2011 Bayside Film Festival Program

2011 Bayside Film Festival Program

From 17 to 20 August, the 2011 Bayside Film Festival will be held by at Palace Brighton Bay Cinemas.

An initiative of the Bayside City Council, the Festival will once again celebrate young and emerging filmmakers via a series of Australian premiere screenings, dynamic workshops, and international collaborations from as far afield as Kabul and Japan.

Now in its 8th sensational year, the Festival will launch with the Australian premiere of Love Etc. from producer Chiemi Karasawa, whose previous features, Billy the Kid and The Betrayal, were Festival favourites in 2009 and 2010. Directed by Jill Andresevic, Love Etc. is a compelling and poignant documentary that follows a diverse collection of New Yorkers as they search for love. Winner of the Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary at the prestigious Hamptons International Film Festival in 2010, Love Etc. will screen with two short films from Afghanistan and Japan.

Amadeo Marquez-Perez, the Festival's Artistic Director for the previous two years, viewed over 250 films before deciding on Festival's 2011 program. "The quality of this year's film submissions was excellent," said Marquez-Perez, "and I am sure that the final line-up will delight our audiences."

In an exciting first, the Festival's Youth Documentary Program (YDP) has formed a partnership with Skateistan, a co-ed skating school based in Afghanistan, to create short documentaries for inclusion in this year's YDP. Likewise, filmmakers based in Japan's Miyagi Prefecture have collaborated with young people in evacuation centres to create short films on the impact of the natural disasters in the country's northern region that will also screen as part of this program.

The Festival's ever-popular Jump Cut segment, which showcases the creativity of those within the 10 to 26 age group, will screen a collection of short films ranging in origin from Kenya to regional Western Australia and Bayside.

And for those looking to pursue a career in cinema, celebrated local filmmakers Jonathan Auf Der Heide (Van Diemen's Land) and Amiel Courtin-Wilson (Bastardy) will present workshops on the movie-making process whilst industry expert, Jonathan Page, will provide an invaluable insight into the mysterious world of film distributors and sales agents. Filmmaker, Genevieve Bailey, will also screen her much-anticipated documentary I Am Eleven, to be followed by a Q&A session where she will discuss the challenges of working on a multi-lingual project with young people from fifteen countries.

On closing night, the Festival is delighted to present the Australian premiere of Amal, from Canadian-born filmmaker Richie Mehta. Set in India, this moving and critically feted drama follows the journey of Amal, an auto-rickshaw driver as he endeavours to claim an unexpected inheritance despite many obstacles.

For ticket and program details, visit the Festival website at: www.baysidefilmfestival.com.au