• Draft legislation to set up Screen Australia and establish the NFSA as a separate statutory authority was released on 8 February. The drafts can be viewed on the DEWHA website.



• Acknowledging the significance of the Federal Parliament's apology to the Stolen Generations, the NFSA will ensure electronic media coverage of the event is fully archived as part of the National Collection. More details.



• Eight teams of filmmakers participated in the AFC's fourth IndiVision Project Lab from 31 Jan to 6 Feb. The lab is a high-level professional workshop, where leading local and international advisors work with the filmmakers to inspire innovative approaches to low-budget feature filmmaking. More details.



• We congratulate the Australian nominees for the 80th Annual Academy Awards - Cate Blanchett and Eva Orner. Media release.



• Australian films earned $36.0 million in 2007, or 4.0 per cent of the total box office of $895.4 million, close to the 10-year average of $34.7 million or 4.3 per cent of the total yearly box office. More details.



• The AFC recently committed $370,000 to four innovative projects through its Cross-Platform Digital Media Production Fund. More details. The next funding round for the Cross-Platform Digital Media Production Fund closes on 14 March 2008.



• australianscreen online is seeking to develop a register of curators for the ongoing development of the website and is calling for Expressions of Interest. Deadline: 26 February. More details.



• The Moving Image of Tracey Moffatt, a new large format, extensively illustrated book celebrating the screen work of Tracey Moffatt, one of Australia's foremost contemporary artists was launched in December 2007. The book was produced with support from the AFC. More details.

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• The AFC is pleased to announce the release of the 2008 edition of The Satchel - Production Budgeting & Film Management. Fully revised and updated, The Satchel is the ultimate how-to guide by practitioners, for practitioners. Details and order form.
  
  
• The AFC released its statistical publication Audiovisual Production in Australia providing key data on Australia's audiovisual production and Australian films and programs in the marketplace. Visit Get the Picture online for further details and to download the pdf, or contact publishing@afc.gov.au for a hard copy.



• The Documentary Production in Australia report has been updated in time for the Australian International Documentary Conference in February. It is available online or contact publishing@afc.gov.au for a hard copy.



• The AFC's National Survey of Feature Film and TV Drama Production 2006/07 was released in late December. The survey revealed an increase in both feature production and TV drama after the previous year's below-average result. More details.



• Other new or recently updated AFC publications are:
  Australian Feature Films Mini Catalogue January 2008
  Australian Short Films 2007/08
  Australian Films Screening at Berlin International Film Festival 2008
  Kidscreen 2008: Australian Children's Production Companies
  Info Guide: Information for Filmmakers
  Info Guide: AFC Resources for Documentary Filmmakers
  Download the pdfs or contact publishing@afc.gov.au for a hard copy.

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• Key changes to the AFC's Terms of Trade for Film Development Funding Programs were introduced in January. More details. Changes were also made to the guidelines for all 5 genres - Drama, Documentary, Animation, Digital Media and Practitioner Support. More details.



• The AFC is calling for writers with well-developed feature film scripts to apply for its script development initiative, SP*RK. Deadline 22 February. More details.



• The AFC in association with the ABC TV Arts, Entertainment and Comedy is calling for proposals from emerging filmmakers nationwide for jtv docs3. Deadline 10 March. More details



• AFC funding deadlines in February and March:
  
  FILM DEVELOPMENT
  DRAMA
  SP*RK Script Lab - Script Development Program - 22 February
  Short Drama Production (formerly Strand H) - 29 February
  Seed Feature Funding (formerly Strand B) - 7 March
  IndiVision Low-budget Feature Production - 14 March
  
  DOCUMENTARY
  Documentary Development (formerly Strands J and K) - 15 February
  Shooting Time-critical Material - 29 February
  Documentary Production - 29 February
  jtv docs3 - 10 March
  
  ANIMATION
  Animation Development and Pilot Production (formerly Strands S and T2) - 28 March
  Short Animation Production (formerly Strand T1) - 28 March
  
  DIGITAL MEDIA
  Cross-Platform Digital Media Development - 22 February
  Cross-Platform Digital Media Production - 14 March
  
  INDUSTY AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
  Events and Activities Fund - 3 March
  New Projects Fund - 3 March
  Interactive Media Fund - 3 March
  For further information and selection criteria, please refer to the ICD Funding Guidelines.
  



• AFC funding approvals.

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• The National Film and Sound Archive joins the nation in celebrating the life and career of Smoky Dawson who died yesterday at the age of 94. More details.



• On 22 February, the NFSA will present a special event in Canberra - The Tears of Timor, a reflection on the music and politics of the Australian composer-activist Martin Wesley-Smith. As one in a long family line of political and civil rights activists, Martin Wesley-Smith is a passionate advocate of Timorese culture. Along with long-time collaborators Julia Ryder and Ros Dunlop, Martin will stage a multi-media presentation that includes four virtuosic works for instruments and recorded sounds and images. Full details.



• One of Australia's most successful graphic illustrators, Ian McCausland, is being celebrated with an exhibition of his work in the NFSA foyer in Canberra. The exhibition, For the Record: The Art of Ian McCausland, focuses on the music posters of an artist whose career has covered more than four decades. More details.



• Last month, renowned Australian composer and Sounds of Australia patron Dr Peter Sculthorpe made a special donation to the NFSA: a signed score of his solo cello arrangement of 'The Maranoa Lullaby' composed especially for the Sounds of Australia project launch at Parliament House in 2007. More details.



• On 18 January a large audience in the NFSA's Arc cinema was treated to a special presentation of newly composed film music. In a collaboration between the NFSA and the National Music Camp, four young musicians presented scores they had composed for silent films selected from the NFSA's collection. The presentation was part of the Sounds Alive program. More details.



• The NFSA's popular summer outdoor screenings on Saturday evenings are continuing throughout February. On 16 February the Hammer classic Dracula will screen. Woody Allen's film about a film, The Purple Rose of Cairo will screen on 23 February. In the event of rain, the show goes on and the screenings move indoors. Screenings will also continue throughout February in the Arc cinema on Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons. See the full program.



• Dr Collette Snowden, a current fellow with the NFSA's Centre for Scholarly and Archival Research (CSAR), specialises in the history and sociology of communications technologies. Her research project, "'Allo, 'allo - who's that? Representations of Australian use of the telephone and radiophone as depicted in film and in radio broadcasts", delves into the National Collection to investigate Australia's fascination with the telephone. More details.

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• Nine Australian films were selected to screen at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival - five features, one documentary and three shorts will screen across the Panorama, Forum and Generation sections of the festival. More details.



• The registration for Cannes Marché du Film and Producers Network opens 18 February. An Early Bird rate will be granted to all participants who register before 2 March. More details.



• Five Australian films were selected to screen at the 37th Rotterdam International Film Festival: Men's Group, Unfinished Sky, Shmetamorphosis, Spike Up and Wasting Away. More details.



• The Australian/French co-production End of the Rainbow has been selected into the French Selection of Cinema du Reel. More details.



• The AFC congratulates Australian filmmaker Nash Edgerton on receiving an honourable mention during the Sundance Film Festival's closing Awards Ceremony for his film Spider. More details.



• Congratulations are also due to all the filmmakers whose AFC-funded / supported films have recently won awards or been selected for screening at other festivals around the world. More details.



• The Australian films Night, Ten Empty, The Black Balloon, Death Defying Acts, Dying Breed, Hey, Hey It's Esther Blueburger and Unfinished Sky are screening in February and March so keep an eye out for them at your local cinema.

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• Last year over 16,200 people in 27 regional, remote or rural parts of Australia experienced Australian features films, short films and documentaries at Big Screen festivals. 2008 is expected to be just as big. The tour kicks off in Mildura (29 Feb - 8 Mar) with special guests Bryan Brown and director Jasmine Yuen Carrucan presenting the local premiere of Cactus. Other regional, rural and remote locations for Big Screen festivals this year include Yamba, Broken Hill, Port Macquarie, Nambucca, Gunnedah, Nanango, Blackbutt, Cairns and Pomona, Darwin, Bendigo, Broome, Mallacoota, Traralgon, Quorn, Burnie, Port Augusta, Woomera, Briagolong, Port Hedland and Karratha. Visit the Big Screen website for more details.



• The Regional Digital Screen Network celebrates its first birthday with the second live via satellite transmission of Sony Tropfest Short Film Festival from Sydney's Domain on 17 February. The transmission will commence with the red carpet arrivals at 6.30pm AEDT and continue through to the winners announcement at the end of the screenings. The Black Balloon, directed by Elissa Down, will be the first feature presentation on the RDSN in 2008. Visit the RDSN webpage for more details.



• In February Black Screen compilations will be screened at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra and the Darebin Parkland Festival in Victoria. From March Black Screen compilations will be shown as part of the In the Bin Short Film Festival.
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• In February and March, Australian films will be screened at five locations in India. The Caterpillar Wish will screen at the IOR-ARC Film Festival and the Madras International Film Festival. The Embassy Roadshow is travelling to New Dehli, Hyderabad and Bangalore with 13 features and one short film.

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• Recent additions to australianscreen include Christmas Crackers a moving short film from the 1940s about soldiers returning from war, television classic The Shiralee starring Bryan Brown, and the feature films Head On, Proof and Suburban Mayhem.
  


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



• 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.



• Latest updates to industry statistics in Get the Picture Online.

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• The AFC's Industry and Cultural Development Division proudly supports the following upcoming festivals and events:
  
  SONY Tropfest 2008
  17 February
  
  Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) 2008
  20 - 22 February 2008
  
  Flickerfest International Short Film Festival National Tour 2008
  Until March 2008
  
  In the Bin Touring Film Festival 2008
  February 2008
  
  World of Women (WOW) National and Regional Tour
  Until May 2008
  
  Sydney Travelling Film Festival (TFF) 2007/08
  Until June 2008
  
  
• IF Magazine's What's On in Film guide to screen events is sponsored by the AFC. The January to June 2008 calendar is now available as a PDF on the AFC website.



• The 2008 SPAA Conference Call for Papers is now open. SPAA 08 will have several key areas of focus including development, financing, distribution and cross media. SPAA is looking for session ideas aimed at the established industry that tackle current issues, are practical and informative or provocative and inspirational. Deadline: 25 February. More details.



• The 2008 Dungog Film Festival is calling for entries. The festival will be held 29 May - 1 June. Deadline for entries is 29 February 2008. More details.



• The Other Film Festival 2008, Australia's only international disability film festival is calling for entries. Deadline 3 March. More details.



• The Sydney Film Festival 2008 is now open for submissions. Full details including a preselection entry form are available on the Sydney Film Festival website.




• QPIX is calling for applications for RAW NERVE 2008, applications close 30 June; NOVA INTERNATIONAL 2, applications close 1 August; and interested crew for their Short Film Productions. Visit the QPIX website for more details.



• The ACT Filmmakers' Network is a not-for-profit cultural film and television industry agency that delivers a range of workshops for practitioners in the national capital and region.



• Metro Screen is a non-profit organisation that offers training, equipment hire and production support to filmmakers and digital media practitioners. They have monthly Metro Screen Network meetings and Filmmakers' Studio events.



• 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. Contact d.opitz@metroscreen.org.au



• OPEN CHANNEL is a screen resource organisation located in Melbourne's Docklands. They run training courses, have support programs and hire out production equipment.



• OzDox, a joint initiative of documentary filmmakers, industry bodies and academics, to foster, promote and provide a monthly forum for documentary culture, holds regular industry events.



• ScreenWest and PAC Screen Workshops run the PAC Script Labs, rehearsed readings of WA feature film scripts on the last Wednesday of every second month. The aim is to hone WA scripts and increase the profile, quality and awareness of WA film projects.



• 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.



• Other AFC-supported activities and events.

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