• The AFC congratulates all the 2007 IF and AFI Awards nominees including five films supported by its Indigenous Branch in the running for IF Awards: Nana (d:Warwick Thornton, p: Kath Shelper); Crocodile Dreaming (d: Darlene Johnson, p: Sue Milliken); My Brother Vinnie (d: Steven McGregor, p: Sarah Bond, w: Aaron Pedersen); Nigger Lovers (d/p: Rhonda Hagan, p: Stephen Hagan, p: Daryl Sparkes); and Flour, Sugar, Tea (d: Lee Willis, p: Gina Twyble). Full list of IF Awards nominees. Full list of AFI Awards nominees



• The NFSA announced recently that 400 hours of historic Indigenous film footage will be preserved and repatriated to their traditional cultural owners to celebrate UNESCO's World Day for Audiovisual Heritage on 27 October. The selected material covers more than 100 years of filmmaking and includes some of the earliest known records of Indigenous life and customs, feature films, documentaries and home movies, commercial news and current Indigenous productions. More details



• Four Australian documentaries have been selected to screen at the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA): Night (d: Lawrence Johnston) in late November, Donkey in Lahore (d: Faramarz K-Rahber), End of the Rainbow (d: Robert Nugent) and His Mother's Voice (d: Dennis Tupicoff). More details.



• The Australian feature The Home Song Stories (d: Tony Ayres, p: Michael McMahon, Liz Watts) is Australia's official entry for nomination consideration in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' foreign language film category at the 80th Annual Academy Awards. More details.



• The AFC Indigenous Branch in association with the Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC), Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), and relevant state agencies is calling for applications for NIDF 10. The initiative will fund two 55-minute documentaries designed to bring important Indigenous stories to the screen, authored and crafted by Indigenous people. Deadline 7 December. More details



• australianscreen continues to expand with a broad range of titles both old and new. This month's additions include the classic John Heyer documentary The Back of Beyond (1954); recent feature film Jindabyne (2006); Tim Burstall's first feature film 2000 Weeks (1969); and a collection of Tom Zubrycki's early videos from the 1970s such as Fig Street Fiasco.
  
  australianscreen now has a group on the social networking site Facebook so members can share their favourite discoveries from the australianscreen website. To access this group you have to join the Facebook community, go to the australianscreen Facebook group and become a member.

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• Applications for the 2008 Rotterdam Lab are now open. In partnership with the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) the AFC offers a special travel assistance scheme for three producers to attend the Rotterdam Lab, organised as part of CineMart at the IFFR (27-31 January 2008). Deadline 23 November. More details



• AFC funding deadlines - November to early December 2007:
  
  FILM DEVELOPMENT
  DRAMA
  IndiVision Single-draft Script Development (Strand F2) - 14 December
  
  INDIGENOUS BRANCH
  NIDF 10 - 7 December
  
  MARKETING TRAVEL GRANTS
  Rotterdam Lab - 26 November
  European Film Market - 1 December



• AFC funding approvals.

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• The NFSA's Centre for Scholarly and Archival Research (CSAR) is offering an opportunity for Indigenous researchers and creative practitioners to work with the National Collection. The Indigenous Research Fellowship includes a supported residency at the NFSA in Canberra with access to the National Collection and associated documents and artefacts. The successful applicant will be able to use the collection to contribute to Australia's historic and contemporary moving image and recorded sound culture with a new work, publication or live event. Applications close 6 December. Further information.



• Alex Gerbaz is a current Fellow with the NFSA's Centre for Scholarly and Archival Research (CSAR). His research project is titled Innovations in Australian Cinema: a critical survey of Australian experimental films. More details.



• Some of the Arc screenings highlights in November include Kirby Dick's documentary on America's movie classification system This Film is Not Yet Rated; Raoul Walsh's crime thriller The Enforcer; a new print of John Honey's Manganinnie from the NFSA's Kodak/Atlab project; Richard Brooks's primary adaptation of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood; and Francis Ford Coppola's classic The Godfather: Part Two. Read the full program.



• A 15 page study guide for primary and secondary schools on The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) is now available on the NFSA website. More details.



• The NFSA's Head of Access and Outreach, David Boden, visited the Motion Picture Department at George Eastman House, Rochester, NY, in October as NFSA's 2007 exchange staff member. The Motion Picture Department is one of five departments responsible for individual collections controlled by the museum. The collection includes over 26,000 reels of nitrate, the majority of them rare or unique. More details.

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• Six Australian films screened at the Pusan International Film Festival in Korea in October - Boxing Day , September and Unfinished Sky, as well as three AFC-supported films Cross Life, Lucky Miles and Son of a Lion. Benjamin Gilmour, director of Son of a Lion, talks about his experience at Pusan. More details.



• Christian Jeune will return to Australia in mid December to view features and short films for potential preselection for the Cannes Film Festival. Submission deadline 6 December. More details



• HAF (the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum) 2008, is now accepting applications from Australia, embracing the Australian industry as part of the Asia Pacific community. Details



• Applications are now open for the AFC/AIDC initiative MeetMarket. The initiative provides a unique opportunity for Australian documentary filmmakers with fresh ideas and projects in development to meet with potential buyers at the 2008 Australian International Documentary Conference in Perth from 20-22 February. Applications close 27 November. More details.



• Congratulations are due to all the filmmakers whose AFC-funded / supported films have recently won awards or been selected for screening at various festivals around the world:
  
  The AFC-supported film Lucky Miles (p: Jo Dyer, Lesley Dyer; d/w: Michael James Rowland; w: Helen Barnes) continues to screen in many international film festivals. The film won Best Screenplay Award at the 2007 Vladivostok International Film Festival and the Grand Prix at the 9th Rencontres Internationales du Cinéma des Antipodes in Saint-Tropez. It also screened at 2007 Pusan International Film Festival. Lucky Miles has been nominated in the category of Best Screenplay in the inaugural Asia Pacific Screen Awards and has also received five IF Awards nominations - for Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design and Best Editing.
  
  AFC-supported Sp*rk project The Home Song Stories (p: Michael McMahon, Liz Watts; d: Tony Ayres) won the Halekulani Golden Orchid for Best Feature at the 27th Hawaii International Film Festival. The film has also been nominated in seven categories at the 44th Golden Horse Awards competition in Taipai, including Best Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay. It also screened in Competition in the third International Eurasia Film Festival in Turkey.
  
  AFC-funded documentary Big Dreamers (p: John Fink; p/d: Camille Hardman) has been selected for the 16th Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2007 in Arkansas.
  
  The jtv short documentary Searching 4 Sandeep (p: Cecilia Ritchie; d: Poppy Stockell), and the short dramas Playground (p: Liam Branagan; d: Eve Spence) and Crocodile Dreaming (p: Sue Milliken; d: Darlene Johnson) have been selected to screen at the 14th World of Women (WOW) Film Festival 2007.
  
  Carl Robertson has been awarded Best Cinematography for his work on Death's Requiem at the 7th Annual Shriek Fest 2007 in Los Angeles.
  
  IndiVision-funded feature Black Water (p: Michael Robertson; p/d: Andrew Traucki, David Nerlich) screened at the Festival of the Antipodes 2007 in St Tropez, in the Midnight Extreme program at the 2007 Catalonian International Film Festival, Sitges, Spain, and at the Canberra International Film Festival 2007.
  
  Short feature The Glenmoore Job (p: Melanie Coombs; d: Greg Williams) screened at the 1st annual Indie Fest USA.
  
  The interactive project Revolving Door (p/d: Alexandra Beesley, David Beesley) won the Southern Panoramas 'Contemporary Investigations' acquisition award at the 16th Videobrasil International Electronic Arts Festival 2007.
  
  John Hughes was awarded the prestigious Audio/Visual History Prize for his feature documentary film The Archive Project, at the NSW Premier's History Awards.
  
  Matt Saville received an award for Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film for Noise and Tony Rodgers won Best Direction in a Television Comedy for Wilfred Ep. 6 at the 2007 Australian Directors Guild Awards.
  
  AFC-supported projects also enjoyed success at the 2007 ATOM Awards where, Chiko Accidental Alien (d/p: Stephane Zerbib; p: Tracey Taylor) won Best Multimedia Award (Open Category); William (d: Eron Sheean; p: Peter George) won Best Short Fiction Award (Open Category); Nigger Lovers (d/p: Rhonda Hagan, p: Stephen Hagan, p: Daryl Sparkes) won Best Documentary Short Form and Sweet and Sour (w/d: Eddie White; p: Sam White, Hugh Nguyen) won Best Animation.



• The Australian films Forbidden Lie$, September, Gabriel, Rogue and Modern Love are screening throughout November so keep an eye out for them at your local cinema.

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• In early November the AFC's Regional Digital Screen Network (RDSN) screened a special national sneak preview of Peter Carstairs' debut feature September (M) - the first project to be made through the Tropfest Feature Program; and also presented the Family Film Fiesta - a festival for kids, by kids and about kids. More details.
  
  In another first for the AFC's RDSN, on Friday 7 December there will be a spectacular live via satellite presentation of The Australian Ballet performing Peter Wright's production of The Nutcracker. Beamed live from the Sydney Opera House and forecourt this event is presented in partnership with The Australian Ballet, and is free to patrons of the RDSN. For most of our venues, this screening will be the first time these communities have had access to a live ballet performance of this callibre. Our venue partners are already reporting massive interest in the event and fully expect to be bursting at the seams on the night. More details.



• Nick Herd has been appointed as the AFC's new Industry and Cultural Development (ICD) Funding Manager, taking over from Joseph Alessi who has left the AFC to join the Australia Council for the Arts. Nick comes to this position with a wealth of experience in the screen culture sector, having worked at the Screen Producers Association of Australia where he was the Executive Director, at the ABA, SBS, UTS and at the Sydney Filmmakers' Cooperative. Nick has just completed his PhD and has extensive experience in policy and research, marketing, exhibition, distribution and regulation. He will be a great asset to the ICD Division and the AFC.



• The Australian Film Commission's touring festival Big Screen returned to outback NSW screening contemporary and classic Australian films to over 1,346 people. In Broken Hill for the fourth time from 2-4 November, the features Clubland, Lucky Miles, Romulus, My Father and Elephant Tales screened for the first time. On 3 November special guest Bruce Spence introduced Mad Max 2 and Mad Max 3 - Beyond Thunderdome in which he starred as Jedediah the fearless pilot. Mad Max 2 was shot around Silverton, Mundi Mundi and Broken Hill. The post-apocalyptic action film, directed by George Miller, was a worldwide box-office hit in 1981. Spence spoke to the audience about filming Mad Max 2 and 3 and other highlights of his 36-year career, from his first lead role in Stork (1971) through to his role in Baz Luhrmann's latest feature, Australia.
  
  From 1-5 November an outback tour also took Australian films to screenings in Wentworth, Wilcannia and Ivanhoe.
  
  In October the Metro Cinemas in Burnie, Tasmania, hosted a Big Screen festival as part of 'Burnie Shines' celebrations. The opening night film, Clubland, attracted a large crowd to hear Big Screen's guest, actor Richard Wilson, introduce the film. 1,384 people attended the festival with 894 school students at the school screen events - a great result for a small community of 20,000. Visit the Big Screen website for more details.



• The 2007 Message Sticks National Tour finished up in Melbourne on 3 November. The Australian Centre for Moving Image hosted the event which was attended by 408 people over its three nights and included the screening of IF Awards nominated films Crocodile Dreaming and Nana. Since July this year the tour has travelled to Torres Strait islands, Darwin, Adelaide, Brisbane, Lismore, Canberra, Perth and Geraldton, with audience numbers of 4,058 - which more than doubles those of last year's tour. More details.



• From January to October 2007 School Screen presented films to a record number of over 17,000 students. These screenings occurred in 33 regional towns across all Australian states and territories. School Screen continues to join forces with Big Screen in November with screenings in Broken Hill of Elephant Tales (G), Opal Dream (PG) and Bendigo of Storm Boy (G), Opal Dream (PG) and The Year My Voice Broke (M).
  
  School Screen is also partnering with the AFC's Regional Digital Screen Network (RDSN) to screen a specially curated selection of Little Big Shots Festival short films for upper primary schools in all of the eight RDSN venues (Albany, Yarram, Katherine, Port Augusta, Wagga Wagga, Hervey Bay and Singleton). Bookings for most of these screenings can be made online on the ATOM website.
  
  Contact the AFC's Education Programs Coordinator, Robert 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. For more information about the program and the films visit the School Screen section on the AFC website.



• In November, the Embassy Roadshow travels to Moscow and Budapest, The Arabic collection will travel to Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates. Two films from the Arabic Collection, The Tracker and Rabbit Proof Fence go to the Cairo International Film Festival.
  
  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 is an initiative of the Australia International Cultural Council, and is managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the AFC. More details

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


• The following AFC publications have recently been updated and are available online, or contact publishing@afc.gov.au for a hard copy:
  Australian Film Commission Annual Report 2006/07


• 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.


• Latest updates to industry statistics in Get the Picture Online.

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• This year's SPAA Conference is on 13-16 November at the Gold Coast.


• The AFC's Industry and Cultural Development Division proudly supports the following upcoming festivals and events:
  
  SPAA Conference 2007
  13-16 November (Gold Coast)
  
  Inside Film (IF) Awards 2007
  16 November (Gold Coast)
  
  Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards 2007
  5-6 December (Melbourne)



• The Sydney Film Festival 2008 is now open for submissions. Full details including a preselection entry form are available on the Sydney Film Festival website.



• The ACT Filmmakers' Network is a not-for-profit cultural film and television industry agency that delivers a range of workshops for practitioners in the National Capital and region.



• Metro Screen is a non-profit organisation that offers training, equipment hire and production support to filmmakers and digital media practitioners. They have monthly Metro Screen Network meetings and Filmmakers' Studio events.



• 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. Contact d.opitz@metroscreen.org.au



• OPEN CHANNEL is a screen resource organisation located in Melbourne's Docklands. They run training courses, have support programs and hire out production equipment.



• OzDox, a joint initiative of documentary filmmakers, industry bodies and academics, to foster, promote and provide a monthly forum for documentary culture, holds regular industry events.



• ScreenWest and PAC Screen Workshops run the PAC Script Labs, rehearsed readings of WA feature film scripts on the last Wednesday of every second month. The aim is to hone WA scripts and increase the profile, quality and awareness of WA film 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.



• IF Magazine's What's On in Film guide to screen events is sponsored by the AFC. The July to December 2007 calendar is now available as a PDF on the AFC website.



• Other AFC-supported activities and events.

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