Mary Stephen - A durassienne moment in Singapore

... a local version of a durassienne setting ... an old-fashioned fan turning overhead, a colonial villa shuttering out intense daylight and a sleepless night, a veranda that stretches 'round the whole floor of the structure so that perhaps some nameless lover could escape into the tropical greens in the back while the other equally nameless but legiti-mate came in the front door (durassienne did I say) ... writhing mysterious bee-flies in their death throes somewhere on the bathroom floor or the wide antique table ...

in the back garden, in the middle of sumptuous greens, a number in the series is missing, bombed by the attacking army planes, while the garden pushing up from the remains sometimes yields old bones belonging to some poor 40-something caucasian bugger (the analysis report comes back saying) ... further down, it was the occupier's cemetery long bombed by its own military on the eve of defeat, tactic to be sure that its nationals wouldn't suffer humiliation even in death at the hands of the previous occupiers their prize recaptured. All these stories in a night with young talents, young dignitaries, young bourgeoisie as young bourgeoisie anywhere rubbing the borrowed glamour of art like some vintage perfume on their wrist, many thoughts about art and money, insects and trees, satay and chilled wines, Duras and beauty, age and wisdom, daughters and mothers, sons and lovers, ghosts and shells, and pragmatic thoughts on a project proposal to finish writing, a film to finish restructuring, 3 borders to cross before getting home ... and so on and so on ...

Simenon On Screen - Curiosity about some unknown titles - a first short list

So....further to the first post in this 'series', the websites tumble out information. Here's a first short list of films previously unknown as anything seen let alone anything identified with Simenon. They come from all over....

A Life in the Balance (Director Harry Horner, with Ricardo Montalban, Anne Bancroft), USA, 1955

Annette et la Dame blonde (Director Jean Dreville, Script Henri Decoin), France, 1941. Made by the famous/notorious Continental Film Co established by the occupying Nazis in Paris.

Barrio (Directed by Ladislao Vajda) ?Spain/Portugal, 1947. Another version of Les Fiancailles de M. Hire

Le Bateau d'Emile (Directed by Denys de La Patelliere, with Annie Girardot, Lino Ventura) France, 1961

Brelan d'as (Directed by Henri Verneuil, with Michel Simon as Maigret) France, 1952

The Brisbane Line - Some early thoughts about the demise of BIFF and BAPFF

Long time cinephile and observer of exhibition patterns Bruce Hodsdon has just (Friday 7 April)  posted this note on my Facebook page in response to my link to a piece on the Film Alert blog advising that the Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival has been finished up and will be no more.  Bruce wrote: As I understand it The Brisbane international Film festival from its beginnings in the early nineties had a brief from the Goss Government to give special emphasis to Asian cinema something which Anne Demy-Geroe also had a personal commitment right through the nearly two decades she was artistic director. In my observation and with some awareness of the comparative attendance statistics festival audiences were not very responsive, a situation that seems to have continued with the BAPFF although it was awkwardly locked into the November dates far from an ideal time for a FF in Brisbane.

So there we are, a succinct summary of where we came from with BIFF and ended this week with BAPFF. BIFF and BAPFF had more than one problem but their biggest was that they simply didn’t attract people to their programs. Most especially they didn’t attract crowds to their specialty of films from Asia. There were few successes in that group.

So, to put the argument in context let me give you what I understand are some relevant if approximate statistics. I think Bruce keeps better numbers than these but try them for size. The annual film festival in Wellington New Zealand sells well over 70,000 tickets to a loyal and curious audience built up over decades of efficient management and quality marketing. The annual film festival in Vancouver Canada sells approximately 150,000 tickets to a loyal supporter base that has been nurtured over several decades. Brisbane has a population of just over two million, The Greater Vancouver area (Metropolitan Vancouver) had a population of about 2.5 million. Wellington has a population of just over 200,00.

The best attendance ever achieved by BIFF was approximately 25,000 admissions.

I have a lot of difficulty finding any significant demographic difference between the three cities that would explain why Wellington and Vancouver can run events that attract much greater attendance than Brisbane.

That shortfall in bums on seats was always the major problem with events, however named, that cost a lot to present and represented a massive per person ticket subsidy especially when compared with the other major city film festivals in Australia. No doubt over a long time this caused the funding bodies to look askance at just how much the event was costing and what the ‘return’ was.

Bean counters are not wildly interested in cultural values. Unfortunately those interested in pursuing cultural values have to be interested in bean counting.

So what are Brisbane-ites and Queenslanders left with. Variety reports a statement by the Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Screen Awards as follows: Michael Hawkins executive chairman of APSA, says that the current moves reflect confusion between the brands. “At first, (holding the two simultaneously) seemed such a great idea – APSA having an international face and BAPFF being the local engagement. But as time progressed, the two became confused and somewhat melded. APSA started as, and was intended to be, a stand-alone awards ceremony, quite unique in the region,” Hawkins told Variety.

“We have now taken the screenings of the APSA films out of a once-a-year event, and will make them more accessible by having curated programs crafted for other established events and festivals that are consistent with the geographic region we seek to represent. Added to food, fashion, music and other forms of entertainment, I am confident we will deliver a superior product for the enjoyment of all. A great example is a screening we did of a Japanese film in conjunction with the BrisAsia Festival – 2,500 people attended an outdoor screening.

“We will maintain the four day APSA program, during which we will curate a special program around visiting film makers, be they nominees or APSA jurors, and whether new features or documentaries, or retrospective streams. So far from being for the cultural elite, the APSA Screenings will be more accessible for all, and in conjunction with a great many varied and related activities.”

More to come. Check back

The Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival comes to an end

Folks, there's a lot to say about Brisbane and the effort it made to present its festivals all the way back to the start in 1992 with a superior content of films from Asia. Sadly it seems its coming to an end as per this announcement which just arrived in my inbox. More later when I get a chance to gather my breath and have a think about the decisions made at Brisbane Marketing and its parent the Brisbane City Council. Comments welcome. Put them on the Facebook posts that I'll link this announcement to or send them to me at filmalert101@gmail.com. If any are received I'll try and cut and paste them into a hopefully coherent commentary.

Dear Geoffrey, For the past three years, Brisbane Marketing, with the generous support of partners, has delivered BAPFF as a distinctive film festival showcasing remarkable Asia Pacific cinema. BAPFF has been a complementary event to the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), with many APSA-nominated and winning films featured as part of the festival program, alongside appearances from the filmmakers. After careful consideration and engagement with industry and partners, a decision has been taken to discontinue the standalone film festival format of BAPFF and focus on a more accessible, year-round APSA screening program. APSA screenings and events will be held at festivals similar to the recent BrisAsia Festival and in partnership with like-minded events throughout the year. A number of screenings and industry events are also being planned for the ceremony week of APSA, which will take place on 23 November at the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention Centre. This step is being undertaken to strengthen APSA as the Asia Pacific region's leading film competition, academy, ceremony and screening program that recognises and promotes the cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the vast region. We would like to thank you, our partners, patrons, sponsors, volunteers and the passionate BAPFF team for their support of the festival over the past three years and we look forward to seeing you at our APSA screenings and events in 2017 and beyond. We would like to thank you, our partners, patrons, sponsors, volunteers and the passionate BAPFF team for their support of the festival over the past three years and we look forward to seeing you at our APSA screenings and events in 2017 and beyond. Details of APSA screenings and events will be available on the APSA website. For the latest news, subscribe to the APSA newsletter and follow APSA on Twitter and Facebook. Regards, Brisbane Marketing

AFTRS Update. Is no news good news? Are your taxes working?

April 5, 2017

The leisurely pace of life in the Office of Senator Mitch Fifield, the Minister for Communications and the Arts, continues this week. Prime Minister Turnbull is out on the hustings selling tax reform so maybe Cabinet isn’t dealing with any appointments. At least not yet. 

In his ministerial capacity, Mitch hasn’t put out a press release on anything to do with his portfolio since March 28. Which must also make life easy for Mitch’s press and media staff.

Not that his media contact has found time to reply this blogger's earlier enquiry. Most likely she has deemed a reply unnecessary. Those seeking information about appointments to the position of Chair of AFTRS Council or of the CEO of the National Film & Sound Archive can be easily ignored. After all it's not something you'll read about in The Australian, The Fairfax press or The Guardian. In fact I dnt think you'll read about it anywhere.

So just to repeat myself, on March 29 I sent an email to Geraldine.Mitchell@communications.gov.au who is the person given as the contact on Mitch’s press releases. I reported these events thus on the blog: 

Just to put things on the record. It's now three weeks since the one year appointment of Juliane Schultz as Chair of the Australian Film Radio and Television School expired. ....

Ever intrepid, the blogger became investigative reporter yesterday and sent a message through to the office of Senator Mitch Fifield, the Minister for Communications and the Arts, asking why the Government has not made, or at least announced, an appointment to fill the vacancy for the Chair of the AFTRS Council. 

I pointed out  that the term of the previous Chair expired on March 9 and although her photo is still on the AFTRS website on the button marked ‘Council' she is no longer listed on the page detailing the Council membership.

So, the staffer was asked: "Are you able to offer on behalf of Senator Fifield any explanation as to why no appointment has been made, or at least announced? Is there any timeline for which an announcement may be expected?"

so....To quote the line from The Band's The Weight: "He just grinned and shook his head and 'No" was all he said."