CinefestOZ Film Festival 2023 Food Wine a Film

CinefestOZ

CinefestOZ is a five-day film festival held in the South West area of Western Australia every year. The festival’s IndigifestOZ segment is dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander filmmakers. Do you know? The A$100,000 CinefestOZ Film Reward is the country’s most valuable film prize. CinefestOZ is Australia’s counterpart to Cannes Film Festival and is regarded as Australia’s top destination film festival by filmmakers and film fans alike. 

In cinemas, vineyards, boutique brewers, tiny pubs, and galleries around the region, the festival offers immersive film experiences. Consider international premieres complete with red-carpet celebrations and afterparties, exclusive in-conversation lunches, and screenings of the CinefestOZ Film Prize finalists. IndigifestOZ, a showcase of Aboriginal filmmakers, the Cinesnaps Student Competition, the CinefestOZ Short Film Awards, and free community screenings and industry seminars round out the festival. There’s something for everyone here!

History

David Barton and Helen Shervington launched the CinefestOZ film festival in 2008 “as a cultural commemoration of the French bicentenary of Antipodean discovery in the South West corner of Western Australia.” The critically acclaimed Australian film Black Balloon opened the inaugural festival. Since 2015, the festival has included IndigifestOZ, a showcase for filmmakers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. 

Indigenous Australians, often known as Australian First Nations, are individuals who have ancestors from ethnic groups who resided in Australia before the arrival of the British. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia are among them. The words Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, or the person’s unique cultural group, are frequently used. However, First Nations of Australia, First Peoples of Australia, and First Australians are also becoming more popular.

The exact date of the first human presence on the continent and adjacent islands is a point of contention among scientists. Mungo Man LM3 and Mungo Lady are the oldest definitively human remains discovered in Australia, roughly 50,000 years ago. Recent archaeological evidence from the study of charcoal and artefacts indicating human use points to a date as early as 65,000 years ago. 

According to luminescence dating, Arnhem Land may have been inhabited as early as 60,000 years ago. Although additional research is needed, evidence of fires in South-West Victoria suggests “human existence in Australia 120,000 years ago.” According to genetic evidence, the human occupation began as early as 80,000 years ago. Other estimations have put the date between 100,000 and 125,000 years ago.

IndigifestOZ

At the 2015 Festival, IndigifestOZ featured its inaugural Cultural Day. The top Indigenous filmmakers from throughout the country have been invited to exhibit their works to the CinefestOZ audience, emphasising the best Indigenous feature films, documentaries, and short films. Busselton, the Margaret River wine area, Bunbury, Dunsborough, and Augusta are all hosting events. The festival screens Australian and French films and gives the $100,000AUD CinefestOZ Film Prize to feature films and documentaries that premiered in Western Australia. 

Get This: Top 10 Reasons to Visit The City of Festivals Brisbane in 2020

The CinefestOZ award is Australia’s one of the world’s most significant cash prizes for films. The 14th edition of the event took place from August 25 to August 29, 2021. The feature documentary film Under the Volcano, directed by Gracie Otto and produced by WA producer Cody Greenwood, had its Australian premiere at the festival. While Akoni, directed by Australian filmmaker Genna Chanelle Hayes and about a Nigerian refugee struggling to integrate into Australian society, had its world premiere. 

Fun Fact