Melbourne International Film Festival
Encyclopedia
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an acclaimed annual film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

 held over three weeks in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It was founded in 1951, making it one of the oldest in the World.

MIFF is a member of Melbourne's four major film festivals line up, which also include the Melbourne International Animation Festival
Melbourne International Animation Festival
The Melbourne International Animation Festival or MIAF is an annual animation festival held in Melbourne. Supported by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the Australian Film Commission and the Melbourne City Council, it is Australia's largest animation event. Over the course of the...

 (MIAF), Melbourne Queer Film Festival
Melbourne Queer Film Festival
The Melbourne Queer Film Festival, or MQFF, has been running continuously since 1991 . It is the oldest queer film festival in Australia and one of the oldest queer film festivals in the world...

 (MQFF) and Melbourne Underground Film Festival
Melbourne Underground Film Festival
The Melbourne Underground Film Festival was formed out of disagreements over the content and running of the Melbourne International Film Festival...

 (MUFF).

The current Festival Director is Michelle Carey, and its ambassadors include: actors Eric Bana
Eric Bana
Eric Bana is an Australian film and television actor. He began his career as a comedian in the sketch comedy series Full Frontal before gaining critical recognition in the biopic Chopper...

 and Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor and film producer. He is one of the few people who has won the "Triple Crown of Acting": an Academy Award, a Tony Award and an Emmy Award. He has won one Academy Award for acting , three British Academy Film Awards , two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen...

, director Fred Schepisi and documentarian Morgan Spurlock
Morgan Spurlock
Morgan Valentine Spurlock is an American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter and journalist best known for the documentary film Super Size Me...

.

The 60th festival took place between 22 July and 7 August in 2011.

Festival

MIFF is the largest film festival in Australia with approximately 400 films screened from more than 50 different countries, as well as the World's largest showcase of Australian cinema. It is also the most attended film festival in Australia with over 182,000 admissions (2007 estimate). In 2007, it contributed more than A$8 million to the Melbourne economy.

The festival is currently accredited by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...

, Australian Film Institute
Australian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...

 and British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...

. It is also the only festival in Australia to be accredited by all three.

Melbourne also holds a significant place in the history of film
History of film
The history of film is the historical development of the medium known variously as cinema, motion pictures, film, or the movies.The history of film spans over 100 years, from the latter part of the 19th century to the present day...

 for being home to the World's first full-length feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...

, The Story of the Kelly Gang
The Story of the Kelly Gang
The Story of the Kelly Gang is a 1906 Australian film that traces the life of the legendary bushranger Ned Kelly . It was written and directed by Charles Tait. The film ran for more than an hour, and was the longest narrative film yet seen in Australia, and the world. Its approximate reel length...

(1906).

Program

Main programs:
  • Opening Night Film - generally an Australian film premiere
  • Homegrown - short and feature fiction and documentary films from Australia
  • International Panorama - short and feature fiction and documentary films from around the World
  • Neighbourhood Watch - short and feature fiction and documentary films from Asia
  • Closing Night Film - generally an Australian film premiere

Other programs:
  • Arts and Minds - a program of films celebrating the creative industries
  • Melbourne Citymission Charity Screening - funds go to support Melbourne's homeless
  • NextGen - a program of films aimed at younger generations
  • Night Shift - a program of cult films screened after midnight till the early morning
  • Special Screenings - generally film premieres or screenings with a director's Q&A
  • States of Dissent - a program of films dedicated to human rights

Reoccurring events:
  • Opening Night Gala - the red carpet launch of the festival
  • 37° South Market - see: #37ºSouth Market
  • Accelerator - workshops and screenings for filmmakers to develop their skills, craft and industry contacts
  • Festival Lounge - a venue offering free events, music and performances for the duration of the festival
  • Lights, Camera, TRACKtion - short film mini-competition celebrating Melbourne's trams
    Trams in Melbourne
    The Melbourne tramway network is a major form of public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia. , the network consisted of of track, 487 trams, 28 routes, and 1,773 tram stops. It was therefore the largest urban tramway network in the world, ahead of the...

  • Short Film Competition - see: #Competition

Venues

The festival is conducted across various venues located in the Melbourne City Centre
Melbourne city centre
Melbourne City Centre is an area of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is not to be confused with the larger local government area of the City of Melbourne...

, which include the Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, or ACMI, is dedicated to the moving image in all its forms. It is located in Federation Square, in Melbourne, Australia, across four levels of the Alfred Deakin Building...

, the Forum Theatre
Forum Theatre
The Forum Theatre is a theatre located on the corner of Flinders Street and Russell Street in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia. The building was designed by American architect John Eberson, who has designed many theatres across the globe, along with a local architectural firm...

, Melbourne Town Hall
Melbourne Town Hall
Melbourne Town Hall is the central municipal building of the City of Melbourne, Australia, in the State of Victoria. It is located on the northeast corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, in the central business district. It is the seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Melbourne...

, RMIT Capitol Theatre
Capitol Theatre, Melbourne
Opened in 1924, The Capitol Theatre is a spectacularly designed single screen cinema located in Melbourne, Australia . On 20 May 1999, it was purchased by Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology , and is currently used for both university lectures and cultural events such as film and comedy festivals...

, the Victorian Arts Centre
The Arts Centre (Melbourne)
The Victorian Arts Centre is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the inner Melbourne suburb of Southbank in Victoria, Australia....

 and various cinema complexes.

37ºSouth Market

The 37ºSouth Market is the only international film financing
Film finance
Film finance is an aspect of film production that occurs during the development stage prior to pre-production, and is concerned with determining the potential value of a proposed film...

 marketplace to take place during a film festival in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It is held over four days at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, or ACMI, is dedicated to the moving image in all its forms. It is located in Federation Square, in Melbourne, Australia, across four levels of the Alfred Deakin Building...

, and with industry panels and guest lectures taking place at the Forum Theatre
Forum Theatre
The Forum Theatre is a theatre located on the corner of Flinders Street and Russell Street in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia. The building was designed by American architect John Eberson, who has designed many theatres across the globe, along with a local architectural firm...

. It enables Australian and international producers with market-ready feature-length projects to meet with financiers. The 37ºSouth Market is also the exclusive partner of the London Production Finance Market for Australia and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

In 2009, the 37ºSouth Market attracted 35 companies; which included: Bavaria Films
Bavaria Film Studios
The Bavaria Film in Geiselgasteig, a district of Munich's suburb Grünwald, Bavaria belongs to one of Europe's biggest and most famous film production companies.- History :...

, Icon Productions
Icon Productions
Icon Productions LLC is an American independent production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey.-History:Icon started when Gibson was having trouble in financing the 1990 film Hamlet...

, Media 8 Entertainment
Media 8 Entertainment
Media 8 is a leading independent film entertainment company engaged in financing, development, production and worldwide distribution of theatrical feature films in various forms of broadcast media.-Overview:...

, Miramax Films
Miramax Films
Miramax Films is an American entertainment company known for distributing independent and foreign films. For its first 14 years the company was privately owned by its founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein...

, NBC Universal
NBC Universal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...

, National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...

, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

, Pathé
Pathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...

, Village Roadshow, etc.

Competition

Whilst MIFF remains mostly a non-competitive festival, since 1962 it has staged a highly regarded short film competition. It also presents audience popularity awards for feature film and documentary.

The first award ever presented was for "Best Short Film", which was changed to the "Grand Prix for Best Short Film" in 1965. From 1985, the Grand Prix has been officially presented by the City of Melbourne.

Awards for feature film

  • Most Popular Feature Film (presented by Stella Artois
    Stella Artois
    Stella Artois is a 5% ABV lager brewed in Leuven, Belgium since 1926. In the UK, Canada and New Zealand a 4% ABV version is also available.-Production:...

    )
  • Most Popular Documentary (presented by Stella Artois)

Short film competition

All competition:
  • Grand Prix for Best Short Film (presented by the City of Melbourne
    City of Melbourne
    The City of Melbourne is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. The city has an area of 36 square kilometres and has an estimated population of 93,105 people. The city's motto is "Vires acquirit eundo" which means "She gathers strength as she...

    )
  • Award for Best Fiction Short Film (presented by Cinema Nova)
  • Award for Best Animated Short Film (presented by RMIT
    RMIT University
    RMIT University is an Australian public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. It has two branches, referred to as RMIT University in Australia and RMIT International University in Vietnam....

    )
  • Award for Best Documentary Short Film (presented by RMIT)
  • Award for Highly Commended Fiction Short Film (presented by Village Roadshow)
  • Award for Highly Commended Animated Short Film (presented by Village Roadshow)
  • Award for Highly Commended Documentary Short Film
  • Award for Best Short Screenplay (presented by the Australian Writers' Guild
    Australian Writers' Guild
    The Australian Writers' Guild is the professional association for all performance writers, that is, writers for film, television, radio, theatre, video and new media. The AWG was established in 1962 and is recognised throughout the industry in Australia as being the voice of performance writers...

    )
  • Award for Best Student Short Film
  • Award for Best Experimental Short Film
  • Award for Best Achievement in a Video Production
  • Award for Short Film Promoting Human Rights
  • FIPRESCI Prize (presented by the International Federation of Film Critics)


Australian only:
  • Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film (presented by Film Victoria
    Film Victoria
    Film Victoria is a statutory authority of the State Government of Victorian, Australia that provides strategic leadership and assistance for film, television, and digital media production in the Australian state of Victoria....

    )
  • Award for Emerging Australian Filmmaker (presented by Melbourne International Airport
    Melbourne Airport
    Melbourne Airport , also known as Tullamarine Airport, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne and the second busiest in Australia. It was opened in 1970 to replace the nearby Essendon Airport. Melbourne Airport is the sole international airport of the four airports serving the...

    )
  • Award for Creative Excellence in an Australian Short Film (presented by Cinema Nova)
  • Award for Best Australian Achievement in Cinematography (presented by Panavision
    Panavision
    Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses during the widescreen boom in the 1950s, Panavision expanded its product...

    )
  • Award for Best Australian Achievement in Editing (presented by Avid Technology
    Avid Technology
    Avid Technology, Inc. is an American company specializing in video and audio production technology; specifically, digital non-linear editing systems, management and distribution services. It was created in 1987 and became a publicly traded company in 1993...

    )

Winners of Grand Prix

Year Film Director Country
1965 La gazza ladra Giulio Giannini, Emanuele Luzzati
Emanuele Luzzati
Emanuele Luzzati was an Italian painter, production designer, illustrator, film director and animator. He was nominated for Academy Awards for two of his short films, La gazza ladra and Pulcinella .He was born in Genoa and turned to drawing in 1938 when, as a Jew, his academic studies were...

Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

1966 The Inheritance Harold Mayer USA
1967 Petrol-Carburant-Kraftstoff Hugo Niebeling West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

1968 You're Human Like the Rest of Them B.S. Johnson UK
1969 Pas de deux Norman McLaren
Norman McLaren
Norman McLaren, CC, CQ was a Scottish-born Canadian animator and film director known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada...

Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

1970 Calcutta Louis Malle
Louis Malle
Louis Malle was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. His films include Ascenseur pour l'échafaud , Atlantic City , and Au revoir, les enfants .- Early years in France :Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries,...

France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

1971 Blake Bill Mason
Bill Mason
Bill Mason was an award-winning Canadian naturalist, author, artist, filmmaker, and conservationist, noted primarily for his popular canoeing books, films, and art as well as his documentaries on wolves. Mason was also known for including passages from Christian sermons in his films...

Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

1972 Scarabus Gérald Frydman Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

1973 Street Musique Ryan Larkin
Ryan Larkin
Ryan Larkin was a Canadian animator, artist, and sculptor who rose to fame with the psychedelic 1969 Oscar-nominated short Walking and the acclaimed Street Musique . He was the subject of the Oscar-winning film Ryan.-Home life and education:Ryan Larkin's father was an airline mechanic...

Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

1974 Edward Burra Peter K. Smith UK
1975 Last Grave at Dimbaza Nana Mahamo South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

1976 Leisure Bruce Petty
Bruce Petty
Bruce Petty is one of Australia’s best known political satirists and cartoonists. He is a regular contributor to Melbourne's The Age newspaper...

Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

1977 Corralejas de Sincelejo Mario Mitrotti Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

1978 Manimals Robin Lehman USA
1979 Malj Aleksandar Ilic Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

1980 Interview Caroline Leaf
Caroline Leaf
Caroline Leaf is a Canadian-American filmmaker and animator.Leaf made her first film, Sand, or Peter and the Wolf, in 1968 at Harvard University. The short was made by dumping sand on a light box and manipulating the textures frame-by-frame.Her second film, Orfeo , had her painting directly on...

Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

1981 New York Story Jackie Raynal USA
1982 Shadows Royden Irvine Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

1983 Douglas Mawson: The Survivor David Parer
David Parer
David Parer is an award-winning Australian natural history film maker.Parer was conscripted into the Australian Army to go to the Vietnam War in 1970, but he entered a Masters program to study physics in the Antarctic. Parer spent the summers of 1970 and 1972 in Antarctica studying cosmic rays....

Australia
1984 Aquí se lo halla Lee Sokol USA
1985 In Heaven There Is No Beer? Les Blank
Les Blank
Les Blank is an American documentary filmmaker best known for his portraits of American traditional musicians....

USA
1986 My Life Without Steve Gillian Leahy Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

1987 Panya shugeki Naoto Yamakawa Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

1988 The Critical Years Gérard L'Ecuyer Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

/USA
1989 Twilight City Reece Auguiste UK
1990 Swimming Belinda Chayko Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

1991 Sink or Swim Su Friedrich
Su Friedrich
Su Friedrich is an American avant-garde filmmaker.- Biography :Friedrich graduated from Oberlin College in 1975 and made her first film, Hot Water, in 1978...

USA
1992 The Writing in the Sand Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen
-Life and work:Born in Myllykoski Finland in 1948, Konttinen studied photography in London in the 1960s, and cofounded the Amber collective, which moved to Newcastle....

UK
1993 Lektionen in Finsternis Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...

Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

1994 Only the Brave Ana Kokkinos
Ana Kokkinos
Ana Kokkinos is an Australian film director. Kokkinos was born in Melbourne and prior to her career in film, she worked as an industrial lawyer...

Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

1995 Twilight Tengai Amano
Tengai Amano
Tengai Amano is a playwright, director and the leader of the drama group called "Shonen-oja-kan". He was born in Ichinomiya, Aichi prefecture in 1960, and graduated from the Department of History in Aichi Gakuin University. In 1982, he founded "Shonen-oja-kan" in Nagoya...

Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

1996 Baka Thierry Knauff Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

1997 At Sea Penny Fowler-Smith Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

1998 The Storekeeper Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood is a South African filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and actor, best known for writing and directing the Academy Award-winning Foreign Language Film Tsotsi...

South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

1999 So-poong Song Il-gon
Song Il-gon
Song Il-gon is a South Korean film director and screenwriter known for his international award-winning early short films, and later feature films such as Spider Forest and Feathers in the Wind...

South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

2000 Wildlife Kate de Pury UK
2001 Muakah Hadar Friedlich Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

2002 Palace II Kátia Lund
Kátia Lund
Kátia Lund is an American-Brazilian film director and screenwriter. Her most notable work was as co-director of the film City of God....

, Fernando Meirelles
Fernando Meirelles
Fernando Ferreira Meirelles is a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter.He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director in 2004 for his work in the Brazilian film City of God, released in 2002 in Brazil and in 2003 in the U.S. by Miramax Films...

Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

2003 Destino Dominique Monfery France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

2004 Talking with Angels Yousaf Ali Khan UK
2005 Silent Companion Elham Hosseinzadeh Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

2006 Avatar Lluis Quilez Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

2007 Blood Sisters Louise N.D. Friedberg Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

2008 Dennis Mads Matthiesen Denmark
2009 Next Floor Denis Villeneuve
Denis Villeneuve
Denis Villeneuve is a Canadian film director and writer. In his early career he won Radio-Canada's youth film competition "La Course Europe-Asie" in 1990-91. He is a three-time winner of the Genie Award for Best Director, for Maelström in 2001, Polytechnique in 2010 and Incendies in 2011...

, Phoebe Greenberg
Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

2010 The Lost Thing Shaun Tan, Andrew Ruhemann Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...


Rebiya Kadeer film controversy

During the 58th festival in 2009, the controversial film The 10 Conditions of Love (2009), which documents the life of the exiled Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...

 leader Rebiya Kadeer
Rebiya Kadeer
Rebiya Kadeer is a prominent Uyghur businesswoman and political activist from the northwest region of Xinjiang Autonomus Region of the People's Republic of China...

, was screened despite many attempts by the Government of China
Government of the People's Republic of China
All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...

 (which labels her a terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

) to have the film withdrawn from the festival.

Chinese filmmakers withdrew their films from the festival two days before it opened on 24 July. Former MIFF director Richard Moore refused to pull the film from the festival program, despite the festival website and its online ticketing system being hacked from an IP address
IP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...

 of Chinese origin. The festival website was hacked soon after the launch of its program for 2009, with information replaced with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans. Victoria Police
Victoria Police
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of Victoria, Australia. , the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, along with over 400 recruits, reservists and Protective Service Officers, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations.-Early history:The Victoria Police...

 was placed on alert during the screening of the film, and Pro-Uighur demonstrators also gathered outside the Melbourne Town Hall
Melbourne Town Hall
Melbourne Town Hall is the central municipal building of the City of Melbourne, Australia, in the State of Victoria. It is located on the northeast corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, in the central business district. It is the seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Melbourne...

.

The Dalai Lama
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years...

 also sent a message of support via, Member
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 of the Parliament of Australia
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...

 for Melbourne Ports
Division of Melbourne Ports
The Division of Melbourne Ports is an Australian federal electoral division in the inner south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

, Michael Danby
Michael Danby
Michael David Danby is an Australian politician and has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since October 1998, representing the Division of Melbourne Ports, Victoria...

:




The Government of China attempted to have the film withdrawn from the festival, going to the extent of contacting, Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle
Robert Doyle
Robert Keith Bennett Doyle is an Australian politician and the 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne, elected on 30 November 2008...

. Doyle, however, refused to intervene. Australia's Ambassador to China Geoff Raby
Geoff Raby
Geoff Raby is an Australian economist and diplomat. He served as the Australian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China from February 2007 until August 2011.- Education and public career :...

 was summoned by China's Deputy Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun to express displeasure about Kadeer's attendance at MIFF.

MUFF v MIFF

In 2000, MIFF's rejection of a feature film written and directed by Richard Wolstencroft
Richard Wolstencroft
Richard Wolstencroft is an Australian filmmaker, film festival director, former nightclub promoter, writer, cinema critic, cultural and political commentator...

 led him to form the Melbourne Underground Film Festival
Melbourne Underground Film Festival
The Melbourne Underground Film Festival was formed out of disagreements over the content and running of the Melbourne International Film Festival...

 (MUFF). In subsequent years, MUFF has attracted controversy by criticising the content of MIFF as well as its former long-time Director Richard Moore. Wolstencroft claims that MUFF champions "an alternative voice in Australian cinema".

External links


See also

Major film festivals in Melbourne
  • Melbourne International Animation Festival
    Melbourne International Animation Festival
    The Melbourne International Animation Festival or MIAF is an annual animation festival held in Melbourne. Supported by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the Australian Film Commission and the Melbourne City Council, it is Australia's largest animation event. Over the course of the...

    , Australia's largest animation festival
  • Melbourne Queer Film Festival
    Melbourne Queer Film Festival
    The Melbourne Queer Film Festival, or MQFF, has been running continuously since 1991 . It is the oldest queer film festival in Australia and one of the oldest queer film festivals in the world...

    , one of the oldest queer film festivals in the World
  • Melbourne Underground Film Festival
    Melbourne Underground Film Festival
    The Melbourne Underground Film Festival was formed out of disagreements over the content and running of the Melbourne International Film Festival...


Other film festivals in Melbourne
  • Human Rights Arts and Film Festival
    Human Rights Arts and Film Festival
    The Human Rights Arts and Film Festival was formed in 2007 in Melbourne.The Festival founders, Evelyn Tadros and Naziath Mantoo, were inspired by human rights film festivals held overseas such as The New Zealand Human Rights Film Festival, the New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival,...

  • St Kilda Short Film Festival
    St Kilda Short Film Festival
    St Kilda Film Festival is Australia's longest running short film festival and has been showcasing Australian short films since 1983. The festival, produced and presented by the city of Port Phillip, screens Australian short films in all genres including drama, comedy, documentary, animation and...

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