Byron Bay Film Festival 2019 Programme by Echo Publications

SPONSORS

KellyMorton co n s ul t a n t

www.kellymorton.com.au

SUPPORTERS

2 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL â&#x20AC;&#x201C; FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

GENERAL INFORMATION

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT An “every man for himself” attitude envelops an array of characters from all levels of society after they get a whiff of potential wealth and riches. Chaos ensues, and nobody wins. It feels as if this title and underlying message have greater resonance now than at any time since the film’s release. We seem to be in a very mad world: whether crazy or just angry, there’s a lot of vehement and passionate energy out there in 2019 and nobody’s really winning. Sensitive and intelligent people are turning off the news, unwilling to be exposed to the latest outrage. But like all artists, filmmakers are compelled to look the madness full in the face and many of our documentaries this year do just that, examining problems in corners of the world that leave us shaking our heads, numbing out or sometimes getting angry-mad ourselves. The very act of making these films – of creating something wonderful to engage us and raise our consciousness – is a positive gesture, an act of

hope. Such films are a way of saying “enough is enough”. They seek to move us beyond the sadness, to shock us into action. They resemble the placards of the young people flocking on to the streets to protest the destruction of the planet. Young people emerge as the voice of hope in the BBFF2019 programme too. Chief among them is Dujuan Hoosan, the Aboriginal protagonist of In My Blood It Runs – an intimate look at the Indigenous struggle for identity and equality in Australia. This loveable, troubled kid has evolved into a spokesperson for his people. At the UN, no less. Combine them with the stories of dedicated men and women from Baja California to Kenya devoted to protecting species or the environment, and we see beams of light thrown into a darkened landscape. Mad can also mean being “crazy-fun” or whimsical and we have a number of films which fit that bill, featuring young freestyle footballers defying gravity, surfers embracing other cultures

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and explorers with a mission. They stand alongside another generation’s fungi foragers, beekeepers, the invigorated elderly and keepers of their culture’s flame, all fuelled by the unquenchable search for freedom of choice and a better way of doing things. As the Film Industry and proudly ‘Nasty’ women start to shatter the glass ceiling, there’s increasing room to experience women’s stories without the lens of a male gaze or without men telling the story for them (without real context). This is leading to a new wave of film and fresh narratives – exciting, courageous, passionate and engaging – and BBFF2019 has a fantastic selection to view. A film festival is something that can unite people, and inspire them to keep looking and fighting for the common good, to keep listening out for the voice of sanity in a crazy world. Our 2019 festival’s full of unique, entertaining and important films and we hope they’ll make you mad for more…

The

1982 – 2019 Ahead of its time, the genre-defying longitudinal documentary Byron Shire Echo attempts to chronicle the passions and happenings of an entire Shire in almost real time, like a Truman Show or Matrix in which every actor simultaneously views the others’ scripts. The Echo was first released in 1982, and faithfully remade in its entirety every week since then often with completely different plot lines, directors, cast and crew. Part tragedy, part comedy, part farce, it’s ridiculously long on sub-titles and cinematic only in its scope - The Echo often seems more like a series of posters for a film than an actual film itself.

★★★★★

‘

In 1963 a film appeared entitled It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World – a slapstick comedy with a huge ensemble cast of the most well-known and funniest stars of the era – Spencer Tracy, Buster Keaton and Ethel Merman among them.

J’aimee Skippon-Volke Festival Director

The newspaper: distributed everywhere this Wednesday BBFF.COM.AU

DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 3

GENERAL INFORMATION

VENUES

Byron Community Centre

Palace Cinemas

Pighouse Flicks

Brunswick Picture House

69 Jonson St, Byron Bay

108-110 Jonson St, Byron Bay

The Byron Community Centre is our ‘Festival HQ’ – the beating heart of the Festival, right in the heart of the town. The majority of our films which have Filmmakers in attendance are programmed at the Byron Theatre, inside the Centre, allowing for interesting and interactive QandA sessions. The Byron Theatre Events Bar will be open for drinks and snacks from 4.30pm throughout the Festival. We’ll be running an Information Booth and selling tickets at the venue Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from Wednesday October 2 between 10am and 1.30pm and every day during the Festival from 10.30am to 7.30pm.

BBFF is excited to expand our screenings into the freshly reopened Palace Byron Bay. Palace is fitted with state-of-the-art digital sound and projection technology and is located just 300 metres from our ‘HQ’. In the evenings join fellow cinephiles as well as the talent behind the films in Palace’s BBFF Bar. BBFF tickets are available on-line and one hour before the film screenings.

1 Skinners Shoot Rd, Byron Bay (inside the Byron Bay Brewery)

30 Fingal St, Brunswick Heads

Pighouse Flicks has been a muchloved venue to watch films for as long as we can remember but it is about to undergo a metamorphosis and BBFF2019 is locals’ last chance to enjoy it in all its laidback glory, and perhaps indulge in a little nostalgic reverie.

Brunswick Picture House offers a unique surfside retro cinema experience along with a vibrant and charismatic mix of circus, cabaret, music and family-friendly entertainment. With a whimsical garden and quirky kiosk, the Picture House is dedicated to offering you something a little bit different and bringing its own brand of fun to a night out at the cinema.

Regent Cinema

XR Space @ Mercato

Quartz

Green Room

5 Brisbane St, Murwillumbah

Level Two at Mercato on Byron 108-110 Jonson St, Byron Bay

The Beach Hotel, 1 Bay St, Byron Bay

The Mercato Complex – home to Palace Cinemas – are providing a pop-up venue for the Festival to present a special selection of our popular XR (Virtual and Mixed Reality) experiences.

Quartz is a distinctive new venue designed to transform from crystal gallery into an art and events space. Quartz offers a bold and sophisticated alternative to traditional ‘blank canvas’ venues. Quartz will host an extraordinary programme of curated VR on the second weekend of the festival.

The Green Room is a proudly all local bar and dining room in the iconic Beach Hotel and will play host to the Festival’s rock-out Music Video Showcase party. See the website and page 6 for more details of this very special event.

Our most northerly venue is a historic art-deco cinema where you can enjoy a range of refreshments before or after the film in their beautiful foyer or on the balcony. The Box Office is open from 11.30am to 9.30pm on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This venue has stairs and no disabled access or disabled toilet facilities.

Tickets are available on-line and one hour before the film screenings.

Tickets are available Tuesday to Sunday and evenings during films and events, and one hour before the film screening.

Tickets are available on-line only. Visit bbff.com.au for more details about the dates, timings and content on offer in this space.

The Secret Garden

A private oasis in the heart of Byron, Secret Garden will play host to some of our Industry Events, including our special initiative Make Diversity Reality.

BCC – Byron Community Centre PC – Palace Cinemas PF – Pighouse Flicks BPH – Brunswick Picture House RM – Regent Murwillumbah

Q – Quartz XRS – Mercato GR – Green Room SG – The Secret Garden

4 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

GENERAL INFORMATION

TICKETS CHOOSING YOUR FILMS IS EASY

YOU BE THE JUDGE

We encourage our audience to go paper-free by purchasing their tickets in advance on-line at bbff.com.au. We have a great ticketing system which includes a number of helpful features:

FIND THE FILMS THAT WORK FOR YOU Our search function lets you display just the films that align with your availability, preferred venues and/or interests. This helps you narrow in on which of our 70+ film sessions, XR offerings and special events are a match for you.

WISHLIST

Vote for your favourite film. Ticket-holders will be able to vote for their Audience Favourite.

SPECIAL OFFERS There are more than just films on offer, with our Film Festival Partners providing special discounted deals just for BBFF Ticket Holders. Visit bbff.com. au/specialoffers to see your exclusive selection of local offers.

TREAT YOUR FAVOURITE CINEPHILE Whilst Flexi-Passes make fantastic gifts you can also buy someone you care for a BBFF Gift Voucher of any value to use to put towards any BBFF Film, VR or Gala purchase.

Curate your own unique BBFF Experience. Browse the programme at your leisure, click the star icon for films you’d like to see, without pressure to book on the spot. You can plan your BBFF schedule, add screenings to your calendar and share the details with friends.

ENCORE SCREENINGS Audience favourites will receive special encore screenings – stay tuned to our social media channels to learn which sold out sessions will be repeated.

FLEXI-PASSES Buy 6, 10 or 20 tickets at discounted prices and redeem them against the films you want to see – or share them with friends and come as a group. Book different film sessions in a single transaction or buy your pass now and book your films later across any of our venues. See bbff.com.au for more details.

YOUR PHONE IS YOUR TICKET Buy tickets easily on your desktop, iPad or phone and receive QR coded tickets on your phone via email or your Apple Wallet for scanning at the door. It’s good for the environment and good for you.

LEGEND Films in this programme have icons to help you find the right session.

You can create your BBFF wishlist and buy your tickets, passes and gift vouchers through our website www.bbff.com.au Book on-line now.

Please note: It is a requirement that children under 15 are accompanied

by an adult. While every effort has been made to ensure the information contained in this printed programme is accurate, we encourage our audience to visit our website for the most up-to-date information. At the time of printing filmmakers are still finalising their schedules. For films with multiple screenings visit the website to confirm which session they are attending.

Director’s Pick Environment Social Justice Visual Feast

Drama Culture Local Surf

Feelgood Music Action Nominee Visit the home of the world’s largest natural crystals.

Sit in an amethyst cave!

discover the jewel of Byron

Open 10am to 5pm (NSW time) 81 Monet Drive, Mullumbimby NSW 2482 BBFF.COM.AU

crystalcastle.com.au DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 5

GENERAL INFORMATION

SPECIAL EVENTS BBFF FILMMAKERS’ BREAKFAST

Monday 21 October, from 8.30am till 11am, Byron Community Centre’s Balcony, Jonson St – $20 The live ABC Radio broadcast with filmmakers has become a popular feature of the Festival in recent years. Anyone interested in the art and business of filmmaking is welcome to attend. Enjoy a delicious breakfast on Byron’s ‘other’ Balcony with producers, directors and actors, hear their stories behind the Festival’s hit films, and let them know about your own hopes, dreams, projects on the go. The breakfast has evolved into the most relaxed film industry networking event in the region. The ABC North Coast team, led by the stimulating interviewer and wellresearched cinephile Joanna Shoebridge, sets up camp on the first floor of the Byron Community Centre, where she quizzes directors, producers and cast members about the films they have screening at the Festival. The answers are often revelatory, as are the film-world insights gained from the chats around the breakfast table, with Byron Bay Coffee Company’s excellent coffee and an impressive spread of freshly baked breakfast delights from Sunday Sustainable Bakery, aiding the conversational flow. Demand for a place at the Filmmakers’ Breakfast is high, but a number of tickets are available to the public.

MUSIC VIDEO SHOWCASE Wednesday 23 October, 9.00pm Green Room, Beach Hotel – Free

Music videos inspire collaboration, allow creatives to test their ingenuity and provide a vital calling card for talented directors. Famous music video directors who moved on to feature films include Michael Bay, David Fincher, Spike Jonze and Gus Van Sant. Music too can be a subversive art form, challenging the status quo. Combine music with film and you have a potent force for social reform. Many of the 20 short films selected for this year’s Music Video Showcase have serious themes, but get their points across in a fun way. You may even dance! Take Ruby Boots ‘Don’t Talk About It’ for example. Four-and-a-half artful minutes of hilarity, owing something to American Beauty and its skewering of middle-class respectability. Ruby Boots’ twangy country vocals provide the perfect soundtrack to this domestic comedy about repression and the joys of coming out and being accepted. Acceptance is all the young man in Pub_Talk is craving too. A visit to the local pub means another night of feeling lonely and angry. Director Jake Taylor is front man for local metal core heroes In Hearts Wake, but here uses a song by experimental Bangalow band Tralala Blip. Bigotry is tackled in Eyes On You when the young males who meet for a fight choose to have a dance-off instead, to the ethereal sounds of director Adam Kiers’ band Porcelain. Then there’s the call-out to women Stay In Your Power from Melbourne singer/songwriter Charlotte Roberts. It’s serious, but not without humour, and like all the videos at the Showcase evening, danceable. It’s a party after all, with an Award up for grabs. Join the filmmakers and musicians behind many of these music videos at this special screening at Byron’s most iconic venue.

6 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

GENERAL INFORMATION

SPECIAL EVENTS THE OTHER XR

XR (Cross or Extended Reality) is an umbrella term for the full range of immersive technologies that can create new forms of reality whether Virtual (VR), Augmented (AR) or Mixed (MR). The Festival has been a champion of this emerging medium for a number of years and 2019 marks the 4th year of BBFF’s Realities Industry Symposium Co_Lab_Create. While the first day of the event is open only to those already working within the realities industries, registration to the event on Sunday, October 20 is also open to filmmakers and those genuinely seeking to develop content in the realm or connect with realities content makers.

MAKE DIVERSITY REALITY is an Accelerator programme developed

by the festival, through the support of CreateNSW, to grow diversity within the tech and immersive realities industries giving NSW film, game and XR practitioners, including women, regional residents and people from diverse backgrounds career and skills development through a bootcamp style programme in the two days following the Co_Lab_Create XR Symposium.

INDUSTRY PROGRAMMES

SCREENWORKS TRAVELATOR SERIES – 2: FUNDING AND PITCHING Friday 25 October, 9.30am – 4.30pm Byron Services Club - $60 to $180 A one-day workshop on accessing development funds and pitching to seek market interest in your screen projects. Development Funding executives from Screen Australia, Create NSW and Screen Queensland will talk about their development funding initiatives and how to put in a competitive application. Representatives from key organisations that offer pitching opportunities for screen projects will talk about the pitching competitions that they offer and how to prepare and enter, including the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) and Content London

tamarasmith.org.au

SPROCKETS SCHOOLS SESSIONS

Education has always been a key component of Byron Bay Film Festival’s reason for being, to foster learning both through informative films, and about film as a creative art form. In its 13 years, BBFF has shown films to thousands of North Coast students through its Schools Session, with the aim not only of entertaining them, but also to show them the myriad joys of independent cinema, in all its diverse, imaginative glory. The choice of films is aimed to challenge thinking, and stimulate creativity, to reveal what is possible when a story asks to be told. BBFF has also been able to introduce students to some of the talented filmmakers behind the films they see, so they can ask questions. Films screened at the Festival are selected to cover a wide mix of genres, to tell stories about a host of subjects, showing people from diverse cultures and social groups, to broaden and enrich young minds, and expand their avenues of expression. BBFF’s Schools Sessions are held at the end of Term 1. See bbff.com.au/schools for more details

BBFF.COM.AU

Congratulations to all ind ependent filmmakers, the heart and soul of the Byron Bay film fest

TAMARA SMITH MP MEMBER FOR BALLINA (02) 6686 7522 ballina@parliament.nsw.gov.au Shop 1, 7 Moon Street, Ballina NSW 2478 Authorised by Tamara Smith Member for Ballina. Produced using parliamentary entitlements.

DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 7

GENERAL INFORMATION

DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN PUSHING THE REALMS OF REALITY Technology continues to break the boundaries between reality and imagination and offers us new forms of entertainment that are more immersive, where you truly are transported to other realms. We’ve been championing Virtual Reality and its creative possibilities at BBFF for the past five Festivals and this year’s XR (Extended/Cross Realities) Programme is our biggest and most ambitious yet. We’ll be delivering themed sessions of different curated experiences across multiple venues designed to entrance, thrill and enlighten. The selections include experiences which, like the films on offer at BBFF, have been sweeping awards at major festivals around the world. At our pop-up XR Space adventure has never been bigger, gameplay has never been this immersive, and characters have never been so believable that you have to take cover behind the couch. The team at Weta Workshop, world leaders in visual and special effects for film, have developed a ground-breaking game for the Magic Leap One, a new mixed reality system which blends real life with animated worlds. Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders is set in the retroscience fiction universe of Dr. Grordbort - a world of rayguns, rocket ships and deadly robot miscreants. This mixed reality experience happens right in front of you with life-sized robot menaces dropping down from the ceiling and walls. As Earth’s foremost defender it is your task to take them out. Raygun in hand, YOU are Earth’s last hope against the robotic onslaught. You’ll have the chance to experience a number of sci-fi themed VR stories, travel around our own world, encounter quirky characters, climb inside other people’s heads and see the world through new eyes. In Lucid, Eleanor is a renowned children’s author and illustrator. A car accident has left her in a coma. Before Eleanor is taken off life support, her daughter Astra is given the chance to undertake an experimental treatment that will allow her to enter Eleanor’s mind, for one last goodbye... Battlescar returns to BBFF with 2 new episodes. Set in 1978 in New York City. Debbie introduces Lupe to the punk rock scene of the Lower East Side and the secret worlds of Alphabet City. Closer to home Future Dreaming invites you to step into a time warping dream bubble as four young Aboriginal Australians guide you through their futures. Be ready for an intergalactic adventure. Look out for the space emus! Gloomy Eyes, narrated by Colin Farrell, is set at a time when the sun, tired of the humans, decides to never rise again. When the darkness awakens the dead from their graves an unlikely romance develops between a zombie kid called Gloomy

and Nena, a mortal girl. Inspired by nature and geometry, the cosmic and the earth-bound, Quartz, Byron’s newest and most unique event and gallery space is usually home to an amazing crystal array ‘The Cosmic Collection’ and creates the perfect setting for BBFF’s own collection of cosmic and spiritually themed Virtual Reality Experiences. These include: Ayahuasca - Kozmik Journey - a mind blowing immersive voyage through one of the most mysterious spiritual practices on the planet - a unique chance to experience a cultural and spiritual mystery. For the Amazonian Yawanawa, ‘medicine’ has the power to travel you in a vision to a place you have never been. Awavena uses VR like medicine to open a portal to another way of knowing. The work aims not to provoke empathy for the Yawanawa people but is rather a gift from them, to those who will virtually visit their forest

and receive this transmission — a gift that they hope can shift our consciousness, changing the way we perceive the world we know and the decisions we make. The Holy City is an interactive exploration of faith - transporting participants to Jerusalem and providing access to the most sacred rituals and the holiest sites of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. You’ll visit the most significant and beautiful sites in in Jerusalem and experience its architectural beauty, diverse inhabitants, and spiritual history. Tickets are $20 and give you access to approximately 45 minutes of VR experiences. Tickets go on sale on October 8 and are extremely limited - we encourage you to book online in advance and early. Visit bbff.com.au to learn about the full selection of 15+ XR/VR experiences, which venues you’ll find them in and to lock in your ticket today.

8 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

GENERAL INFORMATION

BBFF BEST FILM AWARDS The 2019 Byron Bay Film Festival will present awards for excellence in the following 14 categories: Dramatic Feature, Documentary, Short Film, Surf Film, Byron Film – our Locals Award, Animation, Experimental Film, Cinematography, Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year, CinematicVR Experience, Best InteractiveVR Experience and Music Documentary. At our 2018 Closing Gala the Festival announced that it was BBFF’s Environmental award would be known as the Rob Stewart Best Environmental Film Award – in honour of the Marine Conservationist’s life and work. The Byron Bay International Film Festival Screen Play Competition winner will receive a $1500 cash prize, plus the latest screenwriting software from Final Draft. Screenplay Contest director Pim Hendrix said this year had been the most hotly-contested since the competition began. At the time of printing many of the nominees are indicated in the programme with this icon, however the full list of nominees will be available on 1 October at www.bbff.com.au/nominees. BBFF.COM.AU

THANK YOU

TO OUR SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS Now in its 13th year, the Byron Bay Film Festival continues to go from strength to strength in its programme, parties, popularity with locals and relevance as an international film industry event. The Festival’s success depends upon the generosity and goodwill of our sponsors and supporters and we thank the local businesses for their contributions and encouragement. A special thanks goes to all the venues and their teams who are hosting our films and special events. A huge shout-out too to members of the Byron community for their unflagging enthusiasm and patronage. The amazing hard-working BBFF team deserves a big thank-you also, especially the volunteers and interns who are always ready to go the extra yard to ensure the Festival is an enriching and enjoyable experience for audiences and industry professionals alike. DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 9

GENERAL INFORMATION

GALA OPENING NIGHT FRIDAY OCTOBER 18

Palace Cinemas Byron Bay 6.45pm Red Carpet arrival for a 7.30pm start – $80 Join the stars and creative talent behind some of the world’s most exciting contemporary cinema for the 13th Byron Bay Film Festival’s Opening Night Gala – an evening of extravagant style and unsurpassed glamour. You are invited to frock up and grace the red carpet, enjoy a glass of something fine and help kick off a 10-day feast of cutting-edge culture that has the whole town talking. Byron Bay Catering will provide a delicious menu created with a devotion to the freshest produce our beautiful region has to offer. Food that is fabulous and fun. The Opening Night film has three virtues that will ensure audience delight: Hugo Weaving, Melbourne, and Shakespeare, in a reimagining of Measure for Measure that is brimming with drama, romance and pathos. We salute the Bard, and the imagination and boldness of Australian filmmakers willing to take him on. Raise a glass with us, as we celebrate cinema, and creative spirits everywhere.

MEASURE FOR MEASURE

Less a modern adaptation than a thematically-inspired reimagining of Shakespeare’s problem play, Measure for Measure deftly juggles the criminality and viciousness of Melbourne’s gritty underworld with young, and innocent, love. Seeped in the contemporary tensions between different cultures, and between corruption and justice, and right and wrong – Paul Ireland’s follow-up to Pawno is topical, authentic and beautifully atmospheric while exploring themes the Bard may have approved of: love, compassion, tolerance. Hugo Weaving is masterful as always in the role of Duke, the wise and allpowerful gang boss, who is forced to temporarily hand over controls to his beloved but unstable lieutenant Angelo (Mark Leonard Winter). Meanwhile, a young Muslim woman, Jaiwara, and non-Muslim musician, Claudio, fumble their way into romance, while trying to hide from her disapproving gangster brother. 10 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

GENERAL INFORMATION

GALA CLOSING PARTY SATURDAY OCTOBER 26 Byron Community Centre 6.45pm Red Carpet arrival for a 7.30pm sharp start – $80

Parting is such sweet sorrow as we gather to close the 10 days of Festival fun, feeling and frontal lobe stimulation. Sorrow because that’s it for another year, our cinematic revels now are ended. But not quite, for something sweet is promised following the Red Carpet flourishes and the mingling with the people who make the Festival so special. And that’s the film we’re about to see – The Cave. Last year’s news broadcasts about the young footballers trapped underground in Thailand kept people the world over on a knife-edge, and everyone knows the outcome; there are no spoilers possible here. But Tom Waller’s dramatisation of the rescue is so rich in people power and authenticity, it ensures the Festival ends on a celebratory note, our faith in humanity strengthened. Byron Bay Catering will offer finely crafted canapes using fresh and local products to close-off the Festival in style.

THE CAVE

People power and authenticity drive this dramatic study of the July 2018 rescue of the Wild Boars football team, trapped in the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand. The situation had all the elements of a movie – a daring mission, impossible odds, and, most importantly, a happy ending. It’s this last detail that would seemingly hamper any film adaptation – how do you tell a story where everyone knows how it ends? The solution is simple. Without comprising the inherent tension, Thai/ Irish director Tom Waller focuses on the human element, showcasing a wide range of the thousands of people involved in the rescue. Several key participants portray themselves in this retelling, adding to its verisimilitude. With Hollywood versions inbound, it’s appropriate that a Thai adaptation came first. This impressive film is likely to be the definitive realisation.

BBFF.COM.AU

DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 11

FEATURE FILMS

DRAMATIC FEATURE FILMS Take a trip into the Ecuadorean rainforest, to the banks of the Seine, an underground cave in Thailand, the mean streets of Melbourne. Or back in time to the sexual minefield of centuries past, or the golden era of New Zealand pop. BBFF’s drama will make you laugh, cry, reflect …

A SON OF MAN

ALICE

DAFFODILS

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | SUN 20 | 1.45pm PIGHOUSE FLICKS | SUN 27 | 5.30pm

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | SAT 19 | 8.00pm BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | WED 23 | 5.00pm REGENT MURWILLUMBAH | SUN 27 | 4.00pm

PALACE CINEMAS | SAT 19 | 4.15pm PALACE CINEMAS | WED 23 | 6.30pm PALACE CINEMAS | SAT 26 | 2.00pm

Australian filmmaker Josephine Mackerras’ debut, Alice, is an unassuming yet powerful story of womanhood and self-realisation, and brimming over with French style. Striking for its cool-eyed presentation of ethicallyfraught questions, the film picked up SXSW’s Grand Jury Prize. When her husband’s addiction to costly call-girls threatens her home, Alice (Emilie Piponnier, reprising Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour) is forced to explore a scary new world of work. The film handles her new role with empathy and a lack of sensationalism, shifting focus from the work itself to the autonomy it offers her. Piponnier is enthralling: Alice’s feelings constantly simmer on the surface with an emotional resonance that engages audiences. Piponnier’s easy oscillation between vulnerability and strength makes Alice profoundly real and recognisable, transforming Mackerras’ exploration of transgressive womanhood into something universal.

While Daffodils is both a “choice” and a “grouse” film, you don’t have to be a Kiwi to enjoy its bittersweet love story, gleaming nostalgia or jukebox of hit songs from what seems like every successful New Zealand performer over the decades. Based on a true story that inspired an award-winning stage play, Daffodils speaks (and sings) to all those who have ever known young love, and young heart-ache. It follows indie musician Maisie (New Zealand pop star Kimbra in a riveting performance) as she absorbs the words of her dying father about how he met her mother, and the story of their whirlwind teen romance in 1966. The chemistry between the two leads, the truthfulness of their relationship ups and down – and those tunes – make for a heart-warming experience.

Ecuador’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, A Son of Man follows Pipe, a teenager from Minneapolis, as he joins his father on a treasure hunt for lost Inca gold in the beautiful, but treacherous, Amazonian rainforest. The trans-generational drama fuses the heightened aesthetic possibilities of narrative film with the naked truth of documentary. Director Fernandez-Salvador (known as Jamaicanoproblem) is the son of the renowned explorer Andrés FernándezSalvador y Zaldumbide. His film, 10 years in the making, reveals his lifetime’s ambition to be a good son to this larger-than-life man, and to immortalise him in an immersive cinematic experience. Unscripted and shot on locations across the Ecuadorian jungle, using only drone cameras, this stunning and surreal film highlights the preciousness of our Earth, the Amazon, and the ancient tribes who live within it.

Filmmakers in attendance

12 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

FEATURE FILMS

H IS FOR HAPPINESS

HEARTS AND BONES

JUDY AND PUNCH

PALACE CINEMAS | SUN 20 | 2.00pm PIGHOUSE FLICKS | SAT 26 | 6.00pm

PALACE CINEMAS | SUN 20 | 4.15pm REGENT MURWILLUMBAH | SUN 20 | 6.00pm PALACE CINEMAS | THU 24 | 6.30pm

PALACE CINEMAS | SAT 19 | 6.30pm PALACE CINEMAS | SUN 20 | 6.30pm PIGHOUSE FLICKS | WED 23 | 7.00pm PALACE CINEMAS | FRI 25 | 6.30pm REGENT MURWILLUMBAH | SAT 26 | 6.00pm

Featuring the incomparable Miriam Margolyes and with a dazzling cast of Australian stars that include Richard Roxburgh, Deborah Mailman, Joel Jackson (who joined us at BBFF2017 with Jungle) and Emma Booth, H Is for Happiness is true to its title, offering a gleeful coming of age story of young Candice Phee (a picture perfect Daisy Axon). Based on the young adult novel My Life as an Alphabet, the film embodies a semiserious theme that should appeal to Byron’s new-age positive thinkers (of deciding upon and “manifesting” your own cheerful reality), when Candice embarks upon a programme of schemes to make her depressed and divided family happy again. Be warned: viewers are likely to be affected by irrepressible laughter and long-lasting high spirits.

Hugo Weaving excels as war photographer Daniel Fisher returning home from South Sudan and preparing an exhibition of his work from the world’s conflict zones. When South Sudanese refugee Sebastian, who has built a happy life for himself and his family in Australia, learns that the exhibition may contain photographs of a massacre in his village 15 years earlier, he appeals to Daniel to not include them The two strike up a friendship, but Weaving’s character is plunged into a moral and professional dilemma when he makes a shocking discovery. Set in Melbourne, and with not an African gang in sight, this engaging, intelligent, complex and moving film has a powerful message for all of contemporary Australia.

JULIA BLUE

LITIGANTE

LITTLE MONSTERS

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | SAT 26 | 1.15pm

PALACE CINEMAS | SAT 26 | 4.15pm

PIGHOUSE FLICKS | THU 24 | 7.00pm PALACE CINEMAS | SAT 26 | 6.30pm

Actor Joel Jackson will be in attendance

An original love story of a promising young artist and injured soldier set against contemporary Ukraine revolution against Russia. Julia, a photojournalism student living in war-torn Ukraine, finds her path towards independence and a brighter future challenged after meeting and falling for English, a young soldier fresh from the war zone. Capturing a fleeting love story in a very specific time and place one year after the 2014 revolution in Kyiv, Julia Blue is a different kind of war story providing fascinating insight into Ukrainian culture and idiosyncrasy, old and new. Performance-driven, artistic and subtle, it is told through the eyes of a young woman who must ultimately choose the best path for her future. A delightful, creative and realistic film, Julia Blue and its emerging female writer/director are ones to watch. Filmmakers in attendance

BBFF.COM.AU

Single mother Silvia is weary, laden with the various, overlapping burdens that include caring for her cancer-stricken mother, handling an office corruption crisis, caring for her son and navigating a possible new romance. Her mother, Leticia, a lawyer like her daughter, is gradually losing the battle, but remains feisty, quarrelsome, fuelling some of the film’s many scenes of nervy, loaded domestic conflict. Director Franco Lolli cast his own mother and cousin in the lead roles, ensuring the an authenticity and vigour to the argumentative energy between them. Litigante, which opened Critics Week at Cannes, nails the fractiousness and fear of caring for a loved one while painting an empathetic portrait of overburdened modern motherhood, and does so with grace and a reassuring truthfulness.

An “epic female-driven vengeance story speaking volumes through its feminine inversion of the traditional hero’s journey”, says Australian director Mirrah Foulkes of her first feature film, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. It is also, she adds, “bat-shit crazy and fun”. Set in a misnamed town of Seaside in the 17th Century, this ambitious and fiendishly comic fairytale for our times focuses on puppeteers Judy and Punch whose marionette theatre is the one vestige of civilisation in a town plagued by superstition and misogyny, where witchhunts and stoning are prized entertainments. Once a master of his craft, Punch (Damon Herriman) is now a drunk. He fits right in to Seaside but it’s his wife, Judy (Mia Wasikowska) who has to carry the show. Finally, wronged once again, she exacts sweet revenge.

Lupita Nyong’o is utterly charming in this comedy horror film shot in Sydney and featuring Taylor Swift songs, nursery rhymes, bloodthirsty zombies and non-stop gags. Written and directed by Abe Forsyth (Down Under) the story begins as washed-up muso Dave (Alexander England) crashes at his sister’s place to recover from a rough relationship break-up. He jumps at the chance to join a kindergarten expedition to a cuddly petting zoo alongside the enchanting Miss Caroline (Nyongo) whose temperament matches her sunshine-yellow frock. The zoo features a rather large monster, Teddy McGiggle (Josh Gad) whose childfriendliness is less than skin deep. But he’s a pussycat beside the flesh-eating creatures that escape from a nearby military facility, forcing Caroline to pick up a shovel and lose some of her sweetness.

DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 13

FEATURE FILMS

MAJOR ARCANA

Set in the backwoods of Vermont, Major Arcana follows itinerant carpenter Dink as he struggles to find redemption and end a legacy of alcoholism and poverty by building a log cabin. He is a skilled and precise artisan but his plans for a new home and a fresh start are complicated when he reunites with Sierra, a woman with whom he shares a troubled past. She reads Tarot cards – hence the film’s title – but doesn’t want to read his future. Dink is forced to reconcile his old life choices with his new ones, in this nicely-judged study of character and the challenges of shedding the connections to our past.

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE THIS WORLD WON’T BREAK (PORTRAIT DE LA JEUNE FILLE EN FEU)

Winner of the Best Screenplay and Queer Palm at Cannes this year, Portrait is a finely judged, feverish and unforgettable story of love, memory and connection. Set in 18th Century Brittany, the beautifully shot period drama focusses on the romance between Marianne, an artist who is commissioned to do the wedding portrait of Héloïse, a young woman who has just left the convent. But Héloïse is a reluctant bride-to-be and a reluctant subject, and the painting must be done in secret, from memory. The long gazes that this requires from Marianne are reciprocated and lead to something unexpected – an attraction and longing that are forbidden. It’s a simple narrative, but filled with tension, tenderness and restrained erotic rapture, with themes around female choice, objectification, sexual freedom, intimacy and desire.

Texan musician Wes Milligan can’t catch a break. He writes heartbreakingly beautiful country blues songs and performs them with a dazzling guitar style, but the radio station won’t play them, his ex-wife won’t pick up the phone and he can’t make the rent. Paralysed by the past and self-doubt, Wes plays for beer money in crummy bars on the fringes of Dallas. His life spirals out of control, drinking and brooding and half-listening to the encouragement of his friends and mysterious Delphic figures he bumps into. “This world won’t break,” one of them advises. Too late to stop following the dream and too early in his career to be a legend, Wes Milligan’s struggle for a better life begins to spiral out of control. In these darkest moments, he writes THE song. Filmmakers in attendance

FILM X

YOÑLU

YULI

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | MON 21 | 2.30pm

PIGHOUSE FLICKS | SUN 27 | 7.30pm

X | 95 min | Dir: X | Prod: X | Dramatic Feature | 2019 | World premiere

PALACE CINEMAS | MON 21 | 6.30pm PIGHOUSE FLICKS | SAT 26 | 8.00pm REGENT MURWILLUMBAH | SUN 27 | 6.00pm

BBFF’s Film X – the world premiere of a film we must keep anonymous to ensure its maker is not arrested. We show this film to demonstrate our belief in free speech, and the right of the artist to create. An extraordinary artful and claustrophobic drama about lies, repression, and the struggle for freedom.

Yoñlu is a surreal and artistic account of the life of Brazilian songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and virtual artist known on-line as Yoñlu. By the age of 16, Vinicius Gageiro Marques had an extensive internet following for his music and art, especially his blend of bossa nova and tropicalia (his hero was Gilberto Gil). The son of a psychoanalyst and the region’s secretary of culture, Yoñlu was a polymath, fluent in five languages, a photographer and a self-taught music critic who published on numerous websites with friends and followers on all continents. Obsessively recording and blogging from his bedroom the connected online world he lived in accentuated the disconnection he felt in real life.

A man is tormented by the knowledge that he carries a gene that means he will go mad and, like his father, end up in a mental hospital. He refuses to have children with his long-suffering wife and seems incapable of making a commitment of any kind: even work as a dog-sitter is beyond him. Broke, he and his wife enlist in a state-run psychological experiment which is paid, but ominous and manipulative. To remain in the programme he has to make up stories and act as if he is crazy. But he can’t sustain it, and an emotional crisis forces him to seek complete freedom in nature.

This story about the vastly gifted ballet dancer Carlos Acosta and his boyhood in the poor quarters of Havana, Cuba has been nominated for Best Film, Feature, Screenplay and Cinematography awards at a host of festivals. Preternaturally brilliant, Acosta just wanted to be like the other kids, and when offered the opportunity to perform overseas was “the only Cuban who wanted to stay in Cuba”. Forced and even beaten by his father into pursuing his craft, he went on to become the UK Royal Ballet’s first black dancer. This is a treat for lovers of ballet, and dance of all sorts, and is an inspiring story in itself, with dazzling dance scenes and an emotional recapturing of Acosta’s boyhood, and his overcoming of racism and bigotry.

14 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

PROGRAMME

WED 23

2.30pm $15

BYRON BAY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

4.15pm $15

MONDAY 21

7.00pm $15 2.30pm $15 5.00pm $15 7.30pm $15

TUESDAY 22

2.30pm $15

5.00pm $15

7.30pm $15

The Tree and the Pirogue WeRiseUP Blue Beard Metamorphosis Impermanence A Son of Man Smile Eliades Ochoa – From Cuba To The World Kofi and Lartey Around The World

30 22 27 28 28 12 29 19 28 19

The Prisoner Film X Backpedal Ladies Most Deject Major Arcana Home Nordurland Out Deh – The Youth of Jamaica

30 14 27 28 14 28 29 21

Grenfell The Year Is 2020 Hurlevent Granny Poetry Club Singularity The River of the Kukamas Río Sagrado Guardian Rising Water Mystique Sequence Nero Honeyland

28 30 26 20 29 30 29 20 29 28 28 20

16 BYRON BYRONBAY BAYFILM FILM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 18SUNDAY TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 6 TO 15 OCTOBER 2017 2019

5.00pm $15

2.30pm $15

FRIDAY 25

30 27 19 28 21 25 22 30 12

5.00pm $15

7.30pm $15

11.00am $15

SATURDAY 26

1.45pm $15

2.30pm $15

7.30pm $15

1.15pm $15

3.30pm $15

INTERNATIONAL SHORTS Hurlevent This Time Away Stay Awake, be Ready The Replacement Mamie Elsewhere Cowboy Strange Planet Theory We Vanish An Island in the Continent

11.30am $15

2.00pm $15

4.30pm $15 7.00pm $15

26 28 22 29 12 27 19 21

30 30 19

This World Won’t Break

Singularity Kofi and Lartey Kifaru Control Courage for the Long Haul Reclamation: The Rise at Standing Rock Rituals of Resistance Home (starring Jack Thompson) Don’t Call Me Beautiful In My Blood It Runs

29 28 21 27 27 29 21 28 27 20

SPOTLIGHT ON BYRON SHORTS AFK Lone Ranger Trespassers Geoff Hannah A Journey A State of Play Welcome to the Machine Dust Devil Manus Shifting The Lost Weekend Julia Blue YOUNG AUSTRALIAN FILMMAKERS Cide Brookside Ship Out Burden Backing Up Bilitis Shame Home Safe Ember Appetite Taboo

6.45pm Gala Closing Party for 7.30pm start – $80 The Cave

SUNDAY 27

SATURDAY 19 SUNDAY 20

11.15am $15

THURSDAY 24

7.30pm $15

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE FAMILY FRIENDLY SHORTS 11.15am Elders Tragically Deaf $10 Commander Sam Wonderland Family These Walls Sock and Buskin pass for four: $35 There’s A Mobster Tapestry Under My Bed! The Year Is 2020 1.00pm Anacronte $15 Dosed 3.15pm Firekeepers of Kakadu $15 Planet Fungi – North East India 5.30pm Dust Devil $15 She is the Ocean 8.00pm The Lost Weekend $15 Alice

5.00pm $15

Hurlevent (26) Stay Awake, be Ready Impermanence (28) May Day We Will Remember Them Shifting Alice ‘Black Moon’ Trent Mitchell Continuum 01 – South In Self Exile Pacífico

The Loved Ones Exhalation (Exhalación) From Music into Silence Visible This Is My Heaven Snapshots Why Can’t I Be Me? Around You Flux (28) Ex Aquatic Beyond the Noise (27) Selfies The Tony Alva Story Seeking Safety Manus For Sama

29 30 13

11 30 27 20 30 30 29 22 27 29 22 29 25 20 BBFF.COM.AU BBFF.COM.AU

PROGRAMME

Singularity The Leunig Fragments

29 22

6.30pm $15

Shifting Daffodils

29 12

6.30pm $15

Hearts and Bones

6.30pm $15 8.40pm $15

Judy and Punch

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

6.30pm $15

Mamie Daffodils Rising Water Litigante The Hitchhiker Little Monsters

26 12 29 13 30 13

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

6.00pm $15

The Plagiarist The Leunig Fragments

30 22

SATURDAY 26

6.30pm $15

2.00pm $15

SUN 27

3.30pm $15

W23

Yuli

7.00pm $15

Judy and Punch

T24

6.30pm $15

7.00pm $15

Rear View Mirror Little Monsters

29 13

6.00pm $15 8.00pm $15 3.30pm $15

H is For Happiness

Yuli

4.15pm $15

SUNDAY 27

SAT 26

PIGHOUSE FLICKS BYRON BAY

5.30pm $15 7.30pm $15

BBFF.COM.AU BBFF.COM.AU

Cinderella Eliades Ochoa – From Cuba To The World

27 19

Oslo

Honeyland

SUNDAY 20

27 19

M21

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Anacronte Dosed

T22

26 22

W23

Judy and Punch

An Act of Love She is the Ocean

7.00pm $15 7.00pm $15

T24

7.00pm $15

S27

Hearts and Bones

Kifaru

3.00pm $15

S19

Kofi and Lartey

7.00pm $15

6.00pm $13

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

S20

H is For Happiness

2.00pm $15 4.15pm $15 6.30pm $15 8.40pm $15

26 30 19 26 23 20

6.00pm $13

Hearts and Bones

F25

SUNDAY 20

Live Baby Live

M21

T22

Judy and Punch

W23

27 22 26 12

T24

6.30pm $15 8.40pm $15

Backpedal The Leunig Fragments A Close Shave Daffodils

A Different Gallery Warburdar Bununu: Water Shield An Island in the Continent All These Creatures Elders In My Blood It Runs

3.30pm $15

6.00pm $13

Lone Ranger The Leunig Fragments

25 22

4.00pm $13

Rear View Mirror Honeyland

29 20

6.00pm $13

Judy and Punch

Alice

Yuli

6.00pm $15

MURWILLUMBAH REGENT CINEMA

SAT 26

4.15pm $15

SUN 27

2.00pm $15

BRUNSWICK PICTURE HOUSE

FRI 25

SATURDAY 19

FRI 18

PALACE CINEMAS BYRON BAY 6.45pm for OPENING NIGHT a 7.30pm sharp start Measure For Measure $80

4.00pm $13 6.00pm $13

TICKETS: ONLINE AT BBFF.COM.AU 6 Ticket Flexipass: $80 10 Ticket Flexipass: $125 20 Ticket Flexipass $230 Many of our film screenings feature Question and Answer Sessions with the attending Filmmakers. Check our website for updated details of who will be representing their films at BBFF2019, which sessions feature extended discussion panels and interviews as well as details of any new special events open to the public.

SPECIAL EVENTS & ACTIVITIES Planet Fungi Film and Discussion – BCC | SAT 19 | 3.15pm

Filmmakers Breakfast – BCC | MON 21 | 8.30–11am

Dosed Film and Discussion – BPH | WED 23 | 7pm

Encore Screening

Music Video Showcase – Green Room, Beach Hotel | WED 23 | 9pm

‘Black Moon’ Trent Mitchell Blue Beard A Son of Man Avarya Yoñlu

In My Blood It Runs Film and Discussion – BCC | FRI 25 | 7.30pm

Screenworks Travelator Series 2: Funding and Pitching – Byron Services Club | FRI 25, 9.30am–4.30pm

27 27 12 27 14

Manus/For Sama Film and Discussion BCC | SUN 27 | 7pm

BBFF VR & XR Activations – see website for details – bbff.com.au

7–9

DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 17

SPONSORS

Proudly supporting Byron Bay Film Festival

18 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL â&#x20AC;&#x201C; FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

FEATURE FILMS

FEATURE DOCOS Many wonders of the world can be seen here: some humble – Leunig, magic mushrooms, poetic grannies; some majestic – Baja California, a white rhino, vast oceans; some fun – a Buena Vista veteran, freestyling footballers; some hardhitting –Syria, Tibetan protest, indigenous disadvantage; all revealing, powerful, memorable.

CONTINUUM 01 – SOUTH IN SELF EXILE

From Byron Bay landscape artist Jack Bailey comes this abstract visual and sonic essay, recorded during a six-week journey traversing South America’s broken spine – a cinematic meditation that takes the audience through the wormhole into an alternate vantage point on the interface between man and the world. Filmmakers in attendance

BBFF.COM.AU

AN ISLAND IN THE CONTINENT AROUND THE WORLD (UNA ISLA EN EL CONTINENTE)

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | SUN 20 | 7.00pm BRUNSWICK PICTURE HOUSE | SUN 20 | 3.30pm BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | THU 24 | 5.00pm

Around the World is a documentary that follows Freestyle Footballers from all corners of the world. The film provides a window into one of the newest sports in the world, its keen participants and rapidly growing fanbase. From Norway to Kenya, Poland to Japan, seven Freestyle Footballers share their passion for the sport, whether it is their taste for competition or their love of teaching and passing on their skills to the next generation. The film shows Freestyle Football as a means to connect people with those around them, and also across the globe, capturing the common joy that can be found across cultures, without need for a shared language or background, only a need for a shared love of sport.

A documentary that is as expansive as the 1300km long peninsula of Baja California itself, in which the land and surrounding ocean are the main characters, An Island in the Continent ranges from the poetic, the mythical, to the hard-hitting. Director Juan Pablo Miquirray says he had to “travel through water and mountains, islands, deserts and plateaus; meet its people, those born there and those who settled. I was not willing to leave any rock unturned”. His film contains multiple thematic and narrative dimensions to unveil the peninsula in all its complexity – its unique cultural history, quite unlike the rest of Mexico, its phenomenal natural beauty, and the threats posed by tourism and mining.

DOSED

Filmmakers in attendance

ELIADES OCHOA FROM CUBA TO THE WORLD

Seemingly hopeless drug addict Adrianne is at the end of her tether, suicidal and despairing of ever freeing herself from heroin and methadone – or the opioids prevalent around Death Alley in downtown Vancouver. She seeks the help of a network of alternative healers who provide the psychedelic medicines psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and the rainforest shrub iboga. The use of these to treat depression and anxiety is a growing area of research, and the application of “micro-dosing” has been found to have remarkable success in even the most intractable cases. Dosed follows Adrianne on her journey to hell and back as she undergoes numerous “trips” – including psychotherapeutic and shamanic sessions – in her struggle for sobriety. Tyler Chandler’s directorial debut manages to be both a compelling investigative documentary, while remaining an intimate and sensitive portrait.

The film opens with Benicio del Toro describing Eliades Ochoa as the Cuban Johnny Cash, and it is true that Ochoa is just as dedicated to his music and his working-class roots. But the former Buena Vista Social Club guitarist’s music is more exuberant, colourful and a whole lot sexier, and this documentary showcases it in all its glory – and the shining soul of the man behind it. For me, the guitar doesn’t have a secret. In the guitar, you will find everything,” he says, and we watch, and listen, as he shares everything he has found. Eliades has spread the folk roots of Cuban music around the world and helped keep the Cuban son genre alive. Cynthia Biestek‘s film traces his journey from a humble farmer’s son to an awardwinning star, to a contemplative elder. Filmmakers in attendance

DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 19

FEATURE FILMS

FOR SAMA

FROM MUSIC INTO SILENCE

GRANNY POETRY CLUB

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | SUN 27 | 7.00pm

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | SUN 27 | 11.30am

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | TUE 22 | 2.30pm

For Sama is both an intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war. A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria, as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice – whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much..

This beautifully told story will touch your soul, and have you moving between laughter and tears, as it follows Peter Roberts, the only music thanatologist in Australia. Peter is a Geelong-based musician who uses harp, voice and silence to comfort terminally ill people in their last moments of life. His purpose is to lead people into “a comfortable container of silence”, when nothing else can be done, and when the doctors can do no more. His focus is on the dying process and he helps people to die in peace when often everyone wants them to stay. But it’s a calling that has taken its toll.

The grannies from Chilgok memorised the multiplication table in Japanese and lived their entire lives illiterate in Korean following the Japanese occupiers banning the use and teaching of the Korean language in schools in 1937. The grandmothers have given everything for their children’s education despite the backbreaking burden and workload. When a Korean language school opens in their village, it sparks a fire in their hearts. They learn the Korean alphabet and become literary ladies who see poetry everywhere. It’s a gentle and cheering reminder that learning and living fully doesn’t stop with age.

Filmmakers in attendance

GUARDIAN

HONEYLAND

IN MY BLOOD IT RUNS

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | TUE 22 | 5.00pm

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | TUE 22 | 7.30pm REGENT MURWILLUMBAH | SAT 26 | 4.00pm BRUNSWICK PICTURE HOUSE | SUN 27 | 3.00pm

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | FRI 25 | 7.30pm BRUNSWICK PICTURE HOUSE | SUN 20 | 6.00pm

The stewards of British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest live full-time on boats in the depths of the wilderness to monitor salmon, the backbone of the ecosystem, economy and culture along the coast. But, in an age of science censorship and soaring natural resource development, the Guardians — and the wildlife they have dedicated their lives to protect — are disappearing. The film tackles the consequences of the erosion of science and environmental management.

Two worlds collide in this dramatic documentary which picked up the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2019. Set in the bleak mountains of North Macedonia it focuses on the last female beehunter in Europe surviving in an abandoned village, with only her ageing mother and a dog for company. Hatidze’s beehives provide both food and income, and she cherishes them using ancient, time-tested methods. Profoundly familiar with their habits and needs, she lives in harmony with them and nature – until a disruptive family family suddenly sets up home nearby and adopts beekeeping, then yields to market forces. Honeyland tells a simple story, intimate and timeless, dripping, like the golden honey Hatidze produces, with warmth and emotional insights into the human condition, and our era’s attitude towards the environment.

In My Blood It Runs offers a rare and compelling insight into the world of a 10-year-old Arrernte and Garrwa boy, Dujuan, who has been passed on a gift from his grandfather as a Traditional Healer. We see him apply his powers, then become turned off and humiliated by the Euro-centric lessons in the classroom and disturbed by television reports about Don Dale detention centre. Concern grows that his misbehaving will take him down the tragically familiar path for Aboriginal boys that leads to prison. Since the film was made Dujuan, now 12, has spoken in front of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, calling for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised from 10 to 14. Filmmakers in attendance

20 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

FEATURE FILMS

KIFARU

LIVE BABY LIVE

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | FRI 25 | 2.30pm BRUNSWICK PICTURE HOUSE | MON 21 | 7.00pm

PALACE CINEMAS | SAT 19 | 8.40pm

Tracking an extinction in real time, Kifaru provides a devastating but essential awareness of the consequences of human behaviour. The film documents the final years of the last male northern white rhino, a “kifaru” named Sudan, and the experiences of the rangers that protect and care for him. Its focus on the people surrounding Sudan charges the film with unshakeable human relevance. We witness the rangers’ lives revolving around the rhinos – in their daily routines, their devotion, and their growing anxiety around loss of livelihood in the face of Sudan’s looming mortality. The cinematography lingers, to beautifully capture the Kenyan countryside and the lives within it, providing the film with a contemplative quality that balances its heaviness.

OUT DEH – THE YOUTH OF JAMAICA

Michael Hutchence’s legacy remains messy, unresolved, but that’s no obstacle to the legions of fans of the charismatic INXS frontman with the soaring voice, face of an angel and infinite sex appeal. Many questions about his life, and shocking, premature death, remain unanswered but Live Baby Live ignores them in favour of celebrating what Hutchence and his band did best: belting out one after another of their extensive catalogue of hit rock songs in front of a huge, adoring crowd. The show at London’s Wembley Stadium in July 1991 revealed the band at their peak; road-hardened pros enjoying themselves and committed to delivering the finest musical experience they could to the 74,000-strong crowd. Filmmakers in attendance

Bakersteez is a rapper, embarking on an international career; Shama is determined to be Jamaica’s first prosurfer; ghetto-raised Romar is seeking connection through sport. These three young men show the difficulties and splendours of Jamaican life, providing the framework for a portrait of a generation in flux. Following them, Out Deh captures a shared determination to forge a cultural and structural shift in Jamaica. The soundtrack utilises a mixture of classic Jamaican music, original songs and Bakersteez’s rapping to honour the nation’s legendary musicality. It threads the film together, tying the moments of bodily movement to panoramic shots of the country’s spectacular wilderness. While the physical movement seems emblematic of a society in transition, the moments where the protagonists reflect on their childhoods, families and dreams offer a depth to the youthful exuberance. Filmmakers in attendance

PACÍFICO

PLANET FUNGI – NORTH EAST INDIA

RITUALS OF RESISTANCE

Two friends quit their jobs, book flights to America, buy an old car and set off on the journey of a lifetime. For the next two years, Christian and Chris chased swells, climbed mountains, immersed themselves in local cultures, and spent as much time as possible in nature. The film about their adventure offers an insight into long-term travel and how engaging with new cultures and environments can widen our perspectives and deepen our understanding of the world around us. Captured over the duration of their journey, Pacífico shows the powerful potential of slowing down to provide perspective of our lives and what’s most important. Filmmakers in attendance

BBFF.COM.AU

Join a fun fungi safari in remote northeast India that will show you more about wild and wonderful mushrooms than you most likely ever imagined existed – and meet some of the characters who care for and harvest them. Part travelogue, part exploration of a new frontier of scientific discovery, part immersion in the tribal cultures of the Eastern Himalayas all combined with Stephen Axford’s exquisite photography and fungi time-lapses. You’ll discover that mushrooms are truly magic and their variety and beauty will blow your mind. Filmmakers in attendance

After the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950, a devout monk turns to violence and becomes a guerrilla leader, launching raids from his base in Nepal. An immigrant mother in California, who follows the Dalai Lama’s Middle Path of nonviolence, defies Chinese border restrictions to reunite with her family after 30 years of separation. A student-activist in India, who grew up under Chinese-controlled Tibet, turns to suicide protest. This creative exploration of the evolving responses by pacifist, Buddhist Tibetans to Chinese occupation is based upon first-hand oral accounts by three exiles. Between each portrait, the Tibetan American director reflects on each mode of resistance as he wanders the American frontier that resembles his lost homeland.

DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 21

FEATURE FILMS

SHE IS THE OCEAN

THE LEUNIG FRAGMENTS

THE TONY ALVA STORY

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | SAT 19 | 5.30pm BRUNSWICK PICTURE HOUSE | TUE 22 | 7.00pm

PALACE CINEMAS | SAT 19 | 2.00pm PALACE CINEMAS | TUE 22 | 6.30pm REGENT MURWILLUMBAH | FRI 25 | 6.00pm PALACE CINEMAS | SUN 27 | 6.00pm

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | SUN 27 | 4.30pm

From Innesse Blohina, the acclaimed director of On the Wave, the award-winning documentary about surfing comes this study of nine extraordinary women, aged between 12 and 83, who share one thing in common: a profound love of the sea. Among them are surfers, free-divers, a marine biologist, a cliff diver, all have chosen to make the ocean the centre of their physical, philosophical and professional lives. Blohina thus creates a portrait of what could be a metaphor for one woman’s ocean life through all her ages.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

WERISEUP

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | WED 23 | 2.30pm

BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE | SUN 20 | 11.15am

Avoiding both jingoism and judgment, filmmaker Annabel Verbeke explores the century old customs that are part of daily life in the Belgian town of Ypres, scene of major battles of the First World War. The three battles saw the first use of chemical weapons, and a colossal loss of life. Much of what happens in the region today is dedicated to commemorating the fallen and in her journey through this landscape of remembrance Verbeke’s encounters the most diverse and sometimes contradictory ways of commemorating.

The world is in the midst of a tremendous period of transition and our current models aren’t adequate to support the future that is quickly emerging. At this critical inflection point, WeRiseUP asks a fundamental question: What is success? Through an intimate inquiry with leading business, entertainment, and thought leaders, along with voices of global citizens from all walks of life, the film explores new personal, systemic and collective models of success, prosperity, contribution, and what it will take for humanity to create a thriving future. Transitioning between intimate dialogue to cinematically stunning visuals and music driven interstitials, it is a radical departure from the expert-driven documentary, into a profound personal journal of inquiry, reflection and action.

“Almost everyone in Australia will have seen a Leunig cartoon, but how much do we know about the man behind the witty, wistful and sometimes scathing pen? Despite being a national treasure, and a huge influence on Australian culture, Michael Leunig is largely unknown, and may not be the “Leunig” we think he is. Writer and director Kasimir Burgess set out to uncover the layers around Leunig through fragments about his life and illustrations from his art and poetry. He lets the audience see behind the curtain with outtakes and scene set-ups and conversations with Leunig himself about how the documentary should be made. Recreations of Leunig’s boyhood, TV interviews, animation and poetry spoken by Sam Neill contribute to an intimate and affecting portrait of the artist and his life, while preserving an air of mystery.

Extreme hedonism meets pure adrenaline-fuelled passion in the gritty underworld subculture of skateboarding, which is explored in this punchy, fast-paced documentary. Especially riveting is the seemingly untouched grainy footage from the 70s of US skating pioneer Tony Alva and his teenage peers creating history on rudimentary skateboards carving their way around the undulating surfaces of driedup swimming pools. Punctuated by the appearance of celebrities from the skating world and beyond, this is the story of a decades-long explosive rise to prominence and the hard partying, risk-taking behaviour of the superstars of skateboarding. The darker side of fame is delicately addressed with Alva’s decision to become clean and sober in 2006, allowing him to return to the roots of his passion, and cementing his rightful status as a legend in the skating world.

WHY CAN’T I BE ME? AROUND YOU

Albuquerque’s Rusty Tidenberg, auto mechanic and drag-racing aficionado, shocked friends and family by coming out as trans. Followed for eight years by filmmaker Harrod Blank (son of independent and idiosyncratic documentary maker Les Blank), Rusty guides us through the aftermath of her transition, as growing acceptance among her straight-talking Southwest community still doesn’t ease her romantic and professional woes. Interwoven with lively tales of gender non-conforming individuals on the art-car circuit, Blank’s film — a hit at South by Southwest — is a sensitive and unpredictable love letter to people who fight to be unapologetically themselves. Filmmakers in attendance

22 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

SHORT FILMS

SHORT FILMS The shorts selected this year – more than half of them Australian-made – contain some of the most exciting, visionary and technologically brilliant work ever seen at BBFF. From the Outback to the ocean and everything in-between our Short Docs cover subjects including art, the natural world, LGBTQI issues, climate, the decay of small towns and the rise of social media, to name a few. The dramas are just as varied - quirky, deep or simply fun they provide snapshots of human activity in all its amazing variety.

FAMILY FRIENDLY SHORTS Kids these days! Their visual sophistication is matched only by their advanced awareness of the issues and challenges of society and the modern world. This year’s selection – all but one from Australia – shows that filmmakers are keeping up, and tackling some of these issues with warmth, imagination and a welcome sense of humour and sharp wit. ELDERS

COMMANDER SAM

THESE WALLS

TAPESTRY

BCC | SAT 19 | 11.15am BPH | SUN 20 | 6.00pm

BCC | SAT 19 | 11.15am

Sam and Neil are astronauts, surrounded by space inspired creations. Sam spends her night in a spaceship forged from her father’s work van, but after a dangerous close encounter, their relationship is challenged.

With a common passion for street art, a free-spirited grandmother and her grandson are forced to share their secret with his concerned single mother and prove that age has no barriers or limitations.

A curious hunter discovers a whiteness consuming the edges of his world and sets out on a journey to save his people. Along the way, he encounters an unexpected travelling companion.

TRAGICALLY DEAF

WONDERLAND

SOCK AND BUSKIN

THERE’S A MOBSTER UNDER MY BED!

BCC | SAT 19 | 11.15am

Paul has a loving family, a good job, and enjoys life to the fullest. The documentary crew following him doesn’t seem to see that.

Quirky, offbeat, and awkward Alice attempts to get into the most prestigious dance school in the country. Overly optimistic, she is determined to share her unique gifts with the world.

A clown who has lost his happiness encounters a homeless girl while performing in the village square. Together they find joy in the gift of laughter.

Beautifully shot, wordless story of a boy’s introduction to country by two Elders and the beginning of his journey into adulthood, from Yorta Yorta/ Wurundjeri man Tony Briggs, creator of The Sapphires.

BCC | SAT 19 | 11.15am Australia | 10 min | Dir: Matthew Smolen | Prod: Hayley Adams | Short | 2019 | NSW premiere

Falling asleep can fill you with dread, especially when there’s a mobster laying low under your bed. It’s up to our eightyear-old heroine to figure out what exactly he’s doing there.

Many of the filmmakers will be in attendance at Family Friendly Shorts

BBFF.COM.AU

DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 23

SHORT FILMS

YOUNG AUSTRALIAN FILMMAKERS Each year over 100 budding Australia filmmakers under the age of 25 vie for BBFF’s long-standing Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year Award. This session, the films of our top 10 finalists provides insight our film industry’s future. As young people take to the streets to protest against the destruction of the planet, so young filmmakers tackle some of the key issues of the day – the trauma of colonialism, domestic violence, slut shaming. In doing so they demonstrate a flair for economical story-telling and imaginative use of the medium. They make the future of Australian filmmaking look bright.

CIDE

SHIP OUT

BCC | SAT 26 | 3.30pm

After suffering many struggles as a couple, a middle-aged couple have one final argument before Lee decides to take action and pull the trigger.

After a year of suffering, single mother Valeria decides to take action against her brother Stefan, a burden on her family.

BACKING UP BILITIS

HOME SAFE

APPETITE

BROOKSIDE

BCC | SAT 26 | 3.30pm

Closeted Jane creates an underground event in the basement of her suburban home on the brink of Melbourne’s first gay liberation movement.

A young woman’s journey home after work and the harassment that she witnesses and experiences over the course of one evening.

Bridget can’t get last night out of her head. ‘Appetite’ is a short film about shame after sex that follows a twentysomething woman the day after a one-night stand.

A series of guest experiences at the privately hosted Brookside Bed and Breakfast.

BURDEN

SHAME

EMBER

TABOO

BCC | SAT 26 | 3.30pm

In the middle of a father-daughter lunch at their local café, Ben continues to shelter nine-year-old Kayla from everyday dangers.

Set in Australia’s frontier past, a traumatised Indigenous boy begins works on a sheep station where tensions rise between the owner and himself.

A young girl and her companion struggle to survive, searching for food and shelter in a barren wasteland. Encountering a stranger, she must overcome her fear or lose everything.

After witnessing the local priest abuse his power, Sofia attempts to convince her devout Catholic family to act.

Many of the filmmakers will be in attendance at Young Australian Filmmakers

24 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

SHORT FILMS

SPOTLIGHT ON BYRON SHORTS The diverse concerns and talents of local filmmakers are on display in this year’s Byron Shorts programme. From witty takes on internet and gambling addiction, to celebrations of artistry, to an unflinching examination of Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers, their work encapsulates some of the globalism, social consciousness and downright fun we might expect from our ‘woke’ community. AFK

TRESPASSERS

A STATE OF PLAY

DUST DEVIL

BCC | SAT 26 | 11.00am

BCC | SAT 19 | 5.30pm BCC | SAT 26 | 11.00am

AFK means “Away From Keyboard” as any gamer knows. Kyle is a computer nerd who has constructed a fitter version of himself (Sexy Kyle) to perform all his mundane tasks. However he is forced to go AFK when his girlfriend wants to take their relationship to the next level.

Ben and Lucy are siblings travelling interstate to visit their parents. When their car breaks down on a desolate rural road, they seek help at a nearby farm, and soon make a terrible discovery.

Drew has designed his existence around his love for the ocean and everything that it brings: friendships, health, an escape from the mundane, to achieve a real work/life balance.

A drone flies impossibly high in the desert as a voice recalls an unlikely life. The voice continues as compelling use of archive footage illuminates this biographical experience of a Broadway dancer and how she brought her dream of freedom to life in a Death Valley ghost town.

LONE RANGER

GEOFF HANNAH A JOURNEY

WELCOME TO THE MACHINE

MANUS

RM | FRI 25 | 6.00pm BCC | SAT 26 | 11.00am

BCC | SAT 26 | 11.00am

BCC | SAT 26 | 11.00am BCC | SUN 27 | 7.00pm

The story of a country boy who left school at 14, won a Churchill Fellowship to France and became a famous master cabinet maker. His Hannah Cabinet is valued at $1M and is housed in Lismore Regional Art Gallery.

Clara meets a machine who makes her feel like a winner. But with this machine, winning is impossible.

A young wooden boat builder from Northern NSW finally completes building his “Ranger”, an Australian designed sailing boat he uses as a family getaway.

Hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers have been detained by the Australian Government on Manus Island in PNG for six years. Isolated and unsupported, those that remain are losing hope. Hear them tell their stories, including in a poem by detainee and award-winning writer Behrouz Boochani.

Many of the filmmakers will be in attendance at Spotlight On Byron Shorts

BBFF.COM.AU

DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 25

SHORT FILMS

INTERNATIONAL SHORTS HURLEVENT

STAY AWAKE, BE READY

MAMIE

BCC | TUE 22 | 2.30pm BCC | WED 23 | 2.30pm BCC | THU 24 | 2.30pm

BCC | WED 23 | 2.30pm BCC | THU 24 | 2.30pm

BCC | THU 24 | 2.30pm PC | SAT 26 | 2.00pm

A howling wind blows through the pages of a mysterious book, whipping the words off the page until they form images, swimming like fish until they meet cells and merge, sprouting typographical plants and towers. The characters evolve and swarm to face off against their enemy: the digital world.

A motorbike crash happening in front of the market stalls on a street corner was embedded in the mysterious story of three young men.

Worried about the health of his grandmother who doesn’t recognise him anymore, Antoine pays her a visit to attempt to bring her memory back.

COWBOY

THIS TIME AWAY

THE REPLACEMENT

ELSEWHERE

BCC | THU 24 | 2.30pm

On election night, a janitor feels cheated out of a life he might have lived when his own clone becomes the President but physically looking like the newly elected President has its own dangers…

A young woman questions the path she is on, and whether her happiness lies elsewhere.

Stand-out shorts from around the world, curated from a vast selection to provide a stimulating session of small but perfectly formed cinematic experiences.

Eight year old Joachim has an uncommon best friend. Cowboy is plump, funny and consoles him...but he is imaginary. Philippe, his father, ignores Joachim and is unable to talk to him, to communicate... and to tell him what happened to his mother.

Nigel, (Timothy Spall), is an elderly man living as a recluse, haunted by his past and memory of the family he once had... until an unexpected visitor arrives and disrupts his lonely routine.

SHORT FILMS

The A–Z of short films not listed in the special short film sessions over the previous pages

A CLOSE SHAVE

A DIFFERENT GALLERY

ALL THESE CREATURES

AN ACT OF LOVE

PC | SAT 19 | 4.15pm

BPH | SUN 20 | 3.30pm

BPH | SUN 20 | 6.00pm

BPH | TUE 22 | 7.00pm

Every three years sculptor Samantha Moss turns the riverside parklands and beaches at Brunswick Heads, in Northern NSW, into a natural gallery that delights locals and and visitors alike.

An adolescent boy attempts to untangle his memories of a mysterious infestation, his father’s unravelling, and the little creatures inside us all.

The intimate connection between identical twins May and June is tested when one attempts to step beyond their shared identity.

It’s those little moments in life that help to define who we are. Sometimes ‘A close shave’ isn’t a bad experience after all. Filmmakers in attendance

Filmmakers in attendance

26 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

SHORT FILMS

ANACRONTE

AVARYA

BACKPEDAL

BEYOND THE NOISE

BCC | SAT 19 | 1.00pm BPH | WED 23 | 7.00pm

PF | SUN 27 | 7.30pm Turkey | 20 min | Dir: Gökalp Gönen | Prod: Gökalp Gönen | Animation | 2019 | NSW premiere

PC | SAT 19 | 2.00pm BCC | MON 21 | 5.00pm

BCC | SUN 27 | 4.30pm

Anacronte and the Sorcerers of Evil, without any emotion, put humanity’s happiness to the test in a struggle that has each of us as a winner or loser.

Exploring space in the hope of finding a new habitable planet, a human is trapped in his own spaceship after the robot overseer finds no planet suitable. Eventually the human finds a way out, but a dark secret will be revealed.

Sydney director Dani Pearce’s cinematic interpretation of Olivia Gatwood’s poem of the same name, a story from her teen years in New Mexico, with universal themes: a home town, being a young woman, the death of a friend.

Distracted by our own inventions, we lose sight of the natural world becomes invisible. Two surfers seek refuge in the vastness of the ocean.

‘BLACK MOON’ TRENT MITCHELL

BLUE BEARD

CINDERELLA

CONTROL

BCC | WED 23 | 7.30pm PF | SUN 27 | 5.30pm

BCC | SUN 20 | 1.45pm PF | SUN 27 | 5.30pm

BPH | THU 24 | 7.00pm

BCC | FRI 25 | 5.00pm

Visually stunning and emotive short film by Northern Rivers-born Robert Sherwood that focuses on the passionate Australian photographer Trent Mitchell and his experimental pursuits with his camera. It expresses both men’s creative efforts to capture the essence of nature, and Trent’s latest bodysurf series: Inner Atlas.

Several girls notice a man of unusual appearance while wandering around the city. His interest in them is unambiguous, but what does this interest stand for?

The story of an independent young woman with cerebral palsy who must enlist the help of the fairy godmother to design a dress for the ball.

Two Australian women reflect on their fight for reproductive rights in the early 1970s after receiving backyard abortions.

Filmmakers in attendance

COURAGE FOR THE LONG HAUL

BCC | FRI 25 | 5.00pm Australia | 14 min | Dir: rani brown | Prod: rani brown | Short Doc | 2018 | Byron premiere Community processes unite beyond political affiliation to help protect our life support systems on Earth. Two women talk about their roles within a movement of untold thousands and what sustains them for the long haul against global corporations and governments doing their bidding.

BBFF.COM.AU

DON’T CALL ME BEAUTIFUL

EX AQUATIC

EXHALATION (EXHALACIÓN)

BCC | FRI 25 | 7.30pm

BCC | SUN 27 | 4.30pm

BCC | SUN 27 | 11.30am

A biographical documentary chronicling the life of Aboriginal woman Zeitha Murphy after she was taken from her birth mother when she was just three months old.

When a young skateboarders travels take him to an aquarium, he feels the need to wash off something off and see how the trapped creatures might feel with being exposed to millions of eyes.

We come to the world with an exhalation and we leave it with another one. Everything in between is a frenetic, shuddering sigh.

DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 27

SHORT FILMS

SHORT FILMS FIREKEEPERS OF KAKADU

FLUX

GRENFELL

HOME

BCC | SAT 19 | 3.15pm

BCC | SUN 27 | 4.30pm

BCC | TUE 22 | 2.30pm

BCC | MON 21 | 7.30pm

Australia | 1 min | Dir: Olly Sindle | Short Doc | 2018

A work of discovery of the oldest surviving culture on Earth, the Bininj people of Kakadu, who maintain a traditional life, balancing biodiversity. We watch as they as they hunt and forage in preparation for a great food festival.

This lo-fi experimental short asks questions on the state of surfing today. Is it an Olympic sport? A counter-culture movement? Spiritual release? Commune with nature? Marketeers dream?

A heartfelt tribute to the victims of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in West London. 18 months on, an abandoned community’s questions remain unanswered. World events unfold so fast it sometimes takes art to remind us that for those involved in such events life doesn’t move on so quickly. Filmmakers in attendance

An insightful and thoughtful documentary, with outstanding cinematography, offering a chance to hear from an overlooked group – South Sudanese refugees in Australia. Far from being an African gang, this family is remarkably unremarkable, facing unique challenges but strikingly familiar to us all. Filmmakers in attendance

HOME

IMPERMANENCE

KOFI AND LARTEY

LADIES MOST DEJECT

BCC | FRI 25 | 7.30pm

BCC | SUN 20 | 1.45pm BCC | WED 23 | 2.30pm

BCC | SUN 20 | 7.00pm BCC | FRI 25 | 2.30pm BPH | MON 21 | 7.00pm

BCC | MON 21 | 5.00pm

Tormented by the news that they bear, two men from town watch over a family whose lives are about to change forever. Filmmakers in and Jack Thompson attendance

IIn a remote high-altitude village of Sichuan, Tibetan children study Buddhist scripture. Impermanence explores the lives of nomadic Tibetan villagers and their close relationship to their harsh and beautiful environment.

In Agbogbloshie, Ghana, the toxic fumes from the burning rubbish dumps are so bad that some call it Sodom and Gomorrah. The workers eking out an existence on the dumps don’t agree. Agbogbloshie is their home. Youth worker Abdallah gave cameras to two boys, Kofi and Lartey, to interest them in telling stories.

A teenage girl from the Appalachian mountains struggles to protect her siblings from a drug-addicted mother.

MAY DAY

METAMORPHOSIS

MYSTIQUE SEQUENCE

NERO

BCC | WED 23 | 2.30pm

BCC | SUN 20 | 1.45pm

BCC | TUE 22 | 7.30pm

In Thierry’s living room, several people have gathered. None of them know each other but they are all there to try and fulfil the same dream. They want to find a job... and quickly. But we’re in Brussels, so nothing goes quite as planned.

In his 30s and still living with his mother, a man decides to break free from his inner demons.

A study of the connection between the ocean and the landscape of Montauk, the most mystical and easterly point of Long Island, through its weather and textures, voice, sound design and spectacular scenes from above and below. Filmmakers in attendance

Humans spend five years of their lives thinking about food. This film may not change that.

28 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

SHORT FILMS

NORDURLAND

OSLO

REAR VIEW MIRROR

BCC | MON 21 | 7.30pm

BPH | SUN 27 | 3.00pm

PF | THU 24 | 7.00pm RM | SAT 26 | 4.00pm

Three friends from the subtropical Northern Rivers of NSW Australia travel to isolated coastlines to surf in the harsh, freezing waters of the North Atlantic. Glaciers, mountains and powerful icy surf all come to life in this adventure to the far north.

Ziad, a Palestinian day labourer, is denied entry into Israel for work one day, in this poetic and tragic reflection on the everyday struggle of Palestinian breadwinners.

Filmmakers in attendance

RECLAMATION: THE RISE AT STANDING ROCK

BCC | FRI 25 | 5.00pm United States | 23 min | Dir: Michele Noble | Prod: Michele Noble, Paul Alberghetti | Short Doc | 2018 | Australian premiere

The hustle and bustle are long gone from South Australian opal mining town Andamooka, now shrunken, decaying, colourless. Its loss of purpose is paralleled in the life of resident Ingo Hansen in this bleak, beautiful elegiac portrait of impermanence and decay.

In 2016 an oil pipeline threatened the water supplies and sacred sites of Native Americans in North Dakota. Non-violent protests were led by young activists who encouraged all Native Nations to come and support the cause, bringing peace between tribes and inspiring environmentalists around the world.

RÍO SAGRADO

RISING WATER

SEEKING SAFETY

SELFIES

BCC | TUE 22 | 5.00pm

BCC | TUE 22 | 7.30pm PC | SAT 26 | 4.15pm

BCC | SUN 27 | 7.00pm

BCC | SUN 27 | 4.30pm

Federal | 6 min | Dir: Lizzie Kirkpatrick | Short Doc | 2018

A girl gets a glimpse of the future at the bottom of a submerged mountain village.

Haunting story of two young people – a Byron Bay girl and an Afghan refugee – finding friendship and understanding despite their different cultures and histories.

SHIFTING

SINGULARITY

SMILE

SNAPSHOTS

BCC | WED 23 | 5.00pm PC | WED 23 | 6.30pm BCC | SAT 26 | 1.15pm

BCC | TUE 22 | 5.00pm PC | TUE 22 | 6.30pm BCC | FRI 25 | 2.30pm

BCC | SUN 20 | 4.15pm

BCC | SUN 27 | 2.00pm

Portrait of a live-in relationship in a rapid fire series of telling vignettes centred around the lounge-room sofa.

Artful depiction of the planet’s creation and evolution into the age of artificial intelligence – intelligence that may exceed ours. What kind of Big Bang might the creation of synthetic life produce?

Celebrating individuality, cultural diversity and the joy of a photographer seeing his subjects smile.

Three unique stories told through the voyeuristic lens of a photo booth camera.

We join a group of kayakers on an expedition down the San Pedro River in Chile, absorbing its natural beauty and mythological significance to the Mapuche people.

BBFF.COM.AU

As rapid-fire as the phenomenon it documents – the global, obsessive and all-consuming, aspect of everyday life, covering everyone from starlets to refugees. This award-winning animation offers a dizzying journey of cross-cultural images that may produce unwanted side effects.

DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 29

SHORT FILMS

SHORT FILMS STRANGE PLANET THEORY (TEORIA SOBRE UM PLANETA ESTRANHO)

BCC | THU 24 | 5.00pm Brazil | 14 min | Dir: Marco Antonio Pereira | Prod: Ariane Rocha, Marcelo Machado Junior, Felipe Pimenta, Lucas Cabral | Short | 2018 | Australian premiere

In the garden, a closeness breeds contempt and God laughs at humans in his strange shed.

THE HITCHHIKER

THE LOST WEEKEND

THE LOVED ONES

PC | SAT 26 | 6.30pm

BCC | SAT 19 | 8.00pm BCC | SAT 26 | 1.15pm

BCC | SUN 27 | 11.30am

Jade’s wild, prosecco-fuelled road trip to a Byron Bay music festival turns weird when they pick up a hitchhiking girl. Things get even darker when they stop at a a quiet country pub.

After a rough break-up, Charlie dives into the world of online dating where, after some false starts, he meets the charmingly complicated Maggie Mae, but quickly learning the differences between expectations and reality.

Yekaterina is organizing her mother’s funeral while the rest relatives try to divide the dead woman’s possessions as quickly as possible. Then circumstances take a different turn.

Filmmakers in attendance

THE PLAGIARIST

THE PRISONER

PC | SUN 27 | 6.00pm

BCC | MON 21 | 2.30pm

After his recent unsuccessful novel “Where Do I Get Off?”, Jason Harlow is struggling for ideas. A chance encounter with aspiring young writer Jemima Worthy gives him some inspiration.

An artist named Adam is sentenced to a long term in prison, where he is prevented from creating any art form but finds a way to escape his imprisonment and let his imagination fly free.

THE RIVER OF THE KUKAMAS (EL RÍO DE LOS KUKAMAS)

THE TREE AND THE PIROGUE (L’ARBRE ET LA PIROGUE)

BCC | TUE 22 | 5.00pm

BCC | SUN 20 | 11.15am

Filmmakers in attendance

Being born from the spirit of the River, Kukama people have a special connection to the water. As the river shrinks and grows throughout the year, it affects their lives.

THE YEAR IS 2020

THIS IS MY HEAVEN

VISIBLE

BCC | SAT 19 | 1.00pm BCC | TUE 22 | 2.30pm

BCC | SUN 27 | 2.00pm

A punch-in-the-guts introduction Anisa Nandaula, Ugandan-born, Brisbaneraised slam poet who uses a metaphorical Australian civil war to speak to the unjustness of the country’s refugee policies. Filmmakers in attendance

Born to a traditional Muslim family in a small village in Central Java, Dimas knew he was gay from a young age. When his world turned upside down he went in search of his heaven and found it in Broome.

When Fran decides to travel across the country, she must overcome the urge to submit to the beck and call of others and learn to be bold in order to find out where she belongs.

The life of a Melanesian tribe is disrupted by the progressive arrival of modernity. Iabe, a young Melanesian, finds this change hard to cope with and gets lost between his traditions and this modernity.

WARBURDAR BUNUNU: WATER SHIELD

BPH | SUN 20 | 3.30pm Australia | 26 min | Dir: Jason De Santolo | Prod: John Harvey | Short Doc | 2019 | Byron premiere

A young leader is devastated when Borroloola Town Camps are bombarded with water contamination notices and sets out to find answers, only to rediscover hope in the healing power of story, family and culture.

30 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY 18 TO SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2019 BBFF.COM.AU

GENERAL INFORMATION

DIRECTOR’S PICKS The programme this year is the strongest ever, says Festival Director J’aimee Skippon-Volke, making choosing the stand-outs an unenviable task. Many of our films this year are a call-out for understanding, inclusiveness, kindness, respect for other others and our environment, and freedom. These values are to be found in one of the most quietly powerful of our Australian films, In My Blood It Runs, an up-close study of a gifted, questioning Aboriginal boy in Alice Springs who struggles to fit into the white system and keeps getting into trouble. The filmmakers collaborated with 10-year-old Dujuan Hoosan’s family and the Arrernte and Garrwa Elders over three years to make the film. By giving them a camera they entered his daily life, at home, at school and on country. The intimacy this creates, the personal connection, gives an authenticity that documentaries often miss – it’s almost impossible not to fall in love with this lad who is battling to find his place in this imperfect world. Another film addressing the dire consequences of oppression, but with a joyful solution to share, is the utterly charming Granny Poetry Club. The grannies are endearing, and even comical at times, but there was nothing funny about their being forced by their Japanese overlords to abandon their Korean language in the 1930s. Following a lifetime of service to their families, while being locked out of their own culture by illiteracy, they leap at the chance to learn Korean, then take their newfound skills into everyday life, finding poetry in street signs, shop hoardings, everywhere! At the other end of the age spectrum, but with a similar proposition, Out Deh – The Youth

WE VANISH (LAS DESAPARECIDAS)

BCC | THU 24 | 5.00pm Australia, Mexico | 22 min | Dir: Astrid Dominguez | Prod: Hayley Surgeron | Short | 2018 | Byron premiere

In a country where violence against women has been normalised, a young mother will put her own life in danger to get legal justice over her daughter’s brutal murder.

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For a hot tip on a great film look for the Director’s Picks marked with this icon. of Jamaica feature a similarly historically oppressed and disadvantaged group who are, like the grannies, full of spirit, and similarly determined not to let their circumstances hold them back as they apply themselves to careers in sport, surfing and music. The theme of oppression – and liberation – runs through A Son of Man too, a film like no other that I’ve never seen before, straddling the divide between fiction and reality in the most intriguing way. It is set in the teeming Ecuadorean rainforest, where an American MidWest teenage is summoned by his macho father to join a mission in search of the fabled treasure of Altahuapa, head of the Incan Empire. With real people acting out a real story, the wild grandeur of the Ecuadorean landscape a character in its own right, and for the sheer hallucinogenic weirdness of the film (think Apocalypse Now meets Fitzcarraldo), this is right up there for me. It took 10 years to make, and is an absolute eye-opener. The Amazon also features amongst our Virtual Reality Selections in 2019 – we’ve brought some of the very immersive experiences in the world to Byron Bay. I’m proud to be able to share these amazing stories with Byron but tickets to these sessions are limited so my advice is to book early. Among our strong showcase of environmental films, standouts include An Island in a Continent, about the threat to the extraordinary landscape and cultural history of Baja California; the melancholic but inspiring Honeyland, for its depiction of an isolated bee-hunter in the mountains of Macedonia who faces ruin when a feral family sets up camp next door, adopts her traditional methods but ignores her sustainability practices. Two films that are full of majesty, but which made me question where we might best fight our environmental battles are Kifaru and Guardian. In both, we follow the lives of men whose lives have been built around protecting bio-diversity on our planet. The hour-long documentary We Will Remember Them stood out in its look at Ypres, in Flanders Fields, 100 years after the carnage of the First

World War. An industry has grown here devoted to remembering the fallen – reverential but spilling over into kitsch. The subject is handled with respect, with only the exceptionally witty editing of both sound and vision providing any comment. As the glass ceiling is shattered we’re seeing the end of women’s stories being told through a male lens and this year we have a number of amazing dramas made by women, about women. The romantic Portrait of a Lady on Fire subverts the sexual and social mores of 18th century Brittany, while Alice does the same in 20th century Paris, as a wife and mother experiences disillusionment and empowerment. In Julia Blue, we are taken to Ukraine for an artistic and subtle tale of love set in the tough world of resistance to Russian oppression. We’ve screened Australian director Mirrah Foulkes’ work in past festival’s and it’s always inspiring to see our Short Film directors make the leap into Features. Judy and Punch stars Mia Wasikowska and Damon Herriman and is set in a Pythonesque past where a woman puppeteer asserts herself in a male dominated and misogynistic world. Finally, a shout-out to our Closing Night film, The Cave, a dramatised account of the rescue of the young men trapped underground in Thailand last year with all of the factual force of a documentary. Although we know the outcome, its focus on the people involved, showing the best of humanity, make it unexpectedly enthralling. I look forward to meeting its maker, Tom Waller, who is joining us for the Festival. Filmmakers from across Australia and the world are converging on Byron to share their stories with you, including the director and star of a touching drama about a Texan musician’s struggle to get himself heard (This World Won’t Break), Julia Blue’s Roxy Toporowych and Alice’s Australian director Josephine Mackerras, to name just a few. It’s the fabulous people behind the films that make the Film Festival such a special event but also it’s the fabulous people in the audience who create a unique experience for the visiting filmmakers. Whether it’s through Question and Answer Sessions at film sessions, walking the red carpet with them at our Galas or joining them at our Filmmakers’ Breakfast, there are plenty of opportunities to meet the talent behind the films which make up BBFF2019’s Official Selection.

DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN – BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL 31

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