Red carpet rolled out for Brisbane International Film Festival

Published Thursday, 11 October, 2018 at 07:53 PM

Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Minister for Science and Minister for the Arts
The Honourable Leeanne Enoch

Australian premieres, celebrated directors, local legends and Queensland stories will dazzle audiences over the coming 10 days, following the official launch of the Brisbane International Film Festival tonight.

Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch said the Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) celebrates international and Australian contemporary screen culture.

“It’s an exciting time to be in Brisbane, as over the next 10 days the city will host new release features and documentaries, screenings alongside live music, and enticing panel discussions,” Ms Enoch said.

“It is also wonderful that this year BIFF – a Queensland institution in itself – has found a new home at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, which is presenting the new chapter of this long-running and much-loved festival.”

Ms Enoch said the Palaszczuk Government was committed to strengthening Queensland’s position as a leading screen destination.

“The Premier has been working hard to put Queensland on the map when it comes to major screen productions, and now we have a screen industry with a pipeline of productions that provides a constant stream of work for thousands of people.”

Tonight, BIFF opens with Celeste, a home-grown story written and directed by Brisbane-born director Ben Hackworth, and set in Tropical North Queensland.

“The 10-day program features local stories with an international impact including a screening of Mao’s Last Dancer, based on the life of Queensland Ballet Artistic Director Li Cunxin, with a special in-conversation with Li Cunxin and director Bruce Beresford,” Ms Enoch said.

Wik vs Queensland is a documentary directed by Queensland filmmaker Dean Gibson examining the central role of land rights and focusing on an important Queensland story that reverberated nationally and globally,” she said.

“Also featured is United Skates, an acclaimed new documentary on the little-known but vibrant African-American subculture around skating rinks in the United States, co-directed by former Brisbane filmmaker Tina Brown and recently acquired by HBO for international broadcast.”

QAGOMA Director Chris Saines said: “The Gallery’s presentation of BIFF 2018 draws on more than a decade of institutional expertise in developing programs of local and international cinema, and delivering major film-focused exhibitions such as ‘David Lynch: Between Two Worlds’ in 2015 and the record-breaking ‘Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe’ in 2017.”

BIFF runs from 11 – 20 October and will be presented in conjunction with cinema and venue partners throughout Brisbane.

For more information, visit: https://biff.com.au/

 

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