The 2018 CinefestOZ program has been revealed, with a who’s who of Australian film and theatre legends set to appear in the South West during the five day festival.
Award-winning Australian feature film, television and theatre actor Sigrid Thornton was announced as the festival’s Jury Chair.
Thornton will be joined by festival patron and multi-award winning actor David Wenham, Logie Winner Tasma Walton and theatre star and writer Lucy Durack, as well as Logie Winner and much-loved Australian actor John Howard, one of Australia’s finest indigenous actors Kelton Pell and AACTA Award winning Western Australian actress Emma Booth.
Over 150 film screenings and associated events have been outlined in this year’s festival program, taking in venues between Bunbury and Augusta.
From a total of 117 film screenings, the Festival will present 11 world and 18 Australian premieres, representing more than an 80 per cent increase on the 2017 program.
Festival CEO Malinda Nixon said the events would present a unique program to audiences from across the country.
“The program this year is a diverse and crowd-pleasing one,” Ms Nixon said.
“There is an abundance of choice ensuring that everyone attending the festival will find something just for them.
“It’s wonderful to see the stories and diversity that our film-making community are sharing and bringing to life and for CinefestOZ to provide a platform for audiences to experience this first hand for the first time in Australia and in some cases, the world.”
Now in its 11th year, the festival has welcomed a long line of Australian television and film royalty in years past, as well as industry experts and executives.
Alongside the VIP events, film premieres and free public screenings, festival will see shortlisted films 1%, Jirga, Ladies in Black and The Merger compete for the coveted $100,000 CinefestOZ Film Prize.
Program highlights include the world premieres of an eclectic and diverse mix including Lift, a seven part series written by much-loved Australian actress Lucy Durack, Roll With It, a documentary following the Australian Men’s Wheelchair Basketball team on their two year journey to the 2014 World Championships, and the mystery thriller Reaching Distance, starring WAAPA Graduate Sophia Forrest, Morgan Griffin (San Andreas, Unbroken, Spin Out) and Matt Day (Wolf Creek, A Place to Call Home and Love Child).
This year the festival will also expand to include French Canadian content through a partnership with Montreal-based Ciné Tapis Rouge, an organisation which showcases Quebecan cinema to international audiences.
CinefestOZ will host three premieres of French Quebecan films – Bagages, Les Rois Mongols and Tadoussac.
A variety of community events will be held throughout the five day festival window, including the IndigifestOZ Day and the Cinesnaps Grand Finale and Free Community Screenings, where many filmmakers will join the audience to discuss their creative processes.
CinefestOZ runs from August 22 – 26 at various cinemas, breweries, wineries and venues in the South West region.
To view the full program and purchase tickets visit cinefestoz.com
