Two Australian short films, Men of the Earth and Faraways, and feature Lore will screen at the 42nd International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), one of the largest audience-driven film festivals in the world.
The ten-minute short Men of the Earth, which will also be shown at the upcoming Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France, attempts to explore tribalism and ritual in contemporary society. The film takes the audiences behind a roadwork site and presents the sombre ritual of working men. Men of the Earth is written and directed by Andrew Kavanagh. It is his second collaboration with creative producer Ramona Telecican.
Another short film Faraways, from writer/director/producer Audrey Lam, will also screen at this year’s Rotterdam. The story takes place in the empty urban landscapes of Brisbane which echoes the isolation of two girls far from home.
IFFR 2013 program will also present the German/Australian co-production Lore, which had its world premiere in Locarno last year and won the Audience Award. The Cate Shortland-direwcted film has been screened at various festivals since then, including Toronto, Busan, London and Sydney.
Adapted from Rachel Seiffert’s novel The Dark Room, the film is a coming-of-age drama set in the post-WWII period, which uncovers the tribulation faced by the youth in a changing world.
Alongside IFFR 2013 is the 30th edition of CineMart, the longest-running co-production market for global feature films. Trish Lake of Queensland’s Freshwater Pictures will be participating this year with the Canadian-Australian co-production, Michael Rowe’s Rest Home, partnered by Serge Noël’s Possibles Média in Canada. The film is planned to be shot in Montreal late this year with post-production in Australia.
A number of Australians, including Rachel Clements, Maya Gnyp, Trisha Morton-Thomas and Natalie Palomo, have been selected to participate in the accompanying Rotterdam Lab, an international networked designed to connect young professionals in film industry.
This year’s Rotterdam will take place from January 23rd to February 3rd.
Program details
IFFR SPECTRUM
LORE
Production Company Porchlight Films Pty Ltd
Producers Liz Watts, Karsten Stöter, Benny Drechsel, Paul Welsh
Writer/Director Cate Shortland
Writer Robin Mukherjee
Sales and Distribution Memento Films International, Transmission Films
Synopsis In spring 1945, the German army collapses. As the Allied forces sweep across the Motherland, five children embark on a journey which will challenge every notion we have of family, love and friendship.
SPECTRUM SHORTS
MEN OF THE EARTH
10 mins
Writer/Director Andrew Kavanagh
Producer Ramona Telecican
Cast Paul Bennett
Synopsis Traffic is delayed on the edge of a roadwork site, but what are the council workers doing? A privileged encounter with a secret, sombre ritual of working men. The second in a series of shorts exploring tribalism and ritual in contemporary society.
FARAWAYS
10 mins
Writer/Director/Producer Audrey Lam
Cast Tachika Yokota, Xiao Deng
Synopsis The empty urban landscapes of Brisbane echo the isolation of two girls far from home.
CINEMART
REST HOME
Writer/Director Michael Rowe
Producers Trish Lake of Freshwater Pictures and Serge Noël of Possibles Média
Cast Melissa George, Roy Dupuis
Australian/NZ Distributor Rialto
International Sales Pyramide International
Synopsis Rest Home is the story of a security guard in a retirement home who is married with two kids and is hooked on painkillers and anti-depressants. His life spirals out of control when he catches his wife with her lover.