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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-04 Daily Xml
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ADELAIDE FILM FESTIVAL

Mr KENYON (Newland) (14:14): My question is to the Premier.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr KENYON: Will the Premier tell the house about the results of the film-related events held over the last few weeks?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:15): I know that this is of great interest to members opposite, because I have seen them at a number of the events and I know that they appreciate the importance of the film industry to South Australia.

On 1 March I attended the closing night of the BigPond Adelaide Film Festival, which ended an amazing run of film events in Adelaide. Starting with the Australian International Documentary Conference, which I am told had about 600 delegates from around the world, and encompassing the National Screenwriters Conference, which had hundreds of visitors, and Fringe, as well as the Documentary Fringe, it was a 19 day feast of film-related activities. The documentary conference achieved its target delegate number, and I understand that it has been receiving glowing reports in various blogs around the world since the international visitors returned home. The National Screenwriters Conference was a sell-out success, and I am hopeful that this event will return to Adelaide in 2011.

But the jewel of the film crown has been the BigPond Adelaide Film Festival, which has again shown that it is a world-class event, screening films that the public really wants to see. It is easy to see why it was labelled by Variety magazine in the United States as one of the 50 film festivals across the world not to be missed (and there are thousands of film festivals around the world but we are in the top 50), with 22 world premieres, including nine features and three documentary features, 62 Australian premieres and 143 films from 49 different countries screened.

There were also five forums, a two day art and moving image symposium and four major gallery exhibitions, including the first commissioned exhibition, Lynette Wallworth's Duality of Light. This exhibition is on at the Samstag Museum of Art at the University of South Australia until 24 April and I encourage members to get along, if they have not already done so. The Natuzzi International Best Feature was awarded to So-yong Kim, director of Treeless Mountain. Set in Korea, this film is a stunning story about childhood and adaptation. The Natuzzi International Best Feature Award is the first of its kind in Australia, the winner receiving a cash prize of $25,000.

The opening night film, which I know was attended by many members of parliament, was My Year Without Sex, and all three sessions sold out. In fact, one in five screenings across the festival was sold out. Do you remember the prediction that people would not attend the Film Festival because the city council had somehow pulled the plug on the River Torrens? Doom and gloom: people from the Sundance festival, Toronto, from London and from the Edinburgh festival would cancel their tickets and the public would not come out because of the disgrace of what happened in the River Torrens. I am very pleased to report that the festival experienced an almost 30 per cent increase in the 2009 box office compared to the previous festival. So, predictions about the global financial crisis and the impact of the Torrens on theatre attendances clearly did not come true.

Among the films to have sold-out sessions within the opening days of the festival were titles backed through the Festival Investment Fund (we are one of the few festivals in the world that invests in films, in making films at every step along the creative process), such as Last Ride, A Good Man, and My Tehran for Sale. The screening of the local films and also SA Screen Award winners Necessary Gains, Past Midnight and Love Market also had sold-out sessions along with the Made in SA Shorts series. These sold-out sessions demonstrate the overwhelming popularity for new Australian films at this festival.

Of particular note was the resounding standing ovation for director Warwick Thornton and young stars Rowan McNamara and Marissa Gibson, at the world premiere of the stunning new Australian film that we invested in, Samson and Delilah, which I think will win every international film award in its category. This extraordinary film, which explores the difficult subject of petrol sniffing, became the most talked about film of the festival. I am sure that it will follow the footsteps of Ten Canoes on the world stage, and I hope it gets to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival. It is no surprise that this film also won the BigPond Adelaide Film Festival Best Feature Audience award.

I remind members that Samson and Delilah was supported through the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund, which supported many of the highlights of the festival. The festival is one of only three in the world that invests in the creative process of making films. These films are great examples of how supporters such as the SA Film Corporation and the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund are helping to fuel the industry's resurgence.

I am sure that the chamber has a shared vision to have more of these sorts of quality films made right here in South Australia. Obviously, I was able to sign off on the design plans for the $43 million state-of-the-art Adelaide Screen and Film Centre at Glenside, the only facility of its kind in the nation.

I want to thank the Treasurer for his support not only of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, where he has become an icon. The orchestra told me that the Deputy Premier had described the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra as the best orchestra that he had ever seen in the world. Because of the strong support that the Treasurer has given me in my support for the film industry, I have decided to name a studio at Glenside after him—I know there are often controversies when we make namings—to be known as the Foley Suite.

The Hon. K.O. Foley: Can I get my name on all the credits?

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The Foley Suite will be named in all the credits.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: The foley operator will be in all the credits.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The foley operator. We made the decision last week to allow SA producers to share in the SA Film Corporation's first dollar returns from films they make through our new Producer Equity Scheme, the first in the nation, which got a fantastic response from producers. We will transfer copyright to producers on all non-SA Film Corporation produced investments five years after a film's delivery date and invest around $4.2 million over four years in the South Australian Film Lab to create greater employment opportunities and sustainable career pathways for our state's newest crop of talented film practitioners.

I am very pleased to announce to the house that our Film Lab will be headed by acclaimed director, Phillip Noyce, who is renowned for titles such as Rabbit Proof Fence and The Quiet American. He will be joined by an impressive group of professionals such as Rolf de Heer (Ten Canoes and the soon-to-be—I hope—award-winning film, Dr Plonk.)

The Hon. K.O. Foley: Also Clear and Present Danger with Harrison Ford.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Yes, Clear and Present Danger with Harrison Ford was another Phillip Noyce film. Others include writer-director Greg McLean (Wolf Creek, Rogue), producer Julie Ryan (Ten Canoes, Broken Hill), UK producer Mark Herbert (Dead Man's Shoes, This Is England, Donkey Punch) and Nick Batzias (distributor of Madman Films).

I want to congratulate everyone involved in the Film Festival and all the announcements that have been made but, particularly, Katrina Sedgwick who is the artistic director. I am delighted to be able to announce to the house that Katrina Sedgwick and Cheryl Bart, the chairperson, will again lead the team for the 2011 Adelaide Film Festival, and I am confident that this year's success will be repeated.

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