Welcome To the 25th st kilda film festival

This year the St Kilda Film Festival celebrates its 25th birthday. Back in 1984, it was the brainchild of Mary Lou Jelbart, then an ABC arts broadcaster and City of St Kilda councillor. She found out that no cinema in Melbourne was prepared to screen First Contact, a documentary filmed by Bob Connolly and the late Robin Anderson.
Previously, films from Frank Thring Senior’s studio on the Esplanade and early Salvation Army footage had been shown as part of the annual St Kilda Festival but St Kilda had never hosted its own film festival. With the help of Janet Goodwin and Nigel Buesst, the St Kilda Film Festival was born and screened Gillian Armstrong’s graduating film, plus works by Paul Cox, Richard Lowenstein, Nigel Buesst, Dennis Tupicoff and David Bradbury over a weekend at the National Theatre.
A generation later, the St Kilda Film Festival is regarded as one of the world’s pre-eminent short film festivals, having launched the careers of hundreds of filmmakers, some of whom have gone onto to win Oscars and Palme D’Ors. The Festival is continuing to nurture filmmakers and this year, for the first time, presenting an open entry youth competition, Under the Radar, aimed at the under 20s age group.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Festival is again screening free short films depicting positive images of older people, courtesy of a three year partnership with the Department of Planning and Community Development. Seniors are also eligible for concession tickets.
This year we’re rejoicing in the return of the Festival to the Palais Theatre, one of Australia’s most outstanding picture palaces.
The camera’s long love affair with St Kilda is also celebrated for the second year running in the St Kilda on Screen umbrella event which will again see locals packing out the Dogs Bar.
My congratulations to director Paul Harris, Adele Denison and the council Arts and Festival team for another outstanding program. We look forward to the Festival’s next 25 years.

Mayor, City of Port Phillip Janet Cribbes
 

Our 25th anniversary is an auspicious occasion indeed. As the mainstream movie community becomes ever more reliant on blockbusters, sequels and bland arthouse fare, short films represent a literally alternative view of what constitutes cinema.
Challenging, innovative work presents an important opportunity for critical engagement with audiences and a level of creative freedom undreamt of in most feature and television drama.
New technologies and delivery platforms have democratised the production process, film school courses are on the increase, neighbourhood bar screenings proliferate and funding avenues are easier to access.
In the time that I have been involved the Festival has raised the bar by limiting the number of films accepted into the competition to 100.
Consequently the standard of films has never been higher, conclusively proving that the talent pool is in a healthy state. St Kilda remains THE Festival where you can enjoy a
comprehensive overview of the work of our most talented short filmmakers.
In commemorating our landmark anniversary let’s not lose sight of the pioneering work achieved by past directors, pulling rabbits out of hats with limited resources and laying the groundwork for the next century.

Mary Lou Jelbart 1984
Nigel Buesst 1985-1990
Lisa French 1991-1993
Michele Truckenbrodt 1994
Peter Kaufman 1995, 1997
Judy Schreiber 1996
Paul Kalina & Diane Cook 1998

Festival Director, Paul Harris

Welcome to the 2008 St Kilda Film Festival, and the opportunity to see more Australian
filmmaking talent than you will anywhere else.
The films in this year’s Top 100 all have unique and diverse stories to tell, each of them
showcasing the breadth of our local industry and more than stacking up against their international counterparts. This is no mean feat in itself with four programs of shorts from around the world in this year’s program to transport, inspire and (in some cases) unsettle you.
Alongside the short film programs sits SoundKILDA, with the best of this year’s Australian music videos on display. Some of these you will have seen before and some you haven’t, but all will take your breath away on the big screen.
We couldn’t look back on 25 years of this Festival without mention of those who have made it what it is, which is thousands of Australian filmmakers along with the previous Festival Directors listed on this page.
I want to make a special mention of two people who have brought this Festival a long way.
Malcolm Blaylock has been many things to the St Kilda Film Festival over the years – Producer, Consultant and his current role of International Programmer. Malcolm was brought on at a time when the Festival’s future was in jeopardy, and he transformed it into the event it is today.
Paul Harris is this year directing his 10th St Kilda Film Festival, a monumental achievement. The Festival has grown and come a long way with Paul and on behalf of the Festival and the City of Port Phillip, thank you. On a personal note from myself and the Festival team it has been (and will continue to be) an honour to work with Paul, and we can’t wait for this year’s Festival so that we can do it again.

Festival Producer, Adele Denison