‘The Coming Back Out Ball Movie’.
Five films supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund including Thomas M. Wright’s directorial debut Acute Misfortune and Sue Thomson’s The Coming Back Out Ball Movie will have their world premieres at the 67th Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF).
“The Premiere Fund champions stories that need telling and we are so proud of this year’s slate of wonderfully diverse and inclusive world premieres,” said the fund’s executive producer Mark Woods.
“As the Premiere Fund enters its second decade, we take our hats off to the talented filmmakers that we have the privilege of working with and we look forward to the Fund continuing to play its part in supporting quality new Australian cinema.”
The five are:
- Sue Thomson’s The Coming Back Out Ball Movie, which chronicles the October 2017 Coming Back Out Ball which honoured LGBTI+ elders, hosted by Robyn Archer with performances by Carlotta, Deborah Cheetham and Gerry Connolly. It will be the closing night gala.
- Daniel Henshall stars as Archibald Prize-winning artist Adam Cullen in Thomas M. Wright’s Acute Misfortune, an adaptation of Erik Jensen’s biography. Toby Wallace, Max Cullen and Genevieve Lemon co-star in the biopic of the young wunderkind writer and the brilliant yet deeply troubled artist.
- Inspired by former Prime Minister Paul Keating’s eulogy for Geoffrey Tozer and directed by Janine Hosking, The Eulogy explores the story of Australia’s greatest-ever and perhaps most overlooked pianist. Music educator and conductor Richard Gill embarks on a journey to restore Tozer’s legacy.
- In Undermined: Tales from the Kimberley director Nicholas Wrathall tells a universal story of the David-and- Goliath battles Indigenous peoples face and the human costs of doing business in the Kimberley.
- MIFF Accelerator Lab alumna Miranda Nation makes her feature directorial debut in Undertow, a psychological thriller of grief, abuse and obsession set against the backdrop of local footy culture, starring Josh Helman, Olivia DeJonge, Laura Gordon and Rob Collins.
The festival runs from August 2-19. Of the 67 films co-financed thus far by the Premiere Fund over the past 11 years:
- 28 per cent had female directors (versus the Screen Australia-reported industry average of 16 per cent);
- 58 per cent had female producers (versus the industry average of 32 per cent;
- 42 per cent included youth themes;
- 28 per cent had elements portraying Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities (CALDs), with 6 per cent having CALD creative principals (director and/or producers);
- 15 per cent included indigenous themes and/or characters (including Bran Nue Dae), with 6% having indigenous creative principals;
- 13 per cent included LGBTI+ characters and/or issues, with 19 per cent involving LGBTI+ creative principals;
- 51 per cent had first time directors, with 21 per cent of the overall tally being directed by alumnus of the MIFF Accelerator Lab emerging director program and 49 per cent securing part of their financing from MIFF 37ºSouth Market.