Press Release
Festival highlights
- One of Australia’s favourite funny men, Akmal Saleh shows his serious side in a film about the inspiring results of people power during the revolution of the Egyptian people. This amazing 70-minute documentary, Pharaoh Vs the Egyptians, will be screened as the feature film on Saturday afternoon, July 13. Akmal will present the film and will stay for a Q&A with the audience.
- Heart of Gold is keen to get young people involved in cinema. A new category introduced to the festival this year is the Youth Film Award. The HOG team have invited young local film buffs to apply for a place on the jury to judge the best film aimed at young people.
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Unique, inspiring and thought provoking films to be screened at the festival include:
- Curfew by Shawn Christensen is the 2013 Academy Award winner for Best Short Film – Live Action.
- Julian by Matthew Moore is a home grown Australian success story exploring the infamous world of a “dobber”. It won the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film, Generation K, and at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival.
- A fascinating film based on a true story is Walking the Dogs, with Emma Thompson as the Queen.
- Night Shift is an extraordinary and moving New Zealand film, which has screened at Cannes, Sundance and New York film festival.
- This year festival organisers are utilising a great new festival tool used by the world's top festivals including Sundance. Festival Genius provides a sophisticated online schedule with facilities for the audience to rate films, write reviews, set their own calendar, link to ticket purchase and incredibly, have access to the FG App on their phones to do all these functions.
- To celebrate Heart of Gold’s triumphant return to Gympie this year, the closing night’s session will be the best of the best of Heart of Gold – a selection of the most popular and outstanding films in the festival’s six years. Be sure to come to see your old favourites.
- One of Queensland’s top 50 coffee lounges, Emilia’s Deli in Mary St, Gympie (as rated by The Sunday Mail), will stay open outside normal hours during the festival as a special treat for film-makers and festival goers.
Feature film shows comedian’s serious side
EXCITEMENT is starting to build about this year’s Heart of Gold International Film Festival and all involved are working hard to bring the best uplifting, funny and inspiring films from all around the world to audiences in Gympie.
There are many exciting developments happening behind the scenes and with just over six weeks to go until opening night, Heart of Gold is pleased to announce an exciting feature addition to the program, Pharaoh Vs the Egyptians, by Australian comedian, Akmal Saleh.
Nearly every Aussie would recognise Akmal and his zany sense of humour. He’s appeared many times at the Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala, the Great Debate, Thank God You’re Here, The Footy Show, Rove, you name it, if the aim is to make people laugh, Akmal is a favourite.
Being Egyptian-born and Australian-raised has given Akmal an incredible ability to deal with hot topics in a non-offensive way. He doesn’t shy away from religion, terrorism and hysterical looks at modern day life in Australia. But a more serious side is shown in this documentary about his homeland and the uprising of the Egyptian people from an average Egyptian’s perspective.
The result is a heart-warming, and sometimes gut-wrenching, 70-minute documentary film selected to be screened as the Heart of Gold International Film Festival’s feature film. This film is a testament to the strength, determination and resilience of the human spirit and the strength of community.
World-class films on the program
Pharaoh Vs the Egyptians is one of many wonderful films chosen for this year’s festival. The winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Short Film – Live Action has also been secured for the program. Curfew is a 19-minute masterpiece about a man, who at the lowest point of his life, gets a call from his estranged sister asking him to look after his precocious nine-year-old niece for a few hours.
Another exceptional film to be screened at the festival is Julian, a home grown film by writer/director Matthew Moore, and winner of the Crystal Bear at Berlin. Set in a Year 4 classroom in 1981, Julian explores a day in the life of a 9 year old boy. Julian's need to speak his truth and his strong urge to do what he thinks is right begins to unravel his world. Throughout the day Julian is forced to deal with a bully, an impatient teacher turning a blind eye and a principal with a secret. As Julian faces these challenges we begin to see the qualities that will inform the man he is to become. There are lots of surprising discoveries for the audience in this film.
A fascinating film to screen at Heart of Gold is based on a true story. Walking the Dogs sees Emma Thompson do a wonderful performance as the Queen. In 1982, unemployed father of four Michael Fagan climbed up the garden walls of Buckingham palace and broke into Queen Elizabeth's bedroom while her security officer was out walking the dogs. In this comedy drama based on the real life incident, we follow the Queen, her security officer and the intruder over the dramatic half hour which he spends in her bedroom. It’s a surprising and revealing encounter.
New additions
Festival goers, first-timers and old-faithfuls alike, will be treated to a special session this year, called The Best of Heart of Gold, in which around 10 stand-out films from previous year's festivals will be screened.
Heart of Gold is also keen to get young people engaged and enjoying cinema. Apart from having a number of family sessions suitable for the whole family, a new category has been included in the awards. A special addition is that a young local film buff will be chosen to sit on the jury to help choose the inaugural Youth Film Award.
This year’s festival will be highly interactive for film buffs. Festival organisers are utilising a great new festival tool used by the world's top festivals including Sundance. Festival Genius provides a sophisticated online schedule with facilities for audience members to rate films, write reviews, set their own calendar, link to ticket purchase and incredibly, have access to the FG App to do all these functions on their smart phones.
As a special treat, one of Queensland’s top 50 coffee lounges, Emilia’s Deli in Mary St, Gympie (as rated by The Sunday Mail), will stay open outside normal hours during the festival for film-makers and festival goers.
The Heart of Gold International Film Festival is held in Gympie, July 11-14. Check out the website www.heartofgold.com.au for more details or follow festival updates on Facebook.
QUOTES:
Artistic Director, Tahnee McGuire:
“Heart of Gold is and always has been unashamedly an audience led festival. We have passionate local screener groups that watch all the films and we enjoy immensely their feedback and insight. With every film we program we are always thinking about what the audience will take away from it – whether it’s insight, lots of laughs or an emotional experience.”
Artistic Director, Stephen Kanaris:
“The festival this year has so many highlights it’s hard to pin-point them to be honest. We’ve really been amazed at the quality of films we’ve been able to source. We are lucky that many of the films include wonderful performances from seasoned actors such as Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, Lilly Tomlin and Martin Freeman (who is currently starring in the Hobbit). Of course there are also many other extraordinary performances from up and coming actors. We feel excited to bring these films to our loyal audiences.”