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SA made films in the spotlight at Adelaide Film Festival 2024
18 September 2024
South Australia is set to shine on screen once more at this year’s Adelaide Film Festival (AFF), with the newly unveiled 2024 program featuring a range of exciting new South Australian made films, including four feature films and a range of short films supported by the SAFC.
Revealed at a special launch event at Palace Nova Eastend on 17 September, the 2024 program showcases an exciting array of outstanding SA made and SAFC-supported productions across feature films, documentaries and shorts.
Closing Night Gala – Kangaroo Island
AFF’s Closing Night Gala will be the world premiere of Kangaroo Island, ending the festival on a high with SA director/producer Timothy David, SA writer Sally Gifford and SA producers Peter Hanlon and Bettina Hamilton set to walk the red carpet alongside stars Rebecca Breeds and Erik Thompson.
Filmed on Kangaroo Island last year with the support of the SAFC and the AFF Investment Fund, David’s debut feature also stars Adelaide Clemens and Joel Jackson in the story of a struggling Hollywood actress who returns home to Kangaroo Island to confront the love triangle that tore her family apart.
Tickets for the Closing Night Gala are on sale now – book here.
Lesbian Space Princess leaves the Lab
Don’t miss the world premiere of Lesbian Space Princess – the feature film debut from SA writers and directors Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese and SA producer Tom Phillips of Adelaide Studios based We Made A Thing Studios.
The animated comedy is the second film to come out of the Film Lab: New Voices feature film development program co-funded by the SAFC, AFF and Screen Australia, elevating new SA filmmaking talent.
With an impressive voice cast including Shabana Azeez (SA), Gemma Chua-Tran, Bernie Van Tiel, Richard Roxburgh, Aunty Donna, Kween Kong (SA), Jordan Raskopolous, Demi Lardner (SA) and Reuben Kaye, it’s a laugh-out-loud adventure about an introverted space princess who is forced to leave her home planet on an inter-gay-lactic mission to save her ex-girlfriend.
Book tickets here.
Songs Inside strikes a chord
The world premiere of South Australian made and SAFC supported feature documentary Songs Inside promises a powerful story of healing.
Written, directed and produced by SA’s Shalom Almond and produced by SA’s Katrina Lucas and Lauren Drewery, the film follows SA First Nations singer-songwriter Nancy Bates, who also serves as the film’s co-producer, and the ground-breaking music program she led with inmates at the Adelaide Women’s Prison – the “Songbirds”.
The film follows the participants of the program as they sign up to learn an instrument and write their own songs, including collaboration with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO), a process which opens deep scars around trauma and addiction. But can they prove that music has the universal power to heal, even in the complex world of prison? Almond’s intimate, direct style and dedication to her participants results in a journey that is both confronting and deeply moving.
Songs Inside is the latest exploration of women in prison from Almond, who wrote and directed SAFC supported documentary Prisoners and Pups for ABC iView and was the inaugural recipient of the SAFC’s Lottie Lyell Award in 2018, which she used to continue her research on the subject.
Bates and members of the Songbirds will perform with the ASO at the sold-out Songs Inside world premiere gala at AFF on 31 October. A second screening, which will include an extended Q&A with the film’s creative team, has been added after the premiere screening sold out in under a week. Book tickets here.
With or Without You – a cross-country family affair
Another world premiere for a South Australian directorial debut, With or Without You is a moving mother-daughter story inspired by SA writer/director Kelly Schilling’s own experiences and produced by Su Armstrong and SA’s Carolyn Johnson.
Chloe (Melina Vidler) is a young woman intent upon helping her free-spirited mother, Sharon (Marta Dusseldorp), recover from lifelong addictions. A series of chance encounters sees Chloe cross paths with Dalu (Albert Mwangi), a West African man searching for a better life. Sparks immediately fly and together they embark on an unexpected road trip that leads to love, self-realisation, hope and healing.
The film has been supported by funding from the SAFC and the AFF Investment Fund.
Book tickets here.
Made in SA shorts showcase
The Made in SA shorts showcase features seven short films from South Australian creatives, including Wishes by Ana-Maria Mendez Salgado, supported by SAFC’s Matched Market Development Fund and fresh from official selection at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Three of the shorts have also been supported by the SAFC through The Mercury’s Quicksilver fund: Alies Sluiter‘s Boy On Fire, Henry Reimer Meaney‘s The Hitcher and Alice Yang’s Finding Jia, which is also In Competition for the Shorts Award.
The other SA shorts in the showcase are Hannah Moore‘s Mars Futures, Madeleine Parry‘s Graduation, which is also In Competition for the Shorts Award, and Tiah Trimboli‘s Strega, which is also the recipient of the 2024 Hanlon Larsen Screen Fellowship supporting ambitious avant-garde screen-based work.
Tickets for Made in SA are on sale now, with two dates to choose from.
Another SA made short, Cordelia, Daughter Of The Sea from SA director Maddie Grammatopoulos, will screen as part of the Australian Shorts showcase.
More SA program highlights
- The Mercury celebrates its 50th anniversary and incredible legacy as part of AFF this year. Established in 1974 as the Media Resource Centre (MRC), the Mercury supports the emerging SA screen sector through various initiatives funded by the SAFC. Their special anniversary event on 29 October will see alumni past and present join together for an on screen presentation and a chance to reminisce and raise a glass together. Book tickets here
- Indie horror Carnage for Christmas from SA director and producer Alice Maio Mackay follows Lola, a transgender true-crime podcaster and sleuth who visits her hometown for Christmas only to uncover a bloody urban legend has come down the chimney to kill again. Lola must solve the case before the Santa-costume-clad “Toymaker” killer slaughters the whole town. Carnage for Christmas is a sassy, indie, no-budget spin on holiday horror — with a dash of Black Christmas (1974) and a sprinkle of teen detective. Book tickets here.
- Pharrell Williams‘ LEGO animated biopic Piece by Piece features work from SA company ModelFarm, who was the primary VFX studio on the film and contributed hundreds of VFX shots. The film premiered at TIFF and Telluride Film Festival and currently boasts a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Book tickets here
- The inaugural AFF & Samstag 2024 Expand Moving Image Commission is a series of experimental docu-fiction moving image works by South Australian artists and screen creatives Matthew Thorne and Emmaline Zanelli, and NSW artist Susan Norrie. See the works between 11 October and 29 November at the Samstag Museum of Art. Read more
- SA director Sophie Hyde is AFF’s new official patron, and several SA screen creatives appear on the AFF Competition juries: Matthew Bate sits on the Official Competition jury, Bonnie McBride on the Change Award jury and Lucy Campbell, Julie Ryan and Nara Wilson make up the Shorts Award jury.
Also on AFF’s packed 2024 program you’ll find a range of talks and Q&A sessions including:
- Animation: Contextualising Australia’s mini-boom – panel includes SA writer/director Leela Varghese
- Documentary: Where real life and cinematic artifice meet – panel includes SA director Shalom Almond
- Making debut films: Scripts, risks, joys and challenges – panel includes SA writers/directors Kelly Schilling, Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese, and SA writer Sally Gifford
- Screen industry talk – panel includes AFF CEO and Creative Director Mat Kesting and SAFC Head of Production and Development Leanne Saunders.
And of course, the program also features a huge range of exciting new films from around Australia and the world!
The Adelaide Film Festival runs from 23 October to 3 November, 2024. Tickets to all sessions are on sale now – go to adelaidefilmfestival.org for more information.
The SAFC is proud to be an Industry Partner of the Adelaide Film Festival 2024.