• Congratulations to the filmmakers of Green Bush (Warwick Thornton, Kath Shelper) and The Djarn Djarns (Wayne Blair, Kylie du Fresne) who won prestigious awards at Berlin Film Festival.


• Frédéric Boyer, Preselector for Directors' Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival, is visiting Sydney (7 March) and Melbourne (10 March) to talk to Australian filmmakers and view films. Previous Australian screenings in this section include Watermark, Unit #52, Mallboy, Head On and Muriel's Wedding. Held alongside the Official Selections of the Cannes Film Festival, Directors' Fortnight screens up to 20 feature films, a selection of world cinema, representing original - and sometimes uncomfortable - viewpoints.


• The AFC's touring film festival Big Screen launched on 23 February, showcasing the stellar line-up of Australia's finest films about to hit the road on a national tour to 28 regional towns during 2005. Launching his first Big Screen program, AFC Project Manager Peter Castaldi was joined by patrons Samuel Johnson, Sam Worthington, Alex Dimitriades, Tara Morice, Rhys Muldoon, Chris Haywood and Geoff Morrell who were on hand to lend their support along with a specially recorded message from industry icon Geoffrey Rush.


• Coming up is a rare opportunity to meet with executives from Arclight Films International and hear about the company's recent success stories, including the sale of Sundance Film Festival hit and local Australian thriller Wolf Creek, by director Greg McLean, to Miramax subsidiary, Dimension Films.


• A suite of programs under the umbrella title IndiVision is designed to foster innovative approaches to low-budget feature filmmaking in Australia. The AFC will screen the most exciting indie features from around the world in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart. AFC Project Managers will be there to present and discuss the films and the IndiVision initiative. The complete program including details of films, screening times and venues is now online. The Sydney and Melbourne IndiVision Screenings, and the inaugural IndiVision Project Lab, were a great success.


• The Melbourne Cinémathèque program is now available on the AFC website after launching in February. Special screenings include a season of Michael Haneke's controversial films and a retrospective of Hollywood bombshell Barbara Stanwyck. Curated by The Melbourne Cinémathèque, various programs will tour to the Media Resource Centre in Adelaide, the Film and Television Institute in Perth, The State Cinema in Hobart and the Chauvel Cinema in Sydney. Visit the website for updates.

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• The first four Broadband Production Initiative projects will be launched initially from the ABC's Broadband Service in March 2005. They include two documentaries The Life, Times and Travels of the Extraordinary Vice-Admiral William Bligh and Dust on My Shoes; an interactive drama for young viewers UsMob.com; and a broadband site supporting the children's animation Dog and Cat News.


• The Raw Nerve Initiative provides emerging filmmakers with the opportunity to produce quality short films on a minimal budget. The scheme was created to address the AFC and Screen Development Australia's (SDA) shared objective of showcasing new talent emerging through the screen resource organisations in each state. Read an interview with Adam Bayliss, creator of NSW initiative-winning short Luna and the Moon.


• SPARK, the feature film script development program from the AFC, in association with the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, is now calling for applications for the next SPARK workshop, to be held 28 August - 4 September.


• The AFC, in association with Bryan Brown, is seeking scripts for two Twisted, an anthology drama series to be produced for the Nine Network. Each story needs to surprise and intrigue, and end with a sting in the tail. Script submissions are encouraged as early as possible. Deadline 22 April. For guidelines and further information go to two Twisted on the ninemsn website.


• NEW FUNDING STRAND: IndiVision Low-Budget Feature Development. The AFC supports the development of low-budget features with distinctive story ideas, inventive storytelling, emotional resonance and something to say, across all genres. This new program identifies promising low-budget feature projects at an early stage. An individual applicant must be a writer or writer/director with at least one produced drama credit (short films/features included). Teams must include a writer or writer/director with the above credits and may also include a producer and/or director. Deadline 29 April. Guidelines and application forms are now available on the AFC website.
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• NEW FUNDING STRAND: Writer Fellowships. Fellowships will support the development of distinctive features at an early stage on the basis of the track record of the writer or writer/director and the strength of the story idea. Applicants must be writers or writer/directors of short drama, animation, short features, features and television drama which have received local and international awards and/or have had outstanding commercial success. Deadline 24 March 2005. Guidelines and application forms are now available on the AFC website.


• AFC funding approvals


• The following AFC funding round deadlines are coming up in March/April:
  
  Film Development
  11 Mar: Strand H - Short Film Production; Strand O - Fully Funded Documentary
  18 Mar: Strand L - Shooting Time-Critical Material; Strand X - Experimental Digital Production
  29 Mar: Strand S - Animation Development
  15 Apr: Strand B - Seed Funding
  22 Apr: Strand L - Shooting Time-Critical Material
  29 Apr: Strand D - Draft Funding; Strand J - Seed Funding; Strand K - Project Development; Strand F2 - IndiVision Low-budget Feature Development
  
  Industry and Cultural Development
  7 Mar: ICD Interactive Media Fund; New Projects Fund; Events and Activities Fund
  26 Apr: National Touring Exhibiton Fund
  
  Indigenous Unit
  11 Mar: Drama Development
  29 Apr: Documentary Development
  
  Travel Grants
  4 Mar: Cannes Market Travel Grants
  

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• The London Australian Film Festival at the Barbican is now in its 11th year and is an annual landmark on the UK film calendar. This year's event kicked off on 3 March with a gala screening of Cate Shortland's hugely anticipated debut Somersault supported by The Scree. With AFC support Cate attended the screening, which opened the 10-day festival of over 40 dramas, documentaries and shorts. The closing night film will be Josh Jarman with the Academy Award-nominated Birthday Boy.


• Two Australian short films have been selected for International Competition at the Tampere Film Festival, Finland: the award-winning short experimental documentary Palermo: 'History' Standing Still and the short drama Live to Give.


• Congratulations to Cate Blanchett who won her first Oscar for her portrayal of screen legend Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator. Read the full list of winners.


• Luke Eve (NSW) was awarded first prize at Tropfest for his comedy/drama Australian Summer. The panel of celebrity judges, including Geoffrey Rush, Magda Szubanski, Bryan Singer, Abbie Cornish, Jackie O'Sullivan and Tropfest 2004 winner Gary Eck, presented awards. Find out more about the winners.


• Running alongside the recent Australian International Documentary Conference was the Adelaide Film Festival which opened with animator Sarah Watts' first feature Look Both Ways and also screened many Australian features, shorts and documentaries including Jewboy, Fritz Gets Rich and Azadi. Cathy Henkel's new documentary on Spike Milligan premiered at the festival.


• Upcoming Embassy Roadshow events March include New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur for the third time, Brussels for the second and Kolkata for the first. Reports back from Wellington, New Zealand, reveal that the trans-Tasman relationship is strong and familiar which unfortunately meant our films lacked the 'exotic allure' of foreign film festivals. However it did give the Kiwis a chance to see a lot of good Australian films in one batch. Events coming up include Copenhagen and Oslo and then onto Bangkok. The Roadshow is a travelling film festival that showcases a selection of contemporary Australian films through Australian embassies. It is an initiative of the Australia International Cultural Council, managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the AFC.


• The winners have been announced for the inaugural Australian Writers' Guild Storyline Search for a TV Series Competition. Find out more about the projects selected.


• March/April deadlines are coming up for the Cannes, Karlovy Vary and Hamburg Short film festivals. See Festival Profiles for more information.

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• As one of the largest recurrent screen industry conferences in Australia, the Australian International Documentary Conference attracted over 800 national and international delegates and offered the opportunity for debate, discussion and relationship building between bodies such as the AFC and those working in factual film and television, exploring issues and challenges in content, craft, technology and future directions. The AFC sponsored the AIDC and was also actively involved with several sessions as part of the four-day conference which started 21 February. AFC Research and Information Manager, Rosemary Curtis, delivered the latest findings from the report Documentary Production in Australia: A collection of key data from Get the Picture.


• Film from the Archive's collection will be on view over the next year as part of two new Museum of Sydney exhibitions. The exhibition Jørn Utzon: creating the Sydney Opera House includes newsreel segments along with beautifully shot footage of the design and construction of the Opera House, from the rarely seen film made in 1967 for the engineering firm Ove Arup and Partners. This exhibition is open until 1 May. The new semi-permanent exhibition My City of Sydney opened in January and features a powerful documentary commissioned by the museum and produced by Hilton Cordell. This exhibition is a compelling portrait of 20th century Sydney that includes contemporary and archival images, many sourced by director Kathryn Milliss.

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• The FAQs Guide to the AFC's Resources for Documentary Filmmakers, I've Got a Great Idea for a Film, Box Office and Australian TV Ratings have been updated. You can download the PDFs, view the HTML version online or request a hard copy from publishing@afc.gov.au


• Read about the success of AFC-supported films. This month we feature Cathy Henkel's new documentary on Spike Milligan.


• Are you looking for details of a particular Australian film title - feature, short, TV drama or documentary? The Searchable Film Database includes Australian and co-produced features, TV drama and documentaries from 1990 and shorts from 1998. It is updated on the AFC website each month.


• Upcoming Production Report.


• Latest updates to Get the Picture Online industry statistics.

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• At the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Summit on 30 November 2004, Prime Minister John Howard, together with his ASEAN and New Zealand counterparts agreed to launch negotiations on an FTA. The negotiations will commence in early 2005 and will be concluded within two years. Leaders have agreed that the FTA will be comprehensive in scope, covering trade in goods, services and investment. Read the AFC submission to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.


• DCITA is currently conducting two reviews related to digital broadcasting and spectrum management. The AFC has made a brief submission to these reviews.


• The AFC also made a submission to the Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Legislation Committee Inquiry into the powers of Australia's communications regulators. The inquiry considers the provisions of the existing Bills relating to communication regulators; whether the powers of the proposed Australian Communications and Media Authority and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will be sufficient to deal with emerging market and technical issues in the telecommunications, media and broadcasting sectors; and whether the powers of Australia's competition and communications regulators meet world best practice.

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• Congratulations to Manager Human Resources Yvonne Marshall, Recruitment Officer Human Resources Renee Faulds, Manager Publishing and Communications Cathy Gray and Production Coordinator Fiona Jennings. Farewell to Records Management Coordinator Con Aclis.
  
• Positions vacant: Managing Editor, Publishing Unit. Deadline 8 March. Cinematheque Project Coordinator & Cinematheque Project Assistant. Deadline 15 March; Assistant Manager Human Resources. Deadline 18 March

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• The Australian features The Illustrated Family Doctor, Hating Alison Ashley and The Oyster Farmer are screening in March/April so keep an eye out for them at your local cinema. The documentary Children of Tibet has a national theatrical release in March.


• The Australian Writers' Guild and X|Media|Lab have announced the line-up of Australian and Canadian discussion leaders of an interactive forum exploring New Models for Australian Media, 4 March, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.


• In March 2005, low-cost and professional High Definition cameras are due to explode into the rapidly evolving technology of Australian documentary production. The superior visual quality of HDV will shortly become mandatory for documentary filmmakers. To help prepare for the change, OZDOX is conducting a panel of top experts to share the results of recent tests, research and HD experiences on 10 March in Sydney.


• WOW is a unique showcase of films made by women where stories are told and the world is seen from a woman's point of view. The 2004 festival aims to be an event of discovery, celebration, debate, networking and an inspiration for new work. The festival is now touring until April 2005.


• ScreenWest and PAC Screen Workshops are pleased to announce a new initiative, PAC Script Lab, monthly rehearsed readings of West Australian feature film scripts on the last Sunday of each month. The ultimate aim is for a honing of West Australian scripts and an increase in the profile, quality and awareness of West Australian film projects.


• Digital Salon invites all digital media artists working or experimenting with interactive media, VJing, non-linear filmmaking, DVD, electronic music and projection arts to take part in their regular meetings, held the last Tuesday of each month in Sydney.


• Popcorn Taxi has weekly screenings and Q&A sessions in Sydney and Melbourne. See their website or join their mailing list for details of upcoming events.


• IF magazine's What's On in Film January to June 2005 guide to screen events is sponsored by the AFC.


• Other AFC-supported activities and events.

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• Multi-award-winning director Kriv Stenders has had a long career. Especially if you consider he was all of 12 years old when he first picked up a camera. Early precocity aside, Kriv has built a solid career as both a director and cinematographer.
  
  Since graduating from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in 1989, Kriv has collected many awards for his outstanding short films and music videos, including his graduation film Horrible Man, the beautiful documentary Motherland, and the 1998 AFI Best Australian Short Film winner Two Out.
  
  Always visually arresting, Kriv Stenders' work has often been preoccupied with themes of entrapment - characters trapped by situation, trapped by the past, trapped by prison or the prison of themselves. The lead character Gary Kelp, played by Samuel Johnson, is no exception. With a wry eye for the absurd, Kriv tracks Gary's decline into illness, anxiety, ailments and accidents - all while Gary is, with deliberate irony, condensing an 'at home' manual on medical diagnosis.
  
  AFC Film Development Administrative Officer Sarah Runcie speaks to co-writer and director Kriv Stenders about his debut feature.
  
  SR: At the end of the credit roll on The Illustrated Family Doctor (IFD), you thank Stanley Kubrick. Why?
  
  KS: Well, I guess he's a filmmaker who I've been influenced by from a very young age. I grew up watching his films and I see him as one of the few filmmakers who mades pure films - pure in that they are perfectly constructed. To me they are the closest things to music in that you can watch them again and again and again and never feel like you've watched them repeatedly. With each viewing you always glean something new out of the experience … the same way you do with a piece of music.
  
  You have placed particular importance on music and sound in the film. What was your collaboration with Tom Ellard, of Severed Heads fame? You involved him very early on in the process.
  
  Well, yeah, I've been a big fan of Severed Heads and Tom's work for decades. Ever since I was a kid, I'd listened to his music, and always found it very cinematic. It always used to take me places.
  
  Read the full interview.

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