Cine buffs in the city have reason to cheer. They can watch eight widely acclaimed Australian films, featuring leading Australian and international stars, at Mantri Square from May 12 to 14.
They can also interact with Red Dog: True Blue actor Bryan Brown and producer Nelson Woss at the Film Collaboration Workshop for film-makers on May 12. Red Dog: True Blue , which was released in Australia on December 26, 2016, has not been screened in Asia so far.
This is the first ever Australian film festival in Bengaluru, although the Australian consulate has already organised such festivals in Chennai and Hyderabad.
It was the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy (KCA) that took up this initiative, in association with the Australian Consulate-General, Chennai, INOX, SAE Institute, and Tourism Australia. The festival is being viewed as an attempt to build stronger ties between the Australian and south Indian film industries.
Aiming for collaboration
Announcing the festival, Australian Consul-General for South India Sean Kelly said the aim is to introduce Australian cinema to a broader audience and to promote collaboration between Australian and Kannada film industries.
Replying to a question on the state of the Australian film industry, Mr. Kelly said: “It is strong and is producing high quality domestic films, contributing to many international projects, particularly for Hollywood, and exporting a wealth of talent, including actors, directors, cinematographers and special effects artistes.”
He proudly said Australians have won 43 Oscars from 154 nominations so far, adding hat Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett are only a few of the army of Australian acting talent in Hollywood.
Mr. Kelly also said the Australian film industry was keen to collaborate with south Indian films. He was all praise for S.S. Rajamouli’s Baahubali-The Conclusion and said that though he could not understand the language and there were no subtitles when he watched the film, he was mesmerised by the visual effects.
S.V. Rajendra Singh Babu, chairman of KCA, said an attempt would be made to showcase the best of Kannada cinema in Australia in the days to come.
