• The AFC's new Television Writer Fellowships were launched by the Minister for the Arts and Sport Senator the Hon Rod Kemp on 25 October. The AFC has allocated $200,000 to help foster the creation of new Australian drama, as part of our contribution to the celebration of 50 years of television in Australia. The fellowships will enable writers, producers and television networks to create exciting new projects that take risks in both style and content, and have the potential for multi-platform and/or interactive delivery. Media release.


• MeetMarket will return to the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) in Adelaide, 23-26 February 2007. MeetMarket provides documentary makers with an opportunity to meet with international and domestic executives and to pitch their projects in one-on-one scheduled meetings in a marketplace environment at the AIDC. Applications close Monday 27 November. Media release and details.


• Internationally renowned Australian filmmaker Paul Cox was awarded the NFSA's 2006 Ken G Hall Award on 2 November. NFSA Director Paolo Cherchi Usai said the award would be presented to Paul in acknowledgement of both his unique creative career and his long-term support of the NFSA. "Paul Cox is one of the best known Australian filmmakers in the international arena. He is an uncompromising filmmaker with a unique personal style whose work creates debate wherever it is screened." Media release.


• The AFC once again had a presence at MIPCOM, the global content event for co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing entertainment content across TV, digital and audiovisual platforms. This year was one of the biggest yet with over 200 Australians and 97 companies registering to attend. The AFC stand was well utilised by independent producers, with more than 200 meetings booked over the five-day market. A networking opportunity drinks function was held at the AFC stand one evening. On the same night, at the MIPCOM Mobile TV Screenings & Awards, Australian company Global Dilemma won the Best Format for Interactive Mobile TV award for their interactive drama Forget the Rules.


• SPAAmart 2006 (13-15 Nov) is welcoming its largest gathering of executives from Australia, New Zealand and around the world. Presented by the AFC and SPAA, SPAAmart has a successful history of offering unique access to film industry decision makers in a closed forum environment. Some of this year's executives have taken part in SPAAmart previously, while for others this will be their first SPAAmart (and first visit to Australia for some). Thirteen project teams have been selected to attend. Full list of projects and executives.


• Inside Track is the sidebar initiative that the AFC runs during SPAAmart, which introduces selected producers to the national and international marketplace without the pressure of pitching a project. It is a series of group meetings where the emphasis is on learning about the executives participating in SPAAmart in order to increase understanding of financing films in a global industry. This year's successful producers accepted into Inside Track are Carmel McAloon, Jane Keneally, Ian Booth, Tom Cowan, Phillip Bowman, Neal Kingston, Ross Howden and Jeff Purser.

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• Rotterdam Lab 2007 - Call for applications now open
  Deadline Friday 24 November 2006
  The Rotterdam Lab is for a select group of up to 50 emerging producers from various countries. There are group sessions each morning with key members of the industry, giving participants the chance to learn about international feature film sales, financing, distribution, and attending international film markets and pitching forums/competitions. Afternoons are open for participants to experience the Rotterdam Film Festival and CineMart/marketplace environment, with organised networking and social functions held each evening. Full details with guidelines & application forms are here.


• MeetMarket 2007 - Call for applications now open
  Deadline Monday 27 November 2006
  Documentary makers are invited to submit their innovative ideas to the MeetMarket, conducted during the 2007 Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), Adelaide, 23-26 February 2007. Selected projects will then receive a travel stipend to attend the AIDC, a pitch training session and the opportunity to have meetings with international and domestic executives appropriate to their financing needs. For more info and to apply, visit the MeetMarket section of the AIDC website.


• Several Film Development strands have undergone major changes since 1 July 2006. Please consult the new Film Development Funding Guidelines 2006 and the new Indigenous Branch Funding Guidelines 2006 now available on the AFC website. All the AFC funding application forms are now available as writable Word documents on the AFC website. They are on the Film Development Application Forms page as well as on each specific fund page. Applicants can contact Film Development administration staff with specific queries. Phone: 02 9321 6444.


• AFC funding deadlines - November-December 2006:
  
  FILM DEVELOPMENT
  3 November
  Internships/Fellowships
  
  24 November
  Strand L - Shooting Time-critical Material
  Strand V - Interactive Digital Media Early Development
  
  TRAVEL GRANTS
  24 November
  Rotterdam Lab Travel Grant
  
  1 December
  Type B (market experienced producers) and Type C (producers developing market experience) for European Film Market, 8-18 February 2007
  
  
• AFC funding approvals.

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• More than 200 people turned out to hear acclaimed Australian director Bruce Beresford deliver the 2006 Longford Lyell Lecture in Canberra on 4 October. Beresford focused on his passion for music and discussed the film scores he had used and not used in such films as Breaker Morant, Tender Mercies, Driving Miss Daisy, The Fringe Dwellers and Black Robe.


• The NFSA screening program continues with a number of special events over the next few months, including: restored prints of Oklahoma! and Come Back Africa plus the inaugural Festival of Television Preservation at the 2006 Canberra International Film Festival (CIFF) (full details); Royston Tan and Lino Brocka films at the SEAPAVAA Conference (full details); and a series of summer evening outdoor screenings in the NFSA courtyard (full details).


• The NFSA has received an extremely valuable donation from a life-long film fan and collector. Before she passed away this year, Diane Marchant offered the Archive a memorabilia collection she had lovingly developed for over 50 years. The NFSA's Ann Robb said Diane's collection begins in 1915 and runs to the 21st century. "She covered many areas, but was specially fond of the British film industry and stars like Leslie Howard, Conrad Veidt and Michael Rennie." Full details.


• NFSA staff recently attended the Commercial Radio Association's Annual Conference in Sydney (where John Cleese was guest speaker) to promote the work of the Archive. The NFSA stand promoted the message of archiving important radio. "We continue to collect and preserve commercial radio and we took the opportunity of the conference to remind delegates of the importance of using us to preserve radio culture," said NFSA Radio Specialist Nick Weare. More.


• A booklet on audio digital guidelines authored by a group including two NFSA officers is being translated into several languages. The booklet, called Guidelines on the Production and Preservation of Digital Audio Objects, was published in 2004 by the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA). The Spanish edition was launched in September 2006. More.

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• The Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History is awarded for an outstanding publication or body of work that contributes significantly to an understanding of Australian history. Eligible nominations can include a documentary film, a documentary for radio or television, CD-ROM, DVD or other form of multimedia, or a published book. It can also include a series of these works. Work must be first published, produced or broadcast between 20 September 2004 and 20 September 2006. Nominations close 5pm, 17 November 2006. The prize is a grant of $100,000 and an embossed gold medallion. It may be awarded to an individual or a group. For info, check the DEST website, ring 02 6240 7748 or email pmhistoryprize@dest.gov.au


• Congratulations to Isabel Peppard and her team on the selection of the AFC-funded animation Gloomy Valentine for the prestigious 22nd International Short Film Festival Berlin. The film is also up for Best Animation in the Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 10 November. Well done!


• The AFC-funded documentary The Last Valley will screen at the RMIT Capitol Theatre, 113 Swanston St, Melbourne on 14 November at 8pm. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director Peter Vaughan. Tickets: $10/$7 conc. The Last Valley was nominated in the 2006 Film Critics' Circle of Australia Awards for Best Short Documentary.


• The City of Burnie strongly supported the Big Screen Festival's outstanding line up of Australian films in October. The highlight of the weekend was the warm welcome Burnie residents gave to the Kenny team, including Kenny's (aka Shane Jacobson) visit to the new $15.5 million waste treatment plant. Kenny had Mayor Alvwyn Boyd and the treatment plant crew in stiches as he gave the site his personal thumbs up! Burnie residents flocked to opening night to see the movie and meet Kenny and director/brother of the lead actor Clayton Jacobson. The Q&A session after the screening could have gone on for hours as Kenny continued to delight the audience and graciously sign autographs.


• The AFC's Black Screen initiative has been touring the Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival nationally, and to date over 1400 people (predominately Indigenous) have attended the three-day festival. Thank you to hosts Deckchairs Cinemas NT, Kino Dendy Melbourne, Dendy Portside Cinema Brisbane, State Cinema Hobart and Dendy Byron Bay Cinemas. With support from the AFC's Indigenous Branch, the festival has included special guest appearances by the filmmakers and actors from My Brother Vinnie and Q&A sessions with Michael Longbottom (director of Footy the La Perouse Way) and Kelrick Martin (director of Island Fettlers). Next up the festival will be in Perth at Cinema Paradiso Northbridge on 9 November. It will conclude on 8 Dec at the Mercury Cinema (MRC) Adelaide, SA.


• School Screen continues to joins forces with Big Screen for sessions:
  13 Nov - Tarago - No Worries and Opal Dream
  17 Nov - Yarram - No Worries & Opal Dream
  23 & 24 Nov - Gunnedah - Hildegarde, No Worries & Looking For Alibrandi
  
  School Screen will also show:
  14 Nov - Bunbury - Ten Canoes
  21 Nov - Whyalla - Macbeth
  23 & 24 Nov - Wagga Wagga - Opal Dream, Ten Canoes & Hating Alison Ashley
  
  Wagga Wagga's Opal Dream screening on 23 Nov has already received a record 980 bookings! Bookings for all these screenings can be made online on the ATOM website. If your school is not able to access any screenings on offer, contact the AFC's Education Programs Coordinator, Bob Percival, robert.percival@afc.gov.au, to discuss organising a screening in your local cinema, or a free screening at your school if there is no cinema nearby.


• In November the Embassy Roadshow travels to Vientiane, Laos. The new Arabic subtitled collection will premiere in Cairo, Egypt, also in November and includes The Man from Snowy River, Strictly Ballroom, The Dish, Ned Kelly and Rabbit-Proof Fence. The Embassy Roadshow is a travelling film festival program presented through Australian embassies overseas, showcasing a selection of contemporary Australian films to people around the world. It's an initiative of the Australian International Cultural Council, and is managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the AFC.


• The Australian films God On My Side, Like Minds, Rampage, Hunt Angels, Puppy, Irresistible, Suburban Mayhem, BoyTown, Opal Dream, The Book of Revelation, Last Train to Freo, Macbeth, Jindabyne, Solo, Unfolding Florence and Kenny are screening in November so keep an eye out for them at your local cinema.

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• The following AFC publications have been updated and are available online, or contact publishing@afc.gov.au for a hard copy:
  Television Writer Fellowships Guidelines
  Rotterdam Lab Travel Grant Guidelines
  I've Got a Great Idea for a Film - AFC Info Guide
  Australians at MIPCOM 2006
  Australian TV Drama & Documentary Catalogue Sept 2006
  Indigenous Branch Funding Guidelines July 2006
  Film Development Funding Guidelines July 2006


• 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 industry statistics in Get the Picture Online.

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• Welcome to Ron Dasan, Tracy Zhang, Julee Clarke, Erin Trevisan, Adam Griffiths, Roslyn Barker, Jillian Mackenzie, Cynthia Butler, Alison Keele, John Shea, Alisha Baker, Nielsen Gordon, Anne Khinmaung, Patrice Smith, Kim O'Connell and Alastair McKinnon.


• Farewell to Peter Castaldi, Michael Lim, Michael Kraaz, Ross Laird, James McKinnon, Julie Matthews, Anna Kamasz, Ailsa Chittick, Peta Lorback, Robert Pymm, Lauren Spencer, Karen Leys, Elizabeth Taggart-Speers, Shauna Wine and Stacey Kernodle.


• Positions vacant: for current vacant positions at the AFC.

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• Earlybird registrations to the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) close on 1 December. The conference, held 23-26 February 2007 in Adelaide, celebrates its 20th anniversary. Check the AIDC website for info and registration.


• There's still a short time left to register for the SPAA Conference and SPAA Fringe. Check each website for details. SPAA Conference, SPAA fringe, SPAAmart.


• Congratulations to all the winners of 2006 Film Critics' Circle of Australia awards on 28 October. Special congrats to the AFC-funded films: Stranded won Best Australian Short Film (d: Stuart Mc Donald; p: Lizette Atkins, Beth Frey); and The Archive Project (d: John Hughes; p: John Hughes, Philippa Campey) shared the Best Feature Documentary Award with Hunt Angels (d: Alec Morgan; p: Sue Maslin).


• Good luck to all the nominees in the upcoming awards ceremonies: ATOM Awards (10 November, Melbourne), IF Awards (17 November, Gold Coast), and AFI Awards (6 & 7 December, Melbourne).


• The next X|Media|Lab is on in Singapore 6-8 December and is themed Learning from Games. The Lab is looking for projects with any education or training, pedagogical, 'serious', or game-based learning applications. Successful applicants will work with international mentors in one-on-one consultations. For more info check the X|Media|Lab website.


• Usually held in Bombay, India, the international film and video festival EXPERIMENTA will be moving to Bangalore in 2007. The festival seeks films from any country that challenge popular and conventional modes of cinema. Abstract to obscure compositions from any genre produced on the margins of contemporary screen-culture are welcome. Deadline is 15 December. Visit the Filter India website for details.


• The AFC's Industry and Cultural Development Division proudly supports the following upcoming awards and conferences:
  
  ATOM Awards (Melbourne)
  10 November
  
  SPAA Fringe (Brisbane)
  12-14 November
  
  SPAA Conference (Gold Coast)
  14-17 November
  
  IF Awards (Gold Coast)
  17 November
  
  AFI Awards (Melbourne)
  6 & 7 December
  
  
• Check Metro Screen's website for details of all their programs.
  - The monthly Filmmakers' Studio features editor Jason Ballantine (Wolf Creek, The Caterpillar Wish) on 2 November.
  - a FREE Industry Panel on distribution, marketing and film festivals is on Tues 7 November, 6.30-8.30pm (including a Q+A).
  - The Members Production Group meets on the first Tuesday of every month at 6.30pm. Meetings are open to all members and give you the opportunity to pitch new ideas, discuss your current projects, share skills and resources, and collaborate with others to produce your own films, TV content and media projects.


• Popcorn Taxi, a regular film event where filmmakers and film lovers can meet, watch films of all types, and discuss the filmmaking process all year round runs in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Darwin. For further information and screening details visit the Popcorn Taxi website.


• mo:life monthly is an informal gathering on the second Monday of every month, that offers the opportunity to discuss the latest advances and opportunities in mobile media technology and culture. Find out about the various players and networks and what they offer, explore the capabilities of the latest handsets, and see what others around the globe are doing with this new format. Contact d.opitz@metroscreen.org.au


• ScreenWest and PAC Screen Workshops have announced the PAC Script Lab initiative, monthly rehearsed readings of West Australian feature film scripts on the last Sunday of each month. The aim is to hone West Australian scripts and increase the profile, quality and awareness of West Australian film projects.


• IF Magazine's What's On in Film guide to screen events is sponsored by the AFC. The July to December 2006 calendar is now available as a PDF on the AFC website.


• Other AFC-supported activities and events.

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Since 2001, the AFC's Big Screen has been on the road showing movies all over the country, exploring new territories, forging partnerships and inspiring local filmmaking competitions and festivals. In short, Big Screen has been fulfilling the AFC's aim of making Australian films available to all Australians. In 2006, Big Screen covered thousands and thousands of kilometres. From Katherine in the Top End to Burnie in northwest Tasmania, from Karratha in WA's Pilbara to tropical Bundaberg in north Queensland, Big Screen trekked the length and breath of the country.

But Big Screen has always been much more than a travelling film festival. In each region, the festival connects with communities and enriches their cultural and creative experiences. Over the life of the festival, 107,000 Australians have enjoyed the Big Screen cinematic experience, which in 2006 played in 49 regional centres. Australian movies rarely make it to regional cinemas, and when they do it is often months after their city release. The Big Screen team tailors programs for each town in conjunction with local cinema/venue operators. The team then works with local councils, cultural, arts and youth groups, film societies and businesses to stage an event embraced by the whole community.


Black Screen and School Screen

Black Screen and School Screen are two major initiatives that have grown out of the festival over the last 12 months. Black Screen showcases films by Indigenous filmmakers, providing Aboriginal communities and the broader Australian public with access to Indigenous stories. When Black Screen took the 2006 NAIDOC Week shorts compile (including The Djarn Djarns and Mimi) to Tennant Creek in August, over 120 people - predominantly Indigenous - turned out for a cinematic experience under a full moon sky teaming with stars. A few days later they returned to see David Gulpilil in Rolf de Heer's The Tracker - this time on an inflatable screen up against a pub wall. Black Screen also managed the 2006 Message Sticks national tour following its success playing to packed houses at the Sydney Opera House in May.

Big Screen's program of free sessions for school children has snowballed into a massive education initiative called School Screen, which is partnering with other major events such as Croc Fest and the Come Out Youth Festival. For Australian school children, access to cinematic stories from their own landscape engenders a sense of place, belonging and identity, while stimulating imagination and creativity. With audiences as large as 850 for Ten Canoes in Port Augusta, and 1000 for Opal Dream in Wagga Wagga, the cultural impact of Australian stories on our children will reverberate for years to come.


A captive audience

This year Big Screen and Black Screen broke new ground by taking Australian films inside prison walls. The experience was profound both for prisoners and the programming team. Former Festival Director Peter Castaldi noted in his blog after the Ivanhoe (NSW) prison screening in April, "No matter what, inmates are still Australians who miss out on Australian films." He described the experience of screening The Tracker to a mostly Indigenous prison population: "This captive audience seemed captivated. After the men had been counted back in, our officer came back to report that they were all talking about the film, and that they had loved it… I stood on the fringes of lives I can never know, never experience. But through The Tracker, even if only for 90 minutes, I could be a part of their lives … the stories of the people who will always, before and after everyone else, own this land and the truth of it, both beautiful and awful."

Just last month, nine short Indigenous films were screened in Roebourne Regional Prison in WA. The prison's Education Manager Lyn Pearce said, "It's great for the men in Roebourne prison who are mostly Indigenous to see serious, sad and funny films about issues relevant to them, to maintain a connection to language and culture and to see Aboriginal lives portrayed by Aboriginal filmmakers. Around 160 prisoners watched the films. Feedback from the prisoners and staff was that the screening was a great success. It has since been asked, 'When will the films be played again?"'


Old and new

Big Screen programs a significant number of archival and recent films from the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA), and most new prints are sourced from national distributors. This year the festival toured a stable of new features including Jindabyne, Ten Canoes, Kenny, Candy, The Caterpillar Wish, Kokoda, Last Train to Freo, Macbeth and Opal Dream. But current features are only a part of each town's program - they're teamed with a curated selection of archival classics (like the Mad Max trilogy, Sunday Too Far Away and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith), well-loved family films, an Oscar Animation Showcase, short film festivals and a raft of shorts from the graduates of the Australian Film Radio and Television School (AFTRS).

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Peter Weir's magnificent Picnic at Hanging Rock the director's cut version, restored by Kodak Atlab, was screened around the country. This very special event drew those who already knew and loved the film, and a new generation of film buffs eager to see this Australian classic.


No flies on Kenny

The highlights of this year's festival were many, but just to mention a few…

In October, Big Screen took the star and team of Kenny, the number one comedy of 2006, to Burnie in Tasmania. Burnie Council bought tickets to the opening night for all staff of the region's new $15.5 million waste treatment plant. Following the screening a scrum of burly Burnie blokes were buzzing around Kenny like flies on an outdoor dunny to get the big guy's autograph. Kenny toured the waste treatment plant, gave it the big thumbs up and met the Mayor to boot - all of which garnered a lot of local and state press. The local Metro Cinemas took the film on for a commercial season following the event. The runaway success of this film and the phenomena of its central character have tapped into something much deeper in this country than just the main sewerage line!

Big Screen is really proud to partner with many local film festivals and competitions around the country. In Briagolong, Victoria, Big Screen teamed up with the local community for their own short film screenings and awards night. As well, a fantastic program called Sharing Stories (a project coordinated by RuralAccess in partnership with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image [ACMI]) came on board. The ten short films, which screened before each feature, were made by local people with disabilities, and were full of courage, hope and humour. "These moving, beautiful stories from people with various abilities and disabilities brought us a little closer to understanding their lives in the community," said Gordana Bacic, Big Screen Project Coordinator.


Culture and community

Finally, a special tribute must go to the people of Mildura - the first stop on the Big Screen tour this year. The community showed strength and commitment to our festival in the face of tragedy. A few days before Big Screen was scheduled to kick off in Mildura a shocking car accident claimed the lives of six of the town's youth. The decision to cancel or play on was a tough one, as Peter Castaldi wrote, "To come into a town on the tail end of such a tragedy is hard… What do we do? How can we possibly bring anything of any meaning to a town suffering so badly? Do we cancel?" But when the team spoke to everyone they knew there, the message came back that the show must go on - that life continues for the people left, and that celebratory and cultural events would help the community through this tragedy.

Thank you to the people of Mildura for embracing Big Screen and establishing the foundations for a significant 2006 Big Screen festival - connectedness and community teamed with extraordinary Australian cinema.


PS. Big Screen kicks off again in March 2007. We'll see you there.

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