CINEFESTOZ-2011, BUSSELTON, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

27/08/2011
The West Australian

Mark Naglazas

PILES OF FUN FOR CARPETBAGGER WENHAM

Celebrity sightings are currently commonplace in Margaret River, with Sam Worthington getting his morning caffeine hit at Gloria Jean's and his Drift co-stars Myles Pollard and Xavier Samuel "shredding" the waves.

But locals had a truly weird celebrity moment on Thursday night at CinefestOZ when guest David Wenham not only walked the red carpet but, after a screening of the Emma Booth thriller Swerve in the Margaret River Recreation Centre, leant down and rolled up the carpet, sparking laughter, applause and flashing cameras.

"I like to carry my own red carpet," quipped the down-to-earth actor, who has charmed everyone at this year's CinefestOZ with his warmth, wit and intelligence.

The next day, sitting in the back of a four-wheel-drive heading to Aravina Estate where we were to join Fred Schepisi and other industry luminaries at CinefestOZ's Directors' Lunch, Wenham waxed lyrical about the countryside rolling past.

"I've never been in this part of the world before," he said. "It's absolutely stunning. I hope to return sometime in the near future when it's warmer so I can throw myself in the ocean."

That return may be quite soon as Wenham is one of the several writer/ directors on the ambitious version of Tim Winton's short-story collection The Turning which, the 46-year-old told me, would be shot in the South West.

"I tried to write a film script about eight years ago but it didn't work. I was in a completely different headspace. But adapting Winton's story Commission was a wonderfully liberating experience," he said.

While Wenham is known mainly for his classy Australian productions he also has on his CV a couple of memorable Hollywood blockbusters such as the camp sword-and-sandal classic 300.

"When I got the part I bought the graphic novel and there on the very first page was my character, a huge, hulking man standing there in the nude," he recalled.

"Then I learnt it was to be shot in Montreal where it was minus 26. And I thought 'Are they really doubling Montreal in midwinter for ancient Greece and I'm standing there in the nude'.

"Aren't they concerned with shrinkage? It was with some relief that I learnt the whole thing was going to done with a blue and green screen."

From here.

WENHAM HITS BUSSELTON'S RED CARPET

HIS famously laid-back character Diver Dan would be perfectly at home in Busselton's peaceful Geographe Bay but last night David Wenham led a cast of some of the year's most exciting Australian cinema players down the red carpet at Busselton's Orana Cinemas. The Lord Of The Rings actor, iconic Australian director Fred Schepisi and his actress daughter Alexandra were among Mad Bastards star Dean Daley-Jones and Drift producer Tim Duffy at the WA premiere of Schepisi's new film The Eye Of The Storm.

There was no sign on the red carpet of elusive Avatar star and Rockingham boy Sam Worthington who Duffy said had been filming scenes out deep in the surf all day. It was hoped he would make an appearance at the gala party.

Now in its fourth year, CinefestOZ is intended to bring the best new Australian and French films to the region and to connect audiences with the filmmakers behind them.

The Eye Of The Storm, Schepisi's first new Australian film since 1988's Evil Angels, and premieres including Toomelah, Swerve, Face to Face and Falling For Sahara have all played alongside significant new Australian releases Red Dog, Mad Bastards and Wenham's tragic tale of forced migration Oranges and Sunshine.

"People do want to talk about the work and when they have the film makers actually there it's a really fulfilling experience," Wenham said.

"But also from the other side, from my perspective and for directors who come to the festival it's a really wonderful opportunity to hear feedback.

It's very very satisfying.

The welcome here has not just been warm it's going towards hot I think. The hospitality here has been absolutely tremendous."

Schepisi, who lives between New York and Melbourne, said he liked smaller film festivals like CinefestOZ with a more selective selection of material.

"I like festivals that have a smaller number of films and a truly dedicated audience who are there because they want to see films not because it's a social event," he said.

"I think some festivals have got way too large."

Film programmer and event co-founder Helen Shervington said getting Schepisi, whose work includes Six Degrees of Separation, Roxanne and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, to this year's event was a coup for the festival.

"We think that that sort of shows how much the festival has grown in prestige," she said. "That a major distributor like Paramount were prepared to give us a film of that stature."

Co-founder and chairman David Barton said the Southwest wine region was a perfect location to develop an event similar to that held at a sister festival in St Tropez, France.

From here

SCHEPISI AND WENHAM RECEIVE AUSTRALIAN LEGEND AWARDS AT CINEFESTOZ 2011.

Press release from CinefestOZ

CinefestOZ 2011 delivered on its promise to bring extraordinary film and film talent to Western Australia. The five-day festival of film, premieres and gala events concluded on Sunday with organisers clearly delighted with the results.

David Barton said the festival was realising its potential to be the premiere film festival in Western Australia.

“Each year CinefestOZ builds on its ability to attract great new film and film talent to the festival. This year we were honoured to host filmmaker Fred Schepisi and actor David Wenham as guests of the festival. In fact, our guest list was the strongest in our four-year history and moves are afoot to build on this in 2012.”

This year over 6000 people were welcomed to the festival.

Saturday night’s WA premiere of The Eye of the Storm was a glittering success, attracting audiences from Perth, the south-west and the eastern states. A gala evening of food, wine and entertainment followed, where Fred Schepisi and David Wenham received Australian Screen Legend Awards.

Other CinefestOZ highlights included:

CinefestOZ featured the largest film program yet, with twenty one feature films. This included the presentation of nine WA premieres including six Australian features, one French feature and two Australian documentaries. In total, CinéfestOZ screened eleven new Australian Films and seven French films. ·

Attendances by actors Alexandra Schepisi (The Eye of the Storm), Ra Chapman (Birthday, Face to Face), Natalie Eleftheriadis (Birthday), David Wenham (Oranges and Sunshine), Dean Daley Jones (Mad Bastards, Toomelah) and Travis McMahon (Swerve, Birthday). ·

Industry guests included Fred Schepisi (director The Eye of the Storm), Tim Duffy (producer Drift), Sean Keenan (Drift), Craig Lahiff (director Swerve), Helen Leake (producer Swerve), Mario Andreacchio (director The Dragon Pearl), Khoa Do (filmmaker Falling For Sahara), James Harkness, (director Birthday), Michael Rymer (director Face to Face), Leanne Hadley and Gabrielle Christopher (producers, Face to Face), Franco Di Chiera (director Big Mamma's Boy), Veronica Fury (producer Curse of the Gothic Symphony), Michael Wrenn (distributor Toomelah), Erica Smyth (Chair of Screenwest), Ian Booth (CEO Screenwest), Claire Dobbin (CEO Melbourne International Film Festival), Mark Woods (Manager of MIFF Premiere Fund). ·

VIP guests included Madam Wong (Chinese Counsel), Hon. Barry House MLC, Hon. Brendon Grylls MLA. ·

Over 1000 south-west school children attended the popular schools sessions featuring The Dragon Pearl and Falling for Sahara. These sessions were made possible through the financial and in-kind support of Rio Tinto. ·

Rio Tinto employees and their families arrived en masse to see the Pilbara-based film, Red Dog. ·

A further $50,000 was committed to CinefestOZ through an Eventscorp grant, via Royalties for Regions - The Hon. Brendon Grylls attended the festival on Friday night to make the announcement. ·

Question and Answer sessions as part of the film festival presentation, with actors and filmmakers sharing their experiences about the making of the film. ·

Films in both Margaret River and Bunbury were introduced in 2011. ·

A short film program at BOHO bar in Margaret River was well received. ·

A highly successful documentary section was introduced this year. ·

A program of short film at Malt Market in Dunsborough was a sell-out event. ·

Fifty-five movie crew volunteers were supported by Rio Tinto and Nick Goode Construction. ·

For the first time, all three screens were used at Orana Cinemas to accommodate the extended film program.

CinefestOZ will return next year as a star in the Western Australian event calendar.

Fromhere