Lorne Film is more than just your average festival. In its third year, it is delving into the world of stunning local and international feature films, shorts, live readings and a forum. Designed to be the next step in the evolution of the Australian film industry, it has been titled ‘Making Waves’ as it brings together our nation’s creativity with the beautiful surf coast.
“We’re not just about showing films, we’re about the film industry coming to Lorne as well, so we have a number of initiatives around that,” shares Director Darren Markey.
“There’s 21 films and of those, nine are Australian. A dozen or so short films are as well for our Lorne shorts initiative. But as to what people can expect, I guess we’ve been moving in the direction of showing surf and ocean related content, but not exclusively.
“We cover most genres, but we’re certainly keen to build relationships with local filmmakers. We’ve got a couple of outstanding independent films that we’ll be screening.”
Spanning across three venues, Lorne Film will start off with gusto on opening night, when Airey’s Inlet band the Sleep Decade perform a live score to a Hear My Eyes international film, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga (pictured).
“The film was shot in Eastern Europe, directed by a lady from New York. So it’s a truly international event. …It’s pretty awesome, it’s going to be quiet unique and kind of ephemeral as well,” he says.
Other feature films include the Saturday screening of PAWNO, a film based around characters in a fictional Foostcray Pawn shop which stars well known Aussie actors John Brumpton and Kerry Armstrong; a rugby based film titled Broke, from Queensland, and a compelling Tasmanian documentary titled Shadow of Doubt – telling the story of a murder investigation that will show on the Sunday afternoon. And then, of course, there are also some ocean related films on offer.
“We’ve got our surf jobs. We’ve got half a dozen films in there,” he says.
Adding to the variety of the event, a free forum titled Lorne Thought is also going to be held, bringing industry professionals, including Executive Producer Andrew Myer and screenwriter Mac Gudgeon together, to discuss the Australian film industry.
“Lorne Thought will be a series of seminars that will happen every year at Lorne Film. This year’s title is ‘Lorne Film: The Hand that Feeds’. And it is an examination of the relationship between the Australian Film Industry and the funding agency,” Markey says.
Budding screenwriters will also enjoy the announcement of the winner of the Lorne Film 2015 Screenwriter Award at the opening, where the winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize and hear a live rehearsed reading of their screenplay on the Sunday.
Lorne Film has partnered with the VCA, bringing to life a screenplay called The Blockade. “It’s a fictionalised version of the Franklin River Blockade. And we’ve got Shane Howard, former Goanna lead singer. He’s going to come along and perform a couple of songs before that reading,” he says.
Full with more events and screenings that you could possibly count, Lorne Film begins on November 12, and if you have any interest in Aussie film, then it is most definitely for you.
“What is Lorne Film’s role? It’s to agitate the change. You know, we want to act as a platform for people to come and speak and also to facilitate having film makers meet each other.”
Lorne Film runs from November 12-15. Tickets are available at lornefilm.com.au.
Written by Jessica Morris