Mildura to host Melbourne International Film Festival Showcase
Published on 19 September 2017
Mildura is one of just eight regional Victorian centres to host the Melbourne International Film Festival’s (MIFF) Travelling Showcase this weekend.
For the fourth year running, both the Mildura Arts Centre and Deakin Cinema Complex will screen films as part of the showcase, supported by the Victorian Government.
The showcase will feature four of MIFF’s most exciting films – Jungle, The Song Keepers, The Butterfly Tree and Swedish feature Sami Blood - all of which are MIFF Premier Fund-supported.
The Butterfly Tree sees Melissa George return to Australia to star alongside Ewen Leslie and Ed Oxenbould (Paper Planes) in a visually sumptuous coming-of-age tale of love and loss tinged with magical realism. Working from her Australian Writers’ Guild award-winning script, first-time filmmaker Priscilla Cameron crafts an intimate, slightly hyper-real story about the sometimes rocky path it takes to learn the true meaning of love.
The Song Keepers, directed by award-winning filmmaker Naina Sen, is Central Australia’s answer to the Buena Vista Social Club. Documenting the preparations and first international tour by the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir, the film captures the highs and lows of these remarkable women sharing their music and stories of cultural survival, identity and inclusive cross-cultural collaboration with the world.
Mildura Rural City Councillor for Arts and Culture Jason Modica said MIFF’s Travelling Showcase is extra special this year with the free screening of It’s People Like Us, which is a documentary about us and our phones.
Directed by Academy Award Winner Eva Orner, It's People Like Us will be screened with a selection of Australian short film highlights from the 2017 MIFF shorts program.
They include the sweet coming-of-age film Mrs McCutcheon (Film Victoria Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film), the Indonesian-set based-on-a-true-story thriller Sengatan, and Let’s See How Fast This Baby Will Go (Swinburne Award for Emerging Australian Filmmaker), a comedy/drama based on a true story originally heard on This American Life.
“It’s fantastic to see the MIFF Travelling Showcase including Mildura on its tour again, bringing films that often aren’t screened in regional areas,” Cr Modica said.
“I’d encourage locals to come along and take in these films, not only to experience them, but to illustrate the interest we have in MIFF bringing them to Mildura in the future.”
Movie screening times and venues
Mildura Arts Centre
Saturday 23 September
2pm The Song Keepers
5.30pm, It’s People Like Us
7pm The Butterfly Tree
Deakin Cinema Complex
Jungle
7.30pm, Friday 22 September
Sami Blood
2pm, Sunday 24 September
For more information on the films
http://miff.com.au/travelling
To book tickets for The Song Keepers and The Butterfly Tree please go online at http://www.milduraartscentre.com.au or call (03) 5018 8330 to book tickets.
For all media enquiries please contact Helen Piscioneri at Mildura Arts Centre at helen.piscioneri@mildura.vic.gov.au or call (03) 5018 8330.