WELCOME TO THE 28TH ST KILDA FILM FESTIVAL
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the 2011 St Kilda Film Festival.
The Victorian Government is delighted to sponsor the Festival, a fantastic celebration of short films and filmmakers from around the world.
The Victorian Government, through Film Victoria has supported the Festival since its inception, and recognises its important and enduring role in promoting the local screen industry.
The St Kilda Film Festival is as vital and dynamic as ever. Not only is it Australia’s premier short film festival, it is a reflection of the creative heart and soul of St Kilda and Melbourne more broadly, providing exceptional support for local practitioners and the craft of filmmaking.
Now in its 28th year, the Festival is firmly established as a key highlight on Melbourne’s cultural and events calendar. Each year it offers budding filmmakers valuable exposure to a diverse audience — from established filmmakers and passionate film buffs to eager newcomers, curious spectators and people who simply enjoy a good film.
To all the filmmakers in competition this year — I wish you the very best for your screenings. To audiences — you are spoilt for choice. There’s an incredible array of talent on display this year, and I encourage you to attend as many screenings as you can.
And to the City of Port Phillip and the Festival staff and organisers — congratulations on an excellent festival and program. The curatorial strength and careful planning of the St Kilda Film Festival is what sets it apart, and you continue to deliver year after year.
THE HON LOUISE ASHER MP
Minister for Innovation,
Services and Small Business
Minister for Tourism and Major Events
Welcome to the 28th St Kilda Film Festival, the longest running short film festival in Australia. We are proud to have a new ‘home ground’ this year at the Astor Theatre, long live cinema in St Kilda!
The St Kilda Film Festival is a key supporter of the Australian film industry and its practitioners, and screens more Australian films than any other. It also gives Australian filmmakers the opportunity to have their work screened to as a wide an audience as possible.
Along with a fantastic Festival program, we are proud to present two programs for and by youth filmmakers, Armed and Dangerous and Under the Radar.
This year we will be holding a very special free community screening of the St Kilda Park Saints, an amazing documentary about some of our local community. This has been co-produced and supported by the St Kilda Inclusion Program.
The City of Port Phillip welcomes our new major sponsor, Simply Energy. We appreciate their support, and their commitment to film and Australian filmmaking.
We would also like to thank all of our sponsors for 2011 and thanks to Screen Australia and Film Victoria for their most valuable support — we couldn’t do it without you.
The City of Port Phillip is delighted to be giving the local community the chance to see some of the best Australian filmmaking talent going.
Enjoy!
CR RACHEL POWNING
Mayor, City of Port Phillip
On behalf of the entire Simply Energy team, please accept my warm welcome to the 28th St Kilda Film Festival.
The Festival this year showcases a remarkable array of Australian film and we are very pleased to be involved.
As a relatively new brand, many people don’t realise that Simply Energy has grown significantly in its first five years and now proudly provides gas and electricity to 200,000 Victorian homes and businesses.
Our team at Simply Energy has long been a fan of the St Kilda Film Festival and we jumped at the opportunity to become the main sponsor for this year’s event. We focus a great deal of our energy in supporting local and community events and sporting clubs and the opportunity to help support local filmmakers in some small way is a great honour for us.
At Simply Energy not only are we open with our customers and quick to provide assistance in managing energy use and costs, but we also offer well-priced and easy-to-understand products — in fact one of our most popular products provides free movies for a whole year.
We figured that if you have to pay for electricity and gas, why not get something you love – and as I have mentioned, we are big film fans.
Throughout the Festival you’ll see information explaining how we do things differently and I hope you take a moment between sessions to read some of that information or even chat with some of our team who I can guarantee will be enjoying the Festival right alongside you.
Finally, we’d like to wish all filmmakers the very best of luck with their screenings and hope that you all enjoy what promises to be a fantastic festival!
PAUL MAGUIRE
CEO Simply Energy
Since 1983 the St Kilda Film Festival has prided itself on its unique status as THE go-to event offering the most comprehensive range of contemporary Australian short films.
Over the years from modest beginnings we have seen the varying impacts of format wars and the emergence of new technologies but the core activity remains constant; a short film competition that caters to filmmakers, cinephiles and casual moviegoers.
The 100 films that make the final cut offer viewers the opportunity to watch a diverse group of work from a wide variety of content providers working in the short live action, animation, music video and documentary fields.
What they have in common is a commitment to craft skills and the exchange of ideas that makes filmmaking (and viewing) so much more than a mere passive experience.
And it doesn’t hurt to emphasise that St Kilda is Australia’s largest locally produced and publicly owned short film competition relying largely on door sales and the generosity of our sponsors, funding agencies and the City of Port Phillip.
PAUL HARRIS
Festival Director
Welcome to the 2011 St Kilda Film Festival, delivering a program packed full of short films in all their glory.
One hundred Australian films is no small thing — more than most of us would see over many years — but even better than the quantity is the quality.
These short films are in turn moving, funny, provocative, entertaining and everything in between, and show the immense talent, skills and imaginations of our filmmakers.
Australian short films are internationally acclaimed and have a global reputation, but it isn’t that easy to actually see them.
This year’s Festival program is your chance to see the very best of our film industry on show, a chance that doesn’t come along that often.
That’s not to mention the jam packed program of events we have alongside the 100 Australian shorts, including our biggest forum series ever, Industry Open Day and the much loved SoundKILDA music video competition. We are also very pleased to welcome three international guests to the Festival, here to present short films from around the world as well as exploring Australian film while they are here.
This is a bumper year for the St Kilda Film Festival and for that I need to thank the dream team of Festival staff and volunteers that are working tirelessly to put it all together. I also want to recognise the amazing contribution from all of our sponsors, without whom the Festival could not go ahead. I especially want to thank Screen Australia and Film Victoria, and welcome Simply Energy to the Festival — contributions from these and all of our partners are helping to keep the Australian film industry alive.
ADELE DENISON
Festival Producer
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