Stronger than Fiction – Canberra celebrates the art of the documentary
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Scratch beneath the surface of any person’s life and you’ll find a story. Sometimes it’s a story of love; maybe one of despair; other times you’ll find joy. Almost always, ‘real life’ is more powerful than the stuff of fantasy.
And that’s what is at the heart of the Stronger than Fiction Documentary Film Festival, the first festival in the ACT dedicated to the art of the documentary, which runs from Thursday 31 July to Sunday 3 August. In it’s second year, the Festival is presenting some of the latest award-winning documentary films from around the globe and some closer to home.
One of the highlights of what is a packed program will be the world premiere of Message from Mungo, a new feature length documentary from Canberra filmmakers Andrew Pike and Ann McGrath.
World-renowned Australian documentary filmmaker Bob Connolly, best known for Mrs Carey’s Concert, will open the Festival at the gala opening night, which features French film La Cour de Babel (School of Babel) followed by a party at Hotel Hotel.
With a strong international line up of award-winning documentaries from France to Bangladesh, the festival will provoke thought, inspire discussion and embrace the richness and diversity of different cultures within our city.
Co-directors of the festival Simon Weaving and Deborah Kingsland, envisage a bold future for the Festival with a vision to transform the event into a national touring documentary film festival, the only one of its kind in Australia.
“We are living in a golden age of the documentary genre,” said Weaving. “Filmmaking is accessible to almost anyone with a story to tell and the passion to tell it. In the hands of the gifted these stories help shed new light on our world and those we share it with.”
“Stronger than Fiction is more than simply a display of films; audiences will be able to delve deeper into the minds of the story tellers,” said Kingsland. “With some fabulous guest speakers, we’ll be exploring the issues raised during Q&A sessions after each screening.”
Australia is specifically represented through a double bill of two outstanding films by Indigenous filmmakers: Buckskin is the award-winning first film of Dylan McDonald (the son of Samson and Delilah director Warwick Thornton), Big Name, No Blanket – about charismatic Warumpi band front man George Rrurrambu – is directed by Redfern Now writer, Steven McGregor, who will attend the festival and be interviewed by 666 ABC Canberra’s Alex Sloan after the screening.
The program also includes The Kill Team – the stunning story of the murder of Afghan civilians by US soldiers; The Crash Reel, Oscar-nominated Lucy Walker’s new film about snowboarder Kevin Pearce, who suffered a traumatic brain injury just before the winter Olympics; and the warm and delightful closing night film The Manor, about a strange Jewish family who run a strip club in a small country town.
the essentials
What: Stronger Than Fiction
When: Festival runs from Thursday 31 July to Sunday 3 August
Where: Palace Electric Cinema
Tickets: Available now at the Palace Electric box-office or online at www.palacecinemas.com.au
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