Overview

Brisbane is Australia's third largest city; a sub-tropical city of sunny days and a laid-back lifestyle. And in the latter part of the relatively short winter, it plays host to one of Australia's major film festivals, the Brisbane International Film Festival. First run in 1991, the festival has a reputation for producing a finely balanced line-up, comprising both challenging and entertaining films. It has opened many Australian eyes to the riches of local and international cinema; particularly Asian cinema which is a permanent feature of the program.

BIFF, as it is affectionately known, opens on July 27 with the world premiere of Walk the Talk. This uniquely Australian feature is the work of director Shirley Barrett; who readers may recall won the Camera d'Or at Cannes for her earlier film, Love Serenade. Filmed in locations near Brisbane with a local crew and support from the Queensland Government's film funding arm, the Pacific Film and Television Commission, Walk the Talk is a black comedy about an aspiring but misguided talent agent who sets up business using money from his paraplegic girlfriend's compensation payment.

Artistic director for BIFF, Anne Démy-Geroe, says she is "very excited" to have Walk the Talk open this year's event. Having previewed the film, she described it as "terrific". Shirley Barrett will be in Brisbane to present her film.

A strong line-up of Australian films will be shown throughout the festival, including Paul Cox's new film Innocence, which was praised by no less an authority than Roger Ebert following its Cannes screening. Some of the other local films to run during the festival are Better Than Sex, which opened the Sydney Film Festival in June; The Diplomat, a documentary looking at the life of East Timorese leader Jose Ramos Horta; the highly anticipated (and likely controversial) Chopper which is based on the life of one of Australia's most notorious criminals; and My Mother Frank by Mark Lamprell, the co-writer of Babe 2: Pig in the City.

While the Australian films are dear to the audience's heart, Démy-Geroe says the real highlights of this year's program are the Asian, French and German films. The strength of Asian cinema is reflected in the fact Démy-Geroe had considerable difficulty "whittling down" the candidates to the 18 films which will be shown in that section. Japanese cinema in particular looks exciting with Sabu's Monday; Miike Takashi's Audition, the gentle and funny Nabbie's Love from Nakae Yuji and M/Other by Suwa Nobuhiro. They will be accompanied in the Asia-Pacific selection by Shower (Zhang Yang - China); Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (Hong Sang-soo - Korea); Nang Nak (Nonzee Nimbutr - Thailand) and Sri (Marselli Sumarno - Indonesia), amongst others.

The Europeans also feature heavily; with several award-winners amongst them. They're led by two films that featured at Cannes 1999 - Aleksandr Sokurov's Cannes opener Moloch (described as a "masterpiece" by many commentators) and Bruno Dumont's Humanity which picked up several prizes on the Croissette.

Among the other European films making the trip Down Under will be Une Liasion Pornogaphique (Frédéric Fonteyne - France); The Virgin (Diego Donnhofer - Austria); Simon Mágus (Ildikó Enyedi - Hungary); Berlin 2000 Silver Bear winner The Legends of Rita (Volker Schlöndorff - Germany) and Bleeder (Nicholas Winding Refn - Denmark).

Although BIFF generally shies away from Hollywood fare, it wholeheartedly embraces American independent productions. This year's US indies include Berlin sleeper hit George Washington (David Gordon Green); Dead Dogs (Clay Eide); Jesus' Son (Alison Maclean); The Virgin Suicides (Sofia Coppola); and Long Night's Journey into Day (Deborah Hoffman & Frances Reid). But the mainstream isn't forgotten altogether with four more popular features showing - High Fidelity (Stephen Frears), Drowning Mona (Nick Gomez) American Psycho (Mary Harron) and festival closer Ordinary Decent Criminal (Thaddeus O'Sullivan).

The vitality of BIFF's programming is usually evident in its retrospectives and sidebars; which are often far more ambitious than those in similarly sized festivals. This year is no exception with Démy-Geroe scheduling a comprehensive cinematic look at the Beat Generation. Titled "Angry Young Men", the season looks at Beats from the films that inspired them such as Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955), through the films they made or starred in - Pull My Daisy (Robert Frank/ Alfred Leslie, 1958) and Chappaqua (Conrad Rooks, 1966) for example - to the films they inspired like Cassavetes' Shadows (1958) and the films that exploited them including Beat Girl (Edmond T Greville, 1960). The scope and subject of this retro make it one of the most audacious staged by a major Australian festival in recent years.

Other sidebars will look at recent Asian horror films, which will be screened in a late night slot; films on filmmaking; and two early Hitchcock silent films - The Manxman and The Ring.

Encouraging fledgling and accomplished filmmakers alike, BIFF's "Fast Film" is a nationwide short film competition, run in association with the Festival. With a similar concept to Australia's Tropfest short film competition, entrants have just 50 days to write, shoot and edit a short film under five minutes in length, featuring a 'special ingredient'. This years 'ingredient' is a butterfly.

BIFF also boasts a strong contingent of international and local short film screenings. Most features screen with a short, providing one of the only outlets in Australia for short filmmakers to promote their talents. Highlights in this year's shorts programme include Stop, a Queensland production which had the distinction of being the only Australian film in competition at Cannes this year, and a season of gay and lesbian shorts being screened as a special adjunct to the main shorts program.

The most prestigious event at any BIFF is the presentation of the Chauvel Award. Named after pioneering Australian filmmakers Charles and Elsa Chauvel, the award recognises significant contribution to Australian feature filmmaking. Previous winners have included Gillian Armstrong, Paul Cox, Dr George Miller and John Seale. In 2000, the award will be presented to distinguished Australian actor Bryan Brown. From quintessentially Australian roles in films like The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith to the Hollywood blockbusters F/X, Cocktail and Gorillas in the Mist; Brown is for many the face of Australia on screen.

The award is unique among Australian film festivals and provides an opportunity to recognise the very best in Australian talent. In addition to the award ceremony itself, Brown will be honoured with a overview of his work hosted by noted film critic David Stratton, followed by an audience Q & A.

Although Brisbane is one of the "big three" Australian film festivals (Sydney and Melbourne are the others), it isn't yet a major stop on the international film festival circuit. BIFF is however gaining credibility and prestige through its winning mix of fine films, innovative programming (particularly of often overlooked Asia-Pacific product), convivial atmosphere and relaxed attitude.

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Wrap

The 9th Brisbane International Film Festival kicked off in style with the world premiere of Shirley Barrett's new film Walk the Talk. The director, who won acclaim (and the Camera d'Or at Cannes) for her first feature Love Serenade, attended the festival for the screening. Set in Queensland and produced by a largely local crew, Walk the Talk tells the story of Joey Grasso (played with considerable maturity by Salvatore Coco) a gullible young man who uses his crippled girlfriend's compensation payment to establish a talent agency. He has only one client, a washed up singer; but sees it as his duty to revive her flagging career by any means he can.

The film has echoes of Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose, with the wonderfully desperate characters floundering in increasingly desperate circumstances. The result is a film that both touches and amuses.

The festival scored an unexpected bonus with the world premiere of another Australian film, Better Than Sex. The film had opened the Sydney Film Festival in June; but the version which screened there was not the final cut. Academy Award nominee David Hirschfelder was still working on the score when the film was shown in Sydney. The Brisbane fest was able to screen the final version complete with Hirschfelder's score.

Directed by first timer Jonathan Teplitzky, Better Than Sex is an playful yet insightful look at modern relationships. It stars two of Australia's hottest young actors, David Wenham and Susie Porter.

The distinctly Australian flavour was continued with the presentation of the Chauvel Award for distinguished contribution to Australian feature filmmaking. This year's recipient, actor Bryan Brown, made an impassioned plea for the Australian film industry to stand firm in its determination to tell stories "in our own voice". He warned Australia was in danger of becoming "a Hollywood backlot" as more US productions are filmed "Down Under". But, he added, these productions can have a positive influence if they're prepared to work "hand in hand" with the local industry.

The festival once again set an attendance record with nearly 30,000 tickets sold throughout its 10 day run; an increase of more than 10% on the previous year. Audiences clearly responded to the selection of films in the program, with 13 sessions sold out. These included - fairly predictably - buzz US features American Psycho (Mary Harron), The Virgin Suicides (Sofia Coppola) and High Fidelity (Stephen Frears); but less predictably documentaries Grass (Ron Mann, Canada) and Chasing Buddha (Amiel Courtin-Wilson, Australia) and the Beat films Shadows (John Cassavetes) and Pull My Daisy (Robert Frank & Alfred Leslie), presented as part of the festivals major retrospective on films of the Beat Generation.

The quality of the films shown at BIFF was difficult to criticise. While the class of productions like The Virgin Suicides can't be questioned (and have been written about extensively elsewhere), the festival also showcased several small gems from often obscure corners of the world. A personal favourite was The Flight of the Bee (Min Boung-hun & Jamshed Usmonov). This wonderfully perceptive and subtle film from Tajikistan was co-directed by Korean and Tajik filmmakers who met as students in Moscow. While its Tajik setting was exotic, the film's themes are universal.

A far cry from Central Asia, but equally compelling, was Clay Eide's US indie feature Dead Dogs. This modern take on film noir features a thrilling tale of love and loss; deception and revenge. Eide doesn't forget that a story needs believable characters to work. Those in Dead Dogs are so real and so beautifully shaded with strengths and flaws, you find yourself caring about what happens to all of them; not just the hero.

BIFF places a particular emphasis on Asian cinema and this year's line-up was one of the strongest ever. One of the more intriguing offerings was Nang Nak (Nonzee Nimibutr, Thailand). The film has been called Thailand's Titanic. Like James Cameron's film, Nang Nak tells a well-known story, and was directed by a filmmaker known for his action films. The film concerns Mak, a young man who goes off to war and who returns home after a serious injury to his wife, Nak, and baby. But the villagers believe Nak died during childbirth, and that Mak is living with her ghost. Nang Nak is as visually ravishing as Titanic; but was produced for a fraction of the cost.

Ironically, it also knocked the American film from the top of the Thai box office on its home release.

Another stand-out from the 18 films shown was Sabu's manic, frightening and hilarious Monday (Japan). While the film delivers its message about violence with considerable bluntness, the director's brilliant filmmaking positively oozes from the screen. With echoes of David Lynch and Clint Eastwood, Monday is a film which simply cannot be ignored.

Another film dealing with violence which demanded attention was Bruno Dumont's Humanity, a winner of the Grand Jury prize at Cannes. The film follows the effect of a terrible crime on a rather ineffectual police officer assigned to the case. With its striking (and occasionally shocking) visuals and subtle style, Humanity weaves a compelling web around the audience. Unlike many Hollywood productions in which even the smallest detail is made glaringly obvious, Dumont lets the tale unravel at a deliberate pace. It's almost storytelling by osmosis; and a joy to behold.

It was almost a year of older persons at BIFF, with no less than three of the most popular films at the festival concerning people finding love later in life. Best Foreign Language Film nominee Under the Sun (Colin Nutley, Sweden), the Japanese film Nabbie's Love (Nakae Yuji) and Paul Cox's Innocence (Australia) vied for audience attention.

But in the end, it was another Australian film, Mark Lamprell's My Mother Frank, which walked away with the audience vote for best film. My Mother Frank has had something of a charmed run at recent festivals. It was warmly received in Berlin when it had its world premiere there in February. It was the closing night film at the Sydney Film Festival in June; and it's now to have its North American debut at the Montreal World Film Festival.

The top ten films as voted by the BIFF audience were My Mother Frank, Nabbie's Love (Japan), Under The Sun (Sweden), Better Than Sex (Australia), Gigantic (Germany), Titus (US), Innocence (Australia), Tumbleweeds (US), Monday (Japan) and Shower (China).

The vote for documentaries went to Long Night's Journey into Day (Deborah Hoffman & Frances Reid, US); followed by The Diplomat (Tom Zubrycki, Australia).

FilmFestivals.com reporter
David Edwards