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Heart of Gold kicks off Thursday

Press release from Heart of Gold

All eyes are on Gympie as the Heart of Gold International Film Festival screens a world-class line up of comedies, dramas, animations and documentaries including 84 Australian and 13 World & International Premieres!

Festival staff and a troupe of dedicated volunteers are ready to roll as audiences, special guests, media and filmmakers from all over Australia and the around the world including Poland, Scotland, Sweden, USA arrive in Gympie for the 4 day festival from Thursday 17th to Sunday 20th.

Festival Director, Malcolm Blaylock says “this year is set to be a fantastic festival with a robust and diverse program of more than 200 short films guaranteed to warm the heart. It is a showcase of filmmaking creativity and technical expertise that we are very proud to present to the region of Gympie”

There are many festival firsts this year’ program as Heart of Gold presents Indigenous Shorts 1 & 2, ‘Green Screen’ (environmental shorts) and programs from India, The Netherlands and Ireland. By popular demand the Family Program returns in an extended format to make room for more to enjoy. ‘Cake & Comedy’, ‘Drinks & Drama’ & the sell-out Comedy Shorts are all back along side the annual festival events which include a free forum, Filmmakers Present and a very special feature film Boy.

Since Heart of Gold launched its 2011 program on February 11, there have been awards galore including the most coveted prize – an Oscar for Luke Mathney’s film ‘God of Love ‘ (USA) for Best Short Action Film. ‘God of Love’ is a comedy about a lounge-singing darts champion who receives a package of love-inducing darts. Two other films which received Academy Award nominations included ‘Na Wewe’ (meaning ‘You Too’) – a farcical story from Burundi/Belgian about the absurdity of ethnic conflict, and the animation ‘The Gruffalo’ all about a mouse that takes a stroll through the deep, dark wood.

Closer to home, Australian filmmaker brothers Andy and Matthew Mullins received a prestigious Special Mention at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival for their film ‘Minnie Loves Junior’. Set on an Australian beach, it is a story of unrequited love between two Aboriginal children who, according to the Berlin Film Festival are "the most adorable characters we've seen on our screens in years"

Heart of Gold will host an array of not-to-be missed events, starting tonight. Celebrate the opening of festival at 7.30pm with a cross section of this year’s films, followed by a party with entertainment. The Awards Ceremony is on Saturday night at 7.30pm and will be featuring the ‘Art with Heart’ raffle draw and a special screening of all of the winning films.

Tickets for Opening Night and Awards Night are $45 and include drinks, and gourmet food.

Come and farewell the festival on Closing Night, Sunday 20th at 5.30pm with a great Irish Comedy program filled with heart warming films that represent the funny, light hearted, quirky side of the Emerald Isle, followed by a fabulous party.

The Heart of Gold bar & café is open throughout the festival and is a great place to meet over four days and nights – a unique opportunity to rub shoulders with filmmakers, jurors, media and friends – to share critical thought about the world of film and simply enjoy the film festival buzz.

Heart of Gold – the country’s first film festival to exclusively screen entertaining and uplifting films – is once again set to capture the imagination of the global film community.