster Farmer are screening in January-March so keep an eye out for them at your local cinema.


• Australia's international short film festival, Flickerfest, has announced an extended program to run over 10 days, covering two weekends from January 7 to 16 at Sydney's Bondi Beach.


• The next biennial Adelaide Film Festival will be held from 18 February to 3 March. The festival will explore contemporary screen culture with a unique program of screenings, special events and forum sessions, incorporating feature film, documentary, shorts, animation, music, online and new media screenings, computer gaming, installation and exhibitions.


• The 2005 Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) will be held in Adelaide, SA, 21-24 February. Based on the theme Common Ground, New Horizons, the AIDC will focus on international co-production and potential new delivery platforms for documentary makers today. To register go to www.aidc.com.au


• The Arts and Entertainment Department of ABC TV will finance the development of a documentary project to the value of $10,000 for the 2005 AIDC in its own pitching competition on 22 February at 10.30am, immediately following the morning's opening panel.


• WOW is a unique showcase of films made by women, where stories are told and the world is seen from a woman's point of view. The 2004 festival is now touring until April 2005.


• Digital Salon invites all digital media artists working or experimenting with interactive media, VJing, non-linear filmmaking, DVD, electronic music and projection arts to take part in their regular meetings, held the last Tuesday of each month in Sydney.


• Popcorn Taxi has weekly screenings and Q&A sessions in Sydney and Melbourne. See their website or join their mailing list for details of upcoming events.


• IF magazine's What's On in Film January to June 2005 guide to screen events is sponsored by the AFC.


• Other AFC-supported activities and events.

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• An important radio series documenting Australia's popular music has been digitised as part of the National Film and Sound Archive's tape preservation program. The programs, donated by broadcaster Wayne Mac, were on reel-to-reel tapes that were deteriorating due to hydrolysis of the tape binder - commonly known as 'sticky shed'. The tapes have been given conservation treatment and then digitised to high-resolution broadcast WAVE files for preservation, with mp3 files also produced to provide on-site access to the programs for researchers.
  
  In 1977 the Australian rock music scene was thriving, and many bands were verging on major international success. Adelaide radio station 5KA, then promoted as 'The Life Station', was considered the most progressive radio station in the country, with a reputation for breaking new acts and records. 5KA broadcasters Max Barrenger, John Dean, Vince Lovegrove and Bill Page were among those at the forefront of this phenomenon, and their ambitious radio series Australian Music to the World includes interviews with musicians and songwriters, as well as rare and unreleased recordings of songs and performances from the time. Highlights include live recordings of Chain's Black and Blue, and Daddy Cool's I'll Never Love Again.
  
  Recorded interviews cover the highs and lows of life as a musician through the 1960s and 1970s, the hits and misses, bands forming and breaking up and the challenges of living with fame. Other interviews with industry figures and experts such as Glenn A Baker provide commentary on the music scene and its personalities.
  
  Read the complete article.

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