• australianscreen online, a groundbreaking new website initiative from the Australian Film Commission, was announced last week by the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator the Hon. Helen Coonan, at Parliament House in Canberra.
  
  Set to go live in 2007, australianscreen online will include clips from over 1,000 film and television programs from the collections of the National Film and Sound Archive and other project partners, including the National Archives of Australia, the ABC, SBS and Film Australia. Excerpts from feature films, documentaries, newsreels, short films and animations, as well as radio broadcasts produced in Australia over the past 100 years, will be accessible online to all Australians, irrespective of their geographic location.
  
  "This cutting edge project will well and truly take Australia's audiovisual heritage into the digital age," said Chris Fitchett, the AFC's Acting Chief Executive. Read the media release.



• On 27 March the Australian Film Commission hosted a reception at Parliament House in Canberra to salute the film industry's achievements over the past year and look ahead to new opportunities. Australian actors Susie Porter, Peter Phelps, Sonia Todd, Michala Banas and Simon Burke, together with Oscar-nominated animation director Anthony Lucas, the AFC's Acting Chief Executive Chris Fitchett, AFC Commissioners, and other industry figures joined politicians from both Houses of Parliament at the reception.
  
  The AFC will continue to assist the Government in tackling some of the bigger issues facing the industry, such as attracting private investment, fostering Australian content on television and developing Australian excellence in digital content creation.



• The AFC welcomes leading Australian writer/director and television producer Claire Jager, who will join the Melbourne office as a new Film Development Project Manager. Running the successful production company Arcimedia for the past three years, Claire has previously held positions as Executive Producer and Series Producer for the ABC's Natural History Unit and the Head of Factual Division of Artists Services, Documentary Manager at Film Victoria, and Documentary Commissioning Editor for SBS Independent. Claire's recent credits include Stories from the Stone Age (ABC), Testing Taklo (SBS) and, in association with Arcimedia, Rainbow Bird and Monster Man and Troubled Minds.

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• The AFC is calling for applications to its script development initiative, SP*RK. Based on international models such as the American Sundance Script Lab and the French eQuinoxe script workshop, SP*RK offers an intensive hothouse script lab where established writers can workshop their well-developed scripts with leading local and international advisors. For further information including guidelines and application forms visit the SP*RK script development page on our website. Applications close 26 May.



• Applications are now open for the Bob Maza Fellowship. The fellowship is awarded to an established Indigenous actor to further their professional development, provide longevity in their career and raise their profile internationally. Deadline 20 April.



• The AFC's Indigenous Branch is calling for applications to its feature film development initiative Long Black. Aimed at encouraging and supporting Indigenous filmmakers to work in the longer format, and to bring feature stories authored and crafted by Indigenous people to the screen, the initiative will see up to five projects selected for development to first draft. Deadline 12 May.



• ABC TV and the Australian Film Commission (AFC) are calling for proposals from emerging filmmakers who are 35 years and under for their jtv docs initiative. Seeking fresh approaches to half-hour and one-hour documentaries that explore music, ideas, culture and contemporary issues through the eyes of generations X, Y and Z. Deadline 12 May.



• AFC funding deadlines - April/May:
  
  FILM DEVELOPMENT
  21 Apr
  Internships
  Strand F2 - IndiVision Single-draft Script Development
  
  28 Apr
  Strand J - Documentary Early Development
  Strand K - Documentary Development
  Strand L - Shooting Time-Critical Material
  
  5 May
  Strand D - Draft Funding
  
  12 May
  jtv docs
  
  19 May
  General Development Investment
  
  26 May
  SP*RK - Script Development
  Strand V - Interactive Digital Media - Early Development
  
  INDIGENOUS UNIT
  20 April
  Bob Maza Fellowship
  
  28 Apr
  Documentary Development
  
  12 May
  Long Black - Feature Development
  
  INDUSTRY AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
  26 Apr
  National Touring Exhibition Fund
  
  TRAVEL GRANTS
  1 May
  Sunny Side of the Doc, La Rochelle, France
  Type B: Market Attendance - Producers with Market Experience
  Type C: Market Attendance - Producers Developing Market Experience
  
  
  
• AFC funding approvals.

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• The iconic Australian band Midnight Oil has donated the costumes they wore at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, to the NFSA. The donation continues the band's generosity which stretches back many years and includes other donations such as master recordings, unreleased material, documentation, costumes and props.



• The NFSA's new Centre for Scholarly and Archival Research (CSAR), though still in a formative phase, is beginning to attract a number of enquiries from researchers and institutions. Since January there have been five academic attachments at CSAR and there are further visionary plans for the centre, including developing a program for researchers and audiovisual practitioners who want to be involved in significant projects that enhance the NFSA collections, and scholars in residence making use of 'The Residence', a beautiful heritage building in the NFSA grounds built in 1930.



• The first intern at the new Centre for Scholarly and Archival Research, Ellie Bennett, has uncovered 33 beautifully photographed production and publicity stills from the mysterious lost 1935 film The Magic Shoes. Found in a suitcase of memorabilia donated by the late cameraman Mel Nichols the articles include never published images of the director Claude Flemming, a young Peter Finch in his first ever role and remarkable pictures of Helen Hughes, daughter of the former PM William Morris Hughes.



• Since 2000 the NFSA's Electronic and Digital Archivist, Rohan Lilley, has been searching out, downloading and adding websites to the national collection. The sites are part of a larger collection strategy where the NFSA seeks to acquire significant audiovisual works that are created or delivered online - such as online broadcasts, interactive programming and online recordings - in order to build a collection which provides a broad representation of the work being undertaken in the digital realm.

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• The Australian film Kokoda is screening in April so keep an eye out for it at your local cinema.



• The Hong Kong Film and Television market was held 20-23 March 2006 at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre. It was the second year the AFC has had a presence at the market. In addition this year the AFC assisted three producers to attend as well as the filmmakers attached to the Australian project selected into HAF. For more information about Filmart please go to www.hkfilmart.com.



• Noah Cowan, co-director of the Toronto International Film Festival visited Australia for the first time since his appointment, courtesy of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Cultural Attachment Scheme. The AFC Marketing Branch worked with DFAT and organised his itinerary to three cities - Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney 5-15 March 2006. Entries for the 2006 Toronto Film Festival are now open. For further information please go to the international festival profiles section of the AFC website.



• Upcoming Big Screen festivals include Menindee 17-18 April and Coober Pedy 26-28 May, with satellite screenings in William Creek, Maree, Copley, Nepabunna, Arkaroola and Blinman. For further details on the touring programs visit the Big Screen website.



• Cinematheque screens a myriad of special programs in April. The 'Surviving Kane: Around the World with Orson Welles' program moves onto Perth and Hobart. 'The Music of Time, a Max Ophuls retrospective' screens in Canberra at the National Film and Sound Archive's Cinematheque. Canberra and Melbourne then take a look at the beguiling work of the Cannes-winning Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Adelaide and Melbourne close the month exploring 'Art as Cinema', featuring an imported print of Edvard Munch, Peter Watkins' intense portrayal of the life and work of the pioneer expressionist painter. Visit the Cinematheque website for membership and screening details and the NFSA website for the full NFSA Cinematheque program screening in Canberra at Electric Shadows Cinemas.



• Five Australian animations have been selected to screen at the 2006 Annecy International Festival of Animated Film: the short films Extreme Makeover and The Astronomer, an episode of the ABC TV Dust Echoes series, music video Radio, and animated TVC Intensive Care. The festival runs 5-10 June. The sidebar market, MIFA, runs 7-9 June.




• May/June submission deadlines Submission deadlines coming up for May/June include: Edinburgh International Film Festival, Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival, Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA), Venice International Film Festival, Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Sheffield International Documentary Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, Locarno International Film Festival, Cork Film Festival.
  See Festival Profiles for more information.

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• Read about the recent success of the AFC-funded film Opera Therapy.



• The following AFC publications have been updated and are available online, or contact publishing@afc.gov.au for a hard copy:
  Australian TV Drama and Documentary Catalogue March 2006
  Australians at MIPTV and MILIA 2006
  The Co-production Report March 2006



• 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 industry statistics in Get the Picture Online.

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• Welcome to Romaine Moreton - Curator, Australian Screen Online, Sydney; Daniel Edwards - Managing Editor; and Jo Rose - Manager, PR and Events.



• Positions vacant

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• In collaboration with Popcorn Taxi, the AFC is supporting digital guru, international web blogger and award-winning science fiction writer Cory Doctorow to speak about the impact of digital cinema on filmmakers, distribution and international copyright law to Melbourne and Sydney audiences. Events run in Melbourne 18 April, and Sydney 19 April.



• The d/Art/2006 Festival features new experimental video and web art as well as works using mobile and locative technologies. d/Art runs in The Studio at the Sydney Opera House 12 April-6 May. For further details visit the dArt website.



• The Revelation Perth International Film Festival is calling for entries. Deadline for submissions 17 April. For further information visit the Revelation Film Festival website.



• The Melbourne International Film Festival is now seeking submissions of features and documentaries for the 2006 program. Deadlines for entries 21 April. For entry forms and further information contact the Melbourne Film Festival.



• The 3rd EBS International Documentary Festival (EIDF2006) in Korea is calling for entries. Visit the EIDF website for further details. Submission deadline 30 April.



• The ATOM Film, Television and Multimedia Awards are calling for entries. Deadline 7 June. The awards presentation will be held in August at ACMI in Melbourne. Visit the ATOM Awards website for further details.



• Popcorn Taxi, a regular film event where filmmakers and film lovers can meet, watch films of all types, and discuss the filmmaking process all year round runs in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Darwin. For further information and screening details visit www.popcorntaxi.com.au



• mo:life monthly is an informal gathering that offers the opportunity to discuss the latest advances and opportunities in mobile media technology and culture. Find out about the various players and networks and what they offer, explore the capabilities of the latest handsets, and see what others around the globe are doing with this new format. Contact d.opitz@metroscreen.org.au



• Metro Screen's Members Production Group meets on the first Tuesday of every month at 6.30pm at Metro Screen. Meetings are open to all Metro Screen members and give you the opportunity to pitch new ideas, discuss your current projects, share skills and resources and collaborate with others to produce your own films, TV content and media projects.



• ScreenWest and PAC Screen Workshops have announced the PAC Script Lab initiative, monthly rehearsed readings of West Australian feature film scripts on the last Sunday of each month. The aim is to hone West Australian scripts and increase the profile, quality and awareness of West Australian film projects.



• IF Magazine's What's On in Film guide to screen events is sponsored by the AFC. The January to June 2006 calendar is now available on the AFC website.



• Other AFC-supported activities and events.

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Having gone through the AFC's SP*RK script development hothouse in 2004, Matthew Saville's debut feature Noise finished shooting in Melbourne earlier this month. Noise begins with a massacre on a suburban train and follows the ripples of the tragedy's aftermath across the city of Melbourne.

Prior to Noise, Matthew directed a range of television projects and his award-winning mini-feature Roy Höllsdotter Live (2002) enjoyed multiple festival and television screenings, most recently as part of SBS's Fresh series of new Australian dramas. Roy revolves around a Melbourne stand-up comedian and the breakdown of his long term relationship, displaying a rare degree of emotional sensitivity and amply demonstrating Matthew's ability to evoke an intensely atmospheric setting.

Dan Edwards spoke to Matthew about his debut feature and the SP*RK process a few days after shooting was completed on Noise.

Noise went through the AFC's SP*RK script hothouse in 2004. Can you tell me about the impact SP*RK had on the script's development?
Noise was at its eighth draft when it got to SP*ARK, and it has to be noted that those early drafts were supported by Film Victoria. But the opportunity to attend a hothouse was presented by the AFC and we latched on to it, because we felt the film was at a stage where it could really benefit from the experience.

Read the full interview.

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