Adelaide’s independent film festival returns for another screening
As cinema lovers in Adelaide count down the days to this year’s Adelaide Film Festival, an independent venture is offering audiences another opportunity to discover something new.
Completely separate from Adelaide Film Festival, but taking place a week prior, the Adelaide Independent Film Festival is focused on giving less-established filmmakers a platform to showcase their work.
“We just give more opportunities for filmmakers to get their films in front of an audience, celebrating them, getting them up on stage,” Adelaide Independent Film Festival director Tom Kerby tells City Mag.
Over the weekend of October 3-4, the AIFF will mark its fourth and biggest year of screening a diverse selection of local and international short films.
On Saturday, the Capri Theatre will host the first day of the event, screening 17 films in the official selection, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and an awards presentation.
On day two, industry leaders will gather at The Mercury Theatre, for conversations and screenings of four South Australian Screen Award-nominated or Winning films.
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The industry day is a new addition to the festival and, according to Kerby, aims to “provide something a little bit different, and what isn’t necessarily being provided in South Australia.”
Notably, Adelaide filmmaker Danny Philippou, half of the directing duo behind Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, is a featured guest speaker on the day, highlighting the growth the South Australian film industry has had in recent years.
“It’s such a significant moment for the Adelaide Independent Film Festival, but also the local industry as well. That having so many significant figures from the Australian Screen Sound Guild, Danny Philippou, Damian Walshe-Howling, there are so many,” he says.
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While this year’s AFF program features independent cinema from less established filmmakers, it also features many films that have done their rounds at major international film festivals like Cannes and Venice.
AIFF instead aims to showcase filmmakers whose talents have not yet reached this major scale, and mix them in with more established filmmakers who also screen their shorts at the festival.
For Kerby, a cornerstone of the festival is its emphasis on South Australian Film.
“We want to always put a focus on South Australia. That’s our first and foremost. That’s our priority. So this year we have four South Australian films in the program.”
“I think the hole that [the festival] is filling in South Australia is giving more opportunity to filmmakers who are just screaming out for support and screaming out for their work to be seen,” he says.
Asked which films on the program particularly stood out to him, Kerby said he had plenty of picks.
“If/When is a local film, and it’s already capturing the hearts of the country and the state because they’re winning basically everything. The director, Courtney Westbrook, she’ll be part of the Q&A on the 3rd of October,” he says.
Some films coming in from overseas for the Festival include Like Friend, Like Dear from Iran, made in a painted animation style.
“There’s another one from Mexico called Reliefs. It’s a live-action story about a middle-aged man, whose life is stalled because his mother’s chronically ill, and I don’t want to give too much away, but he’s sort of stuck in a position of what to do. So those two, I think, in terms of production quality, they deserve to go onto bigger and better things,” he says.
AIFF is on from October 3-4. Find out more here.
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