Notice: Function WP_Scripts::localize was called incorrectly. The $l10n parameter must be an array. To pass arbitrary data to scripts, use the wp_add_inline_script() function instead. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 5.7.0.) in /home/filefaus/public_html/old/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5835
“INCLUSION/E” FILEF Short Film Competition and Festival – Filef Australia
Categories
News & Events

“INCLUSION/E” FILEF Short Film Competition and Festival

PRESS RELEASE

About 200 people attended the 3rd edition of FILEF Short Film Festival on the theme “INCLUSION/E”, on Saturday 22 October in the Italian Forum Cultural Centre in Leichhardt, the closing event of Double Belonging Festival 2016.

A diverse range of short films participated, 14 altogether, by directors of all ages, from only 12 to over 70 years old, not only Australian and Italian, but also born in Lebanon, Iran, Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia. According to the jury deciding the winners “has been a very difficult decision because of the diverse and compelling attributes of all the films. We’d like to commend all participants, because individually they all have something special – either they are innovative, moving, original, incisive politically and/or their subjects very well chosen. They are a testament to a strong creative and humanitarian urge among the emerging filmmakers”.

First prize ($1000 offered by FILEF) went to young filmmaker Radheya Jegatheva, born in Malaysia and living in Perth, with “Journey”.

Second prize ($500 also offered by FILEF) went to “Rafiula Khan’s Speech for Kamil Hussein” directed by Alfred Pek in association with People Just Like Us, while the Under 18 Prize went to 12 year old Giulio Robilliard for We Are All In This Together.

Finally, prize for best performance. “Camera 101, a course in acting in front of a Camera” offered by Actor Centre Australia, went to Gerard O’Dwyer in Anaconda directed by Jerome Pearce and produced by Information and Communication Exchange.

Particularly well received by the audience was Inclusion by Franco Baldi (Sicily: a melting pot of civilizations that came from the sea and left their imprint. Still today, new guest keep coming from the sea); Together for Humanity by Rabbi Zalman Kastel and Larry Gray (School children of different backgrounds – Muslim, Jewish and Christians address the NSW Parliament speaking about inclusion, racism, multicultural issues and the treatment of people with disabilities). Applause also for On This Land by Izzat Nadeem (A link between Palestinians under occupation and the First People of this continent, expressed through Palestinian poetry spoken in an Aboriginal language) and for the animation Baird’s Paradise, by cartoonist Rocco Fazzari (a parody of NSW governemnt quest to gain control of public land to build apartment blocks).

The opening screenings, out of competition, were dedicated to Italian mass immigration, yesterday and today, in the 1960s and now, with the new wave of young people on working holiday in Australian farms. Also out of competition, filmmakers Fabio Cavadini and Mandy King introduced a short version of their Time to Draw the Line, an overview of the vexed issue of maritime boundaries between Australia and Timor Leste. A boundary that Australia imposed in its favour, by including in its side an area in the Timor Sea rich in oil reserves.

In his welcoming address, Claudio Marcello of the FILEF Committee stressed the need for social inclusion in these times of fear of the different. “We should be proud of multiculturalism, in which Australia for many years has been an example to the world”, he said. “Now multiculturalism is in danger by a resurgence of racism and intolerance, towards “the other, towards Muslim communities in particular”, he added.

The event was opened by Murri poet and activist Ken Canning from the Binjara Nation, who stressed the need for a Treaty with Australia’s First People, rather than a symbolic mention in the Constitution, as the only way to obtain the preservation of a living culture e genuine self-determiantion.

Prizes were awarded on behalf of the jury by Dean Carrey, Artistic Director of Actor Centre Australia, a sponsor of this competition, which conducts acting classes and manages cultural evets in the Italian Forum Cultural Centre. The Short Film Festival, on 22 October, was the closing event of Double Belonging 2016 and the screenings and award ceremony were followed by a party in the foyer, with music by Sicilian street artist Santino Salvadore.