Digital media and film - News and events
Events | Featured projects | Announcements
See the Call for entries news page for digital media events and competitions.
Events
d/Lux/Mobile, Razorhurst - Sydney
5–31 July 2009
Chris Dessaigne, Shady Credit. Image courtesy of the d-lux-mobile
d/Lux/Mobile, an initiative of d/Lux/MediaArts, launches this July with Razorhurst. Hand-held GPS technology guides players through the streets of East Sydney and Darlinghurst in an interactive game experience, developed by Richard Fox, that brings them face-to-face with the notorious Razor gangs of the 1920s and 30s. The game interface combines video re-enactments with archival photos, animation, maps, ambient sound and voiceovers.
Melbourne International Film Festival - Melbourne
24 July – 9 August 2009
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) hosts a feast of cinematic delicacies from over 50 countries for seventeen days each Winter, heavily garnished with a range of parties and special events that cast a celebratory mood over the city. In addition to screening films from around fifty countries, MIFF is Australia's largest showcase of new Australian cinema and champions both emerging and established local filmmaking talent. Various locations.
WOW Film Festival - touring Tasmania, Queensland and New South Wales
August - September 2009
The World of Women (WOW) Film Festival is a touring short film festival that promotes and awards the talents of women directors, producers, writers, editors and cinematographers in the Australian film industry and in Oceania. The 15th festival program is now touring. Entries for the 16th festival close 30 July 2009.
this is not art - Newcastle, New South Wales
Image courtesy of This Is Not Art.
1 - 5 October 2009
This Is Not Art is a supercharged convergence of writers, performers, thinkers, independent musicians, industry people, creative researchers, electronic artists, dillettantes, and DIY culture makers in a showcase featuring over 400 local, national and international artists.
Electrofringe - Newcastle, New South Wales
1 - 5 October 2009
Electrofringe is a festival of experimental electronic arts and culture dedicated to skills development and artistic exchange. It focuses on uncovering emergent forms and places a particular emphasis on encouraging exchange between emerging and established artists. Electrofringe 2009 is directed by Somaya Langley and Daniel Green.
Critical Animals - Newcastle, New South Wales
1 - 5 October 2009
Critical Animals musters together postgraduate and honours students (as well as those recently graduated and still at a loose end), early career academics, quasi-intellectuals and anyone else interested in devouring critical contexts for the kinds of experimental and emerging arts and media practices in the This Is Not Art program.Critical Animals 2009 is directed by Britt Guy and Aden Rolfe
Media Art Exhibition: Experimenta Playground - Adelaide, Perth, Bendigo, Albury, Townsville
Barnett, Buchanan, Ballingall, MacKellar and Rubino, Immersion 2007. Image courtesy of the Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art.
May 2008 – November 2009
Experimenta Playground showcases the latest work from Australia's leading media artists alongside media artworks from artists around the globe. The exhibition re-invents the gallery space as an environment of surprise and discovery exploring the notion that play is a means through which we are able to make sense of the world. In Experimenta Playground, media artists invite us to play and consider social behaviour, identity, the real/imagined, material/immaterial, and the role of play in life. Admission is free. Various Locations.
Super Human - Revolution of the Species - Melbourne
5 November – 5 December 2009
Inspired by the 150th publication anniversary of The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin's evolutionary treatise, Super Human: Revolution of the Species turns the spotlight on collaborations between artists and scientists and the impact these investigations have on what it means to be human, now and into the future. The event includes an exhibition, symposium and a masterclass presented by ANAT in association with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI).
Featured projects
Samson and Delilah - national
Image courtesy of Samson and Delilah
In cinemas from 7 May 2009
Samson and Delilah tells the love story of two Aboriginal teenagers in a remote community. They live in a sparse environment but one that absorbs all manner of cultural influences, where dot paintings and country music exist side by side. Their journey ranges across many of the most urgent issues concerning indigenous people in Australia—but it does so with tenderness, dignity, and even humour.
Marc Goldenfein and Chris Cork, Watch and Win, online video TV
May 2009
Watch and Win is an eight-part animated comedy series that will go live in late May on Australian website TheVine. Created by Marc Goldenfein and Chris Cork, and inspired by the (sometimes shady) world of advertising, Watch And Win is an eight-part comedic experiment, filled with human beings' wildest dreams and the products to help fix all of these, and two ordinary guys called Tim & Ben.
Nicholas Carlton, OzGirl, online video TV
May 2009
OzGirl is an online interactive web drama conceived, directed and produced by 19 year old VCA film student Nicholas Carlton. Starring Sophie Tilson (Sadie), Shanrah Wakefield (Megan) and Richard Askin (George) the show tells the story of Sadie as she moves from country to city to stay with her prima donna cousin Megan in Melbourne.
Winston Furlong, Taj
April 2009
The screenplay, Taj, written by Winston Furlong, was nominated for Best Unproduced Screenplay by the Australian Writers Guild in 2008. Set and filmed in contemporary Melbourne, Taj tells the story of Vjay, a charismatic but self absorbed writer who discovers he may not have long to live and so tries to redeem himself by mending a neglected relationship with his young daughter while his life slowly falls apart around him. Taj starts filming in Melbourne on 15 April, 2009 and is due for release in Australia in 2010.
Two Fists One Heart - national
Image courtesy of Two fists, one heart.
In cinemas from 19 March 2009
Two Fists One Heart is a contemporary family drama set in Perth, Western Australia. Anthony Argo is a champion boxer and nightclub doorman. He is trained by his father Joe who has brought his Sicilian values with him to Australia.
Announcements
Screen Australia's new marketing initiatives for 2009
19 July
The new programs support the marketing of all Australian screen production, emphasise audience engagement, develop the skills of our practitioners and support international networking. Screen culture programs have also been targeted more clearly towards the ultimate aim of engaging audiences with Australian content.
Australia's Digital Economy: Future Directions
14 July
Senator Conroy launched, Australia's Digital Economy: Future Directions a paper to outline the key areas of focus for Government, industry and the community. The paper includes 12 case studies of Australians who have successfully engaged with the digital economy from a range of different sectors. Other key Government initiatives to grow Australia's digital economy include: The Digital Education Revolution; Enterprise Connect; and a Government 2.0 Taskforce to advise on a range of issues that relate to the emerging agenda of online engagement.
DIY-DOCO website nominated for publishers' award
June 2009
A new Screen Australia website, DIY-DOCO has been nominated for the Australian Educational Publishing Awards 2009. DIY-DOCO is an education resource designed for teachers and students to: identify and respond to social issues and consequences, analyse how cinematic techniques affect story telling, explain or recount events and lives, assess historical importance of archival footage and create their own documentaries.Screen Australia announces funding for five features
16 June 2009
Screen Australia has announced support for five feature films generating $38.9 million worth of production. Projects receiving production investment include Stuart Beattie’s directorial debut Tomorrow When the War Began and Nick Giannopoulos' return to the screen in Wog Boy 2: Kings of Mykonos. Writer/director Bill Bennett has also been supported for Uninhabited.
Samson and Delilah's Warwick Thornton in Cannes glory
26 May 2009
Image courtesy of Samson and Delilah
The writer-director of the Aboriginal romance Samson & Delilah was elated about winning the Camera d'Or, the prize for best first feature at the world's leading film festival. The Camera d'Or, Australia's first since Shirley Barrett won for Love Serenade in 1996, is a boost for Samson & Delilah's box office and international sales. It increased its takings by 12 per cent on the weekend and has taken a strong $826,000 in three weeks in just 16 Cinemas.
Self taught 23-year-old youngest ever to win IMA award
20 May 2009
23-year-old James Hazelton's media studio EVODENCE has won Outstanding Achievement for Web Design/Development in the 2009 Interactive Media Awards (IMA). EVODENCE is the youngest team ever to win an IMA award by individual ages & team establishment. It is also the first to develop 'full-screen anti-alias cross-browser compatible, aspect scalable imagery using primarily CSS', and exclusively features Hazelton's photography which lead to the award.
New Zealand wins web site production competition FullCodePress 2009
13 May 2009
After a gruelling 24 hours, the teams of six web professionals from Australia and New Zealand participating in FullCodePress 2009 produced two sites for two very worthwhile not-for-profit organisations. The New Zealand team made a site for Rainbow youth which is based in Auckland. The Australian team client was the NSW Disability Discrimination Legal Centre based in Sydney. It took the judges nearly three hours to make their decision and award the trophy to the CodeBlacks from New Zealand.
Extra funding to ABC for local content and kids channel
12 May 2009
The Dog & Cat News. Courtesy of The Dog & Cat News.
The Government will provide the ABC with $136.4 million in new funding over the next triennium to support the ABC's plans for an advertising-free, digital children's television channel and a significantly increased annual output of new Australian drama. This will bring its local drama content levels in line with commercial broadcasters. It is expected to be able to boost its local content to 90 hours a year compared to 20 hours currently.
Extra funding to SBS for local content
12 May 2009
SBS will receive an additional $20 million over three years, which will allow it to increase its level of local content by an additional 50 hours a year from 2011–12.
Extra funding to ABC for regional broadband strategy and user-generated content
12 May 2009
The ABC will receive $15.3 million over three years under the Rural and Regional National Broadband Network Initiative to deliver more than 50 enhanced ABC Local Broadband Hubs in regional Australia. Funding will be used to identify and employ local producers to work on cross-media stories and to provide training and equipment for the creation of user-generated content the budget papers said. 'It will establish community websites and portals, and create 'virtual town squares' for communities to share experiences.'
Digital radio to start rolling out across Australia
May 2009
Digital Radio will start rolling out across Australia from May 2009, with test broadcasts starting earlier. Various types of digital radio are now well established in the UK and various other parts of Europe and Asia. The initial rollout of digital radio services will be in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
Key online resources
- Australian Centre for the Moving Image
- Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT)
- Metro Screen
- UNESCO Young Digital Creators (YDC) Educator's Kit
- ScreenWest
Collection resources and online publications
Institutions and government organisations
- National Film and Sound Archive
- Australian Film Institute Award Winners
- Australian Film, Television and Radio School
- Open Channel
- VCA School of Film and TV
- Screen Australia
Peak bodies and associations
- Australian Cinematographers Society
- Australian Screen Editors Guild
- Australian Writers' Guild
- The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
- Screenrights: copyright collection agency for rights holders in film and television
- Game Developers' Association of Australia