The French Connection

French explorer, Nicholas Baudin, sailed into a magnificent north facing bay in the south-west corner of Western Australia in 1801. He named it Geographe Bay after his own ship, the Geographe and the bay’s westerly point, Naturaliste, after his escort ship. The town of Busselton now sits in the curve of Geographe Bay, still a pristine water playground but its hinterland produces the fine wines and foods that would make it a jewel even in French terms.

The Baudin Bi-centenary brought a reconnection between the two countries and Busselton was invited to explore a friendship with St Tropez in the south of France.

Each year St Tropez holds the Cinema of the Antipodes, a celebration of Australian and New Zealand Film. With the help of the President of this Festival, Bernard Bories, a Busselton community group of film lovers developed their own film festival in 2008. They called it CinéfestOZ.

CinéfestOZ now provides the audience award for the St Tropez Antipodean Festival and the relationship between the two festivals grows cooperatively in support of the film cultures of Australia and France.

The community of Busselton has embraced this unique festival that celebrates a fascinating historical link – imagine, we could have been French.