Interviews

"The theme of the Pandemic was chosen due to the times we are living in"

It’s frustrating although not entirely unexpected to have to move our event around

We’re not getting to South Africa anytime soon, so the South African Film Festival brought it here

“The very first year for the second time”

“Necessity is the mother of invention"

“The World’s Best Film” doesn’t need to be the world’s best film, nor is the title as audacious as it sounds

“The response from our audience has been fantastic"

"My son turns around to me and says, take it online, go for it"

"We want to see what that world looks like from each individual’s perspective"

"It's a wonderful opportunity for our audience to engage with the culture of these Festivals"

"This is our contribution to pushing back against COVID-19"

A lot can happen in a week

“When we started Static Vision, our main goal was to bring out audacious and experimental films that were either too small, too challenging or off-the-radar of Sydney's general Festival circuit”

“The thing that I found so exciting about programming the festival was that for a film to be a piece of fantastic cinema it doesn’t need to align with any conventional festival criteria”

“We are proud that the 8th Persian Film Festival is paying a tribute to the strength and resilience of women from Iran and Afghanistan all around the world”

“We have seen a strengthening of stories from around the world playing into genres"

You may as well go out with a bang

“We can't wait to see what next year has in store for Japanese cinema!”

"We have a spotlight on first-time Iranian filmmakers as we wanted to bring their exciting new works to the centre of attention"

“Hopefully this project will provide opportunities for our directors and to dispel the myth that women only make one kind of horror or that they aren’t interested in the genre”

“My prediction is that a couple of years from now the fact a feature was shot on a phone will be totally unremarkable"

"It always feels good to get recognition, what made this one special is that it was in my home town"

“There’s a vastness of vision in the 2019 line-up”

Very rarely does a film so nail a premise

Film about Aussie ska legends STRANGE TENANTS premieres in Melbourne

“It’s a story about Martin taking a big look at his life after a dire medical diagnosis that forced some real change"

Gabe Silverman and Fiona Dawson discuss the origins and impact of their powerful documentary, and its connection to the controversial Trump administration ban on trans people serving in the military

"As a fan making a film I wanted to make something that I knew would resonate with people who are savvy and maybe a little bit discerning"

"Five wickedly twisted tales from the next generation of Aboriginal Writer/Directors all looking at the post-colonial Aboriginal experience through the horror genre"

"It's a story of a woman who defies the rules of the establishment, of the Church, of the State"