6th Australian Film Festival in Cebu

The most recent award-winning films from Down Under take the spotlight at the ongoing Cebu leg of the 6th edition of the Australian Film Festival. The film fest formally opened at Ayala Center Cebu’s Onstage Cinema last Thursday with the VIP screening of the 1997 movie, “Romulus, My Father,” topbilled by Eric Bana.

The film, based on Australian philosopher and writer Raimond Gaita’s critically acclaimed memoirs, told the story of Romulus (Bana, Hulk, Troy, Munich) and his beautiful wife, Christina (Franka Potente, Bourne Identity) and their struggle as immigrant parents in the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity to bring up their son, Raimond. The film also highlighted the unbreakable bond between father and son. The movie received top honors in the prestigious 2007 Australian Film Institute Awards, including Best Film and Best Actor for Eric Bana. It also marked the directorial debut of actor Richard Roxburgh, more popularly known for his starring roles in Moulin Rouge, Mission Impossible II and Van Helsing.

Touted as Asia-Pacific’s Hollywood, Australia has successfully competed in the international film marketplace for decades. It has the distinction of producing the world’s first full-length feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, in 1906. Today, Australia has won many accolades and is regarded a force to reckon with in the global film industry for producing top-caliber actors, directors and technicians. Nicole Kidman, Geoffrey Rush, Guy Pearce, Cate Blanchett, Naomi Watts, and Toni Collette are just some of the prominent Australian actors who have carved out successful Hollywood careers.

Australian Embassy Deputy Head of Mission Steve Scott, who graced Friday’s opening, thanked the Arts Council of Cebu for making the Australian Film Fest possible—its fourth to be unreeled in Cebu—again. He also announced that the Filipino film “Pisay” directed by Aureus Solito (Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros) about student geniuses at the Philippine Science High School is among the 37 international films in competition at this year’s Asia-Pacific Screen Awards, the region’s highest accolade for film, to be held in Queensland’s Gold Coast. “Pisay” is competing in the Best Children’s Feature category of the said film awards, the winners of which will be announced on November 11.

Catch the Australian Film Fest’s last day of free screenings today, Oct 18. Up for screening are Radiance at 4pm; Home Song Stories at 6pm and Clubland at 8pm.

Radiance is the first feature film by Aboriginal director Rachel Perkins about three indigenous, disparate and distant sisters who reunite for their mother’s funeral. Cressy, the eldest of the three, is a diva — an opera singer who is reluctant to visit the past and definitely doesn’t want to share it with her sisters. Mae, has stayed behind looking after mum, and believes that Cressy hasn’t shared enough. Nona, the youngest and the party girl, just wants them to all be one happy family. She may even help grow the family if her pregnancy test is accurate. Deep and dark family secrets and personal conflicts start to unravel, but not all is gloom.

Home Song Stories is an evocative film about a beautiful Shanghai nightclub singer who migrates to 1960s Melbourne with her two young children and struggles to survive the realities of life in suburban Australia. The story is based on the recollections of Tony Ayres, the film’s writer and director, who at the age of 11, travelled with his mother and older sister from Hong Kong to Melbourne, after her marriage to an Australian sailor. The tale is told through the worried eyes of Rose’s young son Tom. It’s a brooding and dramatic tale brightened by beautiful cinematography and rich Chinese cultural overtones.

Clubland is a coming-of-age comedy about a shy 20-year-old son of an aging comedienne who tries to find a balance between his demanding home life, his new girlfriend, and his raucous mother’s second chance at fame.

The 6th Australian Film Festival is presented by the Australian Embassy, Screen Australia, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in cooperation with the Arts Council of Cebu.