Stronger than Fiction returns to Palace Electric Cinema from Thursday 30 July – 2nd August with the latest international feature length documentaries. We caught up for a quick chat with one of the directors of the festival, Deborah Kingsland.
What’s the theme of the festival?
People keep coming up to us at the festival and saying – “I don’t like docos, but that was great’. We want to introduce Canberra audiences to great films with moving stories that are real, They’re films that’ll amaze you, make you laugh or cry. We have terrific Q&As after the films with filmmakers and experts and these discussions continue on in the Festival Hub upstairs at Hotel Hotel. It’s all very friendly and informal. People come on their own and if they love docos, there’s always someone to talk to.
Why a film festival just for documentaries?
We are living in the golden age of documentaries but where can you see them? With the new digital technology, filmmakers have the tools like never before to tell the stories that they are passionate about. They spend years digging deeper into subjects than any journalist has time for. However great, the films can’t compete with Hollywood $200 million marketing budgets and because of this, most great docos don’t get into cinemas. That’s where Stronger than Fiction come in.
You co-direct the festival with Simon Weaving? Do you ever disagree about films?
Simon and I, we are both filmmakers but from very different backgrounds and we each keep an eye on what is winning at the major doco festivals around the world watching literally hundreds of movies to find films that we both love. Great story, editing, cinematography, brilliant direction, of interest to Canberra audiences. It has to tick all those boxes. Plus we are looking for films that will generate audience discussion.
So what do you recommend?
That’s like asking which of your children do you prefer. They’re all great. Our opening night film is Sherpa – Canberra filmmaker Jennifer Peedom’s extraordinary story about the Sherpas who risk their lives for cashed-up foreign climbers on the trek to Everest. This one has nearly sold out. So be quick if you want a ticket!
Then there’s The Wolfpack the stranger than fiction story about a family of teenage boys who were confined by their parents to their New York apartment from birth with only movies to feed their imagination. The director Crystal Moselle is coming from the US for the Q&A after the film and if ever there was a film that generated questions, this is it!
Brand – A Second Coming is our first late night movie screening at 10pm on Saturday I August. Ondi Timoner spent two years with Russell Brand. If you are interested in what makes the man tick, this is an up close and personal portrait. So much so that Russell didn’t show up for the premiere earlier this year at SXSW Festival in the US. Instead he released a statement saying he felt uncomfortable about reliving his past!
And on the calmer side, we have Planet of Snail, a Korean film about blind-deaf man and his wife. He is a poet who somehow with his tiny wife, manages to get more out of life than most people with all their faculties. If you like the idea of meditation, but never manage to get around to it, this is a great film. It’s absolutely mesmerizing.
Finally there’s our closing night film, Beats of the Antonov. This film is truly amazing. Would you sing if your town was being bombed? Hajooj Kuka, a Sudanese American filmmaker spent 18 months in the Sudan making this original and inspiring film. Winning the Audience Award at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, this is a music film in a war setting or is it the other way round? The Canberra South Sudanese Women’s Choir will be singing at the after party. Should be a great evening!
Click here to visit the website and to book tickets.
To celebrate this festival coming to Canberra, we have a double pass up for grabs! To enter answer this is 10 words or less:
Russell Brand speaks out on his web series the Trews, giving his own views on everything from iPhones to the death penalty. What story would you suggest for an Australian version of Trews?
