CinefestOZ wraps up on a high

With close to 20,000 tickets sold, this year’s CinefestOZ film festival wrapped up on Sunday night having cemented its place as one of the premier film festivals in Australia.

Media and film-lovers from around the world descended on the South West to catch the world premieres of a number of Australian films and documentaries, as well as to talk to their cast and crew, including internationally recognised actor Joel Edgerton and Academy Award-winning director Bruce Beresford.

The inaugural $100,000 CinefestOZ Film Prize, Australia’s richest award for a single Australian film or documentary, went to Paper Planes, a children’s film directed and co-written by Robert Connolly, known for his work on films such as Balibo and The Turning.

A five-panel jury including Beresford, Margaret Pomeranz and Cannes Film Festival film selector Benjamin Illos selected Paper Planes ahead of six finalists.

Connolly said he was thrilled to accept the award and premiere Paper Planes in WA.

“I made the film in WA so it was perfect. I can’t think of anywhere better for the premiere,” he said.

“I woke up this morning to hundreds of emails from all over the world — there is media attention from Variety in America, the leading film publication in the world.”

Other finalists included WA films Son of a Gun, The Reckoning, documentary The Whaler: Australia’s Great War Horse and Victorian films Felony and My Mistress.

CinefestOZ chairman David Barton said festival attendance was up about 30 per cent, with the Film Prize significantly boosting the profile of the event.

“The introduction of the richest film prize in Australia has been an enormous step forward for the festival, ” he said.

“The films nominated, the outstanding finalists, the prestigious jury and the response of audiences and industry to what this prize presents to the Australian film industry has been outstanding.”

For more on CinefestOZ read this Thursday’s South Western Times

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