• Congratulations to George Miller and his team on winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature for Happy Feet at the 79th Annual Academy Awards. We also congratulate all the nominees this year, especially Australians Cate Blanchett, Stuart Parkyn and Peter Templeman. Happy Feet has taken A$31.4m at the Australian box office to date and over US$360m internationally, making it the most financially successful Australian animation ever released. The DVD is released on 27 March.


• Cinema managers of the eight venues across the AFC's Regional Digital Screen Network (RDSN) reported capacity houses, thunderous applause and that a great time was had by all during the live satellite broadcast of Sony Tropfest from Sydney's Domain on 18 February. An estimated audience of 2500 across the RDSN enjoyed the evening. "It was incredibly satisfying to get so many calls of delight from the venue partners at various points throughout the evening. They had put so much work into their respective local events," said Gayle Lake, RDSN Manager. Full details.


• Black Water (w/d: Andrew Traucki & David Nerlich), the dark thriller financed through the AFC's IndiVision Production Fund, has sold to 11 territories at this year's European Film Market in Berlin. Currently in post-production in Sydney, the film has been bought by Spain, Japan, Benelux, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Middle East, Philippines, Poland and Thailand. "We are thrilled that Black Water has resonated so strongly with the international marketplace, and congratulate all those involved in this early success," said the AFC's Acting Director of Film Development, Lori Flekser.


• The AFC report Documentary production in Australia: A collection of key data was released at the Australian International Documentary Conference on 23 February. This collection of statistics profiles the state of documentary filmmaking in Australia, including production, employment, funding and release data. The current edition reports doco production from 1996/97 to 2004/05. The report also includes two sets of new data: a profile of the audience for docos on free-to-air TV, and figures for retail sales of docos on video, including the Aust share. The report is available on the Get the Picture website.


• Also launched at AIDC were the two initiatives Podlove 2 (AFC/SBSi) and jtv docs2 (AFC/ABC). Podlove 2 encourages creative teams to push the boundaries of documentary, while jtv docs2 is looking for docos that explore contemporary issues, ideas and culture through the eyes of generations X, Y and Z. Guidelines & application forms are on the AFC website: Podlove 2; jtv docs2.


• Following his duties as Jury President for the Adelaide Film Festival's inaugural competition, co-director of the Toronto International Film Festival, Noah Cowan, will be a guest of the AFC, visiting Melbourne and Sydney to view feature films. (The Toronto International Film Festival runs 6-15 Sept).


• The 2007 IndiVision Project Lab, 1-7 Feb, was a huge success. During the week, the eight teams developed, workshopped and shot test scenes, and were privileged to work with acclaimed Danish writer Mogens Rukov (Festen, Reconstruction) and award-winning US producer Paul Mezey (Half Nelson, Maria Full of Grace) as well as local advisors including Andrew Bovell, Michael Petroni, Julie Ryan and David Field. Mogens Rukov's opening address about script writing is our feature article this month. The March edition of IndiVision News will have a full run-down of the Lab. (Subscribe)


• The eagerly anticipated blackly comic series Wilfred will kick off on SBS on Monday 19 March at 10pm. Supported by the AFC, SBSi and Film Victoria, Wilfred follows the bitter love triangle between a man, a woman and a bong-smoking dog that thinks he's human. The series was written and performed by Jason Gann and Adam Zwar, directed by Tony Rogers and produced by Jenny Livingston for Renegade Films. Sneak previews on MySpace and YouTube (key words: 'Wilfred' & 'Dog').

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• AFC funding deadlines - March to early April 2007:
  
  FILM DEVELOPMENT
  2 March
  Writer Fellowships
  
  9 March
  Strand H - Shorts Production
  
  23 March
  Strand L - Shooting Time-critical Material
  Strand X - Experimental Digital Production
  
  30 March
  Strand J - Documentary Early Development
  Strand K - Documentary Development
  
  5 April
  Strand T2 - Pilot/Trailer Production
  Strand T3 - Animation Series Production
  
  
  INDIGENOUS BRANCH
  12 March
  Drama Development
  
  
  INDUSTRY & CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
  6 March
  ICD Interactive Media Fund
  New Projects Fund
  Events and Activities Fund
  
  
  TRAVEL GRANTS
  1 March
  Type B (market experienced producers) and Type C (producers developing market experience) for: the Cannes Film Festival.
  
  Download travel grant guidelines and application forms here. Read more about these international markets: MIPTV featuring MILIA and MIPDOC, Hong Kong Filmart and the Cannes Film Festival.


• AFC funding approvals.

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• It's now easier to explore what is in the huge National Collection of the NFSA. A new free-text search tool has come into operation, providing much-improved online access to information on the 700,000+ items in the collection. Manager of Collection Access, Rod Butler, says, "What you will find is a new Google-style interface which allows you to quickly refine your search. Instead of having to structure a full search request, you can now enter a broad keyword and then begin narrowing your results with easy-to-use criteria." More details.


• The NFSA has launched an exciting new project, Sounds of Australia, where Australians nominate classic sound recordings to be included in The National Registry of Recorded Sound. Criteria for selection include artistic excellence, historic relevance, technical or scientific achievement, and prominence in shaping Australia's culture and identity. To be eligible, the sound recordings must have been made in Australia, or by Australians, at least 20 years ago. Nominations for the next ten recordings are open until 31 March. Full details & link to nomination form.


• One hundred years after it premiered in Melbourne's Town Hall, the classic Australian silent film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, was screened to capacity crowds at Melbourne's Australian Centre for Moving Image on 25 and 26 January. "Attending the screenings were descendants of the Tait brothers who made the film in 1906 and of William Gibson who was a co-producer. They provided some fascinating family stories about the making of the film and are continuing to help the Archive in its research," said the NFSA's Senior Curator of Moving Image, Graham Shirley. Details.


• Since December film lovers have been enjoying Saturday nights in the NFSA heritage courtyard, watching, from deck chairs, the magic of the NFSA's projectionist at work, and savouring the ambience of film under the stars. The March screenings complete the season: Sam Peckinpah's The Getaway (1972, M), a road western featuring the iconic Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw; Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul (2006, M), Fatih Akin's kinetic documentary about the breadth of Turkish music; and a Bollywood spectacular, Salaam Namaste (2005, M), about emigre Gen Xers living and working in Melbourne. Full details.

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• Congratulations to Marc Furmie and Tim Maddocks on the selection of their AFC-funded film Death's Requiem into the Method Fest Independent Film Festival in California (29 March - 5 April). It's "a festival of discovery celebrating breakout acting in independent film", so congratulations also to the film's lead actor, Jai Koutrae. Later in the year the film will screen at the Swansea Bay Film Festival in Wales.


• Congratulations also go to Natasha Pincus and Chelsea Cassio for the selection of their AFC-supported short film Love's Labour as a finalist in the In the Realm of the Senses Short Film Festival. It will screen there at sundown on Saturday 3 March, Collingwood Children's Farm, Abbotsford, VIC.


• In March the AFC's Embassy Roadshow travels to Brussels in Belgium then crosses the globe to Bangkok, Thailand. The Embassy Roadshow is a travelling film festival program presented through Australian embassies overseas, showcasing a selection of contemporary Australian films to people around the world. It is an initiative of the Australian International Cultural Council, and is managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the AFC.


• The Australian films Gone, Bra Boys and Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance are opening in March so keep an eye out for them at your local cinema. Happy Feet and Kenny are also still showing on some screens.

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• The AFC has made its submission on negotiations for an Australia-Japan free trade agreement conducted by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The submission is available on the AFC website.


• The AFC has also made its submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry into the nature and conduct of Australia's public diplomacy. This submission is also available on the AFC website.

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• The following AFC publications have recently been updated and are available online, or contact publishing@afc.gov.au for a hard copy:
  Documentary production in Australia: A collection of key data
  Podlove 2 Guidelines
  jtv docs2 Guidelines
  AFC Info Guide: Information for Filmmakers - Jan 07
  AFC Info Guide: AFC Resources for Documentary Filmmakers - Jan 07
  Australian Short Films 2006/07
  Australian Feature Films Mini Catalogue January 2007
  Industry and Cultural Development Funding Guidelines
  Interactive Digital Media - AFC Info Guide
  
  
• 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 Vincent Plush, Business Development Officer, Recorded Sound, NFSA; Gillian Moody, Project Manager, Indigenous branch, Film Development; Marcus Cole, Project Manager, Film Development.


• Farewell to Alison Tilson, Indigenous branch, Film Development.


• Positions vacant: for current vacant positions at the AFC.

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• In association with the 2007 Adelaide Film Festival, Experimenta Vanishing Point will be showing for the first time in Adelaide at the Art Gallery of South Australia, 16 February - 10 March. And in association with the Ipswich Art Festival it will be showing for the first time in Qld at the Ipswich Art Gallery from 31 March to 13 May.


• The AFC's Industry and Cultural Development Division proudly supports the following upcoming festivals and events:
  
  Adelaide Film Festival
  until 4 March
  
  15/15 Film Festival
  Digital Story workshops until 8 March
  
  ASTRA WWIT Breakfast & ASTRA Conference
  15 March
  The Hilton Sydney
  
  Flickerfest National Tour
  until 25 March
  
  Darwin Film Society - Flix in the Wet
  until 25 March
  
  
• Metro Screen has several industry events during March.
  - seminar: Producing Television Shows with TVS, Sydney's newest free-to-air channel. Presenters: Henri de Gorter, TVS Programming Manager and Ian Sneddon TVS Operations Manager. 6 March, 6.15pm - 9.15pm, Uni of Western Sydney, Werrington Campus. And 13 March, 6.15pm - 9.15pm, Metro Screen, Paddington Town Hall.
  - industry panel: What Can Make Your Funding Application Successful - with Mark Lazarus, AFC Project Manager; Valerie Allerton, NSW FTO; Kath Shelper, producer. 6 March, 6:30pm, Metro Screen, Paddington Town Hall.
  - Documentary Filmmaking Scholarship, 5 May-8 August. Closing date: 28 March. And Film Scholarship program in the Newcastle area, March-June. Both fully funded by Dept of Education & Training (value $4000).
  For more info about all Metro Screen courses check their website.


• 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 the Popcorn Taxi website.


• mo:life monthly is an informal gathering on the second Monday of every month, 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


• ScreenWest and PAC Screen Workshops have announced the PAC Script Lab initiative, 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 Jan to June 2007 calendar is now available as a PDF on the AFC website.


• Other AFC-supported activities and events.

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MOGENS RUKOV was an international guest advisor at the AFC's 2007 IndiVision Project Lab. One of Europe's most respected screenwriters, Mogens is the co-writer of the award-winning features Festen, Reconstruction and The Inheritance, among others. He founded the screenwriting department at the National Film School of Denmark in 1988, and is now head of the Screenwriting and Dramaturgy Department. He has been a consultant on the development and post-production of around 350 films, both in Denmark and abroad.

This is an edited transcript of Mogens' opening address at the Lab, where he shared his approach to screenwriting with the participating teams.

Script writing shouldn't be heavy work. It used to be a fashion amongst intellectuals to say, "I've been writing a script for one year." At that time it impressed me very much. I must tell you if I hear it today, I would say to people, "Throw it in the dust bin. If you haven't written the script within a year it's because you are just bad. Three months should be enough."

You just have to have a foundation of the story. The story should be impossible to overlook. It shouldn't be complicated in any way. Everything should be simple. For example, Festen - it's a very poor story in a way, you know. It's about somebody arriving for a celebration and leaving the next morning. You just put them into this house where they're going to stay and celebrate. Why do you give them a room? Because they've got to stay overnight. It's not a piece of genius here. It's just taking it from nature. And what are they doing then? They're getting dressed, someone is f***ing, they are gathering, saying hello and thank you, and then they're going to eat something. And then, during this fantastic movie that had such an impact in the world, they're talking about the soup! Because that is what people do. That is what I call the natural story. That is one of the elements you need when you make a simple outline for your story, to know which kind of natural stories you want to incorporate.

Natural stories
To make clear what a natural story is, for example I saw many people making a natural story over there - they went into the toilet. When you realise people are going into the toilet, you almost realise what they are doing in there. How do you know that? Because your brain is full of natural stories. In cinema, we activate people's knowledge about natural stories. For example, you and I are in the same toilet block and I go to the toilet. Do I lock the door, or do I leave it open? Maybe I leave it open a little bit, it will tell something about our relationship. Say you and I have met each other within the last three or four weeks, therefore I want to continue talking. If it was my wife out there, no, I've done enough talking to her. But to you, I'd like to continue. But I would not offend you by leaving the door completely open, so I'll leave it open a little bit, and I'll shout to you. Then I'll sit down and take something to read; maybe I will take a manual of script writing and everyone in the audience will say, "oh what a bore", or I will take a porn mag or I will take the Bible. Look how well I can describe myself by choosing one of these things. Originality is one of the worst things you can do, being original is so boring! Be simple. Take a little cliche and make a little twist. For example, take the Bible, open it and in it there is a porn magazine. That's a little bit funny isn't it?

I realise that many people write scenes because they think that something new or interesting should happen. [But] I want to have some order in my world. I want to have something I can identify with. The story is everything. I think we succeeded a bit in Danish film, and it started when we said story is everything. Not intention, I don't give a shit about intention. Intention is trying to force a story into a line, but the story refuses to be forced.

I don't believe in premises either. If people say, "Can you make a story about love conquering everything?" I can immediately say no. But I can probably make a story about an idiot coming to Sydney from Copenhagen and getting jetlag. I could make that because this is the kind of story that every dramatic story is like. In fact there's only one story we really can tell, and it's a story about a stranger coming to town.

A stranger comes to town
When I heard this from a British producer: The only story in the world is 'a stranger comes to town', I thought, that sounds interesting, but is it true? When I re-thought the whole dramatic production of the Western world, I realised it wasn't so stupid - a stranger coming to town. If I think about Hamlet, he's coming from Wittenberg and he wants to go back to Wittenberg, and he doesn't know what has happened at the castle in years. Medea, she's from another town. And even if you have a character who is in his or her town, it can be useful to treat this character as a stranger in their town. Reading your scripts, I realised that you have done like I have done; we have a father, mother, two sisters, and they know each other, so why should they talk together? There's nothing to say to each other! It's much more interesting to have a son coming home from abroad after two years of absence, and he can say, "Did you love my real father, or do you love my uncle?" We make this mistake where people are familiar with each other.

Read the whole article.

The March 2007 edition of IndiVision News will have a complete run-down of the 2007 IndiVision Project Lab plus feature articles, blogs, news bites and more. Subscribe now.

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