Raining Film Festivals in Sydney - Part Two - VIVID, SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL, POLISH FILM FESTIVAL, GERMAN FILM FESTIVAL

Are there any alarm bells going off anywhere?  Am I the only person noticing? 

Let me lay out some thoughts about the Sydney Film Festival and the circumstances in which it is going to present its 2022 edition starting this coming week.

 

First some background. This year the SFF  will be going on simultaneously with a separate very large scale event that takes place around Sydney landmarks  event called Vivid. This was  not always the case. Vivid is a (very) Sydney event full of light and sound. It started, according to Wikipedia as a smart light festival in 2009 for energy efficiency curated by lighting designer Mary-Anne Kyriakou and headlined by Brian Eno in collaboration with lighting designer Bruce Ramus. It’s main attraction was some projected 'light painting' onto both sides of the Opera House.  Its dates did not overlap at all with the Sydney Film Festival. By 2019, when Vivid was last presented, it had become again according to Wikipedia, the biggest festival of lights, music and ideas in the world. It is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, the State Government's tourism and events agency. In 2019 a record 2.4 million people attended. In 2022 Vivid runs from 27 May to 18 June, thus overlapping virtually entirely with the Sydney Film Festival which runs from 8-19 June.

 

Is this a cause for concern? Are there two audiences out there each of them determinedly separate and in no way pillaging the other’s attendance? Maybe. Vivid Sydney offers, in the adman speak of its website a deep dive “into our soul”. Maybe. The SFF offers pretty much what it has always done – new movies, some old movies, lots of Australian content, especially in the documentaries and shorts, filmmakers presenting their films

 

But among Vivid’s offerings are at least two events that strike right at the heart of what the SFF does especially when it has a high profile opportunity. Several days before the SFF opens Vivid will be presenting an hour of talk with Baz Luhrmann followed by a screening of his new movie Elvis. 

 

Here’s how this was trumpeted by the NSW Government:

 

The NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, will deliver this intimate and unique audience with Baz, discussing the power of storytelling, creativity in chaos, his multi-faceted artistic partnerships and will enthrall audiences with behind-the-scenes tales from the filming of ELVIS.

Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade, Minister for Tourism and Sport and Minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the global megastar was the perfect addition to what is already an incredible line-up for the Vivid Sydney 2022 program.

“I am delighted that Baz Luhrmann, one of our nation’s greatest cultural luminaries, will be part of Vivid Sydney 2022,” Mr Ayres said.

“His dynamic artistic talents traverse film, television, opera, theatre, music, and recording. His insights into film, fashion and art worlds make him incredibly interesting and highly relevant for the Vivid Ideas program.

“An audience with Baz will be one of the hottest tickets in town. This is a one-off opportunity to get first-hand insight into the genius behind his art, his career and of course, his latest movie ELVIS.

“Culminating in the Sydney premiere of his highly-anticipated biopic about another cultural icon – the first time in the festival’s history we have included a film premiere.”

Tickets to hear Baz Luhrmann will cost you $57.70which runs out to about a dollar a minute. Tickets to the movie at the 2000 seat State Theatre have already sold out. If you want to see the movie, two weeks later it will have two more screenings at the Sydney Film Festival and then will be opening commercially. 

 

Then there is this event taking place right in the middle of the SFF and presented by AACTA and described thus: “Mavericks of Stage & Screen taking place at Vivid Sydney. An empowering discussion with a diverse group of creatives with incredible life stories who share their journeys to success. 

 

MAVERICKS OF STAGE & SCREEN – Friday June 10^th, 6:30 – 8:30pm at UTS, The Great Hall

An evening of stories about unconventional journeys to success, as told by some of the best and brightest in the stage & screen industries.” 

 

OK. So the SFF misses out on the premiere of Elvis, a show with Baz on stage and an event put on by AACTA that sounds like quite an interesting occasion right in the heart of the SFF's screenings.

 

But wait there’s more. Other distributors, exhibitors and programmers seem to be oblivious to the SFF at what used to be a time for it to be the exclusive film event in Sydney. From 22 May to 26 June on dates and times scattered over the five weeks there is a Polish Film Festival screening ten films. And then from 24 May to 19 June there is a 27 film German Film Festival with lots of special events and a German film-maker as a guest.

 

You have to wonder just why these two events thought it would be sensible to go into direct competition with the SFF but maybe it’s all part of cunning plans. 

 

Whatever, you have to worry that all of this activity pushes the Sydney Film Festival’s offering just that little bit further down the pecking order of things to do and see. 

For the earlier observations about film festivals in Sydney CLICK HERE