Press Release
Stars shine bright at heart of gold film festival
A REMARKABLY high calibre of talent in film and television will be in Gympie for the Heart of Gold International Film Festival this week from 11-14 July.
Brisbane-based artistic directors Stephen Kanaris and Tahnee McGuire have put together a program jam-packed with stars.
The large selection of short films is of such a high standard, they star actors such as Judi Dench, Jack Thompson, Emma Thompson, Martin Freeman and Cate Blanchett, among other big names.
Festival goers will also be able to rub shoulders with two of the country’s funniest comedians, Akmal Saleh and Greg Sullivan, as well as Michael Lucas, the award-winning head writer for popular television show Offspring.
Michael is a judge for the awards along with Beth Armstrong, Heart of Gold’s inaugural Best Short Film winner – a claim to fame in its own right, but Beth’s film, Danya, which she wrote and directed, has won many other awards in Australia and internationally.
Among the line-up of actors starring in short films at the festival are Aidan Gillen (Petyr Littlefinger Baelish in Game of Thrones, The Dark Night Rises), Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under, Torchwood), Lilly Tomlin (Desperate Housewives, The West Wing), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family, Untraceable), David Wenham (300, Lord of the Rings) and Roy Billing (Underbelly, The Dish).
With such a star-studded program and guest list, many will be starting to think the Heart of Gold International Film Festival is to Australia what the Cannes International Film Festival is to France.