CinefestOZ Film Festival launches in Western Australia’s stunning South West today, with a huge selection of events taking place in Busselton, Bunbury, Margaret River, and Augusta. Right from the get-go, the first day of the film festival features no less than four opening night events.
Whale Super Highway is being screened for the first time from 2:30-4:30pm at the Festival Hub’s Outdoor Dome Theatre. Excitingly, this will take place in Australia’s first mobile 180-degree dome cinema. The 45-minute documentary explores the humpback whale and blue whale populations off our west coast, and for its premiere, will feature pre-screening drinks with the film’s creators. After its premiere, there will be daily screenings on the hour from 10am-5pm each day of the festival. Tickets and further details can be found here.
Each town participating in CinefestOZ 2019 features an opening night screening in the evening, so no matter where you visit, there’ll be something exciting to see. At 5:30pm in Bunbury at the Grand Cinemas, there will be a screening of Brabham, a new documentary about the Formula One legend Sir Jack Brabham. This opening night screening will feature drinks, canapés, and a Q&A with filmmakers Akos Armont and Antony Waddington after the screening. Tickets can be purchased from this link.
In Busselton, at 5:45pm, there will be an opening night screening of Go!, a coming-of-age story filmed in and around Busselton. As a Film Prize finalist, it is sure to prove an unmissable film, and this special event includes a red carpet walk from some of the film’s key talent, a welcome drink on arrival, and access to an optional after-party at the Festival Hub, which offers great food, live music, and a festival vibe. Tickets and further details can be found here.
Augusta will have a screening of In My Blood It Runs at 6:00pm, at the Augusta Community Resource Centre. It is an observational documentary told from the perspective of a 10-year-old Aboriginal boy in Alice Springs, focusing on his struggles to balance his traditional upbringing with a state education. There will be drinks and snacks served prior to the screening, with a filmmaker Q&A following the screening. Tickets are available here.
Finally, Storm in a Teacup is being featured as the opening night film in Margaret River, showing at Margaret River HEART from 6:00pm. This documentary is an intimate portrait of well-known Margaret River artist Leon Pericles and his wife Moira, told by their daughter Nia, showing Leon’s juggling of his roles as an artist, husband, and father. Before the screening there will be a reception with welcome drinks and canapés, and then after the screening, a live auction of one of Leon’s works in support of Dementia Australia, and then a hosted Q&A session with Nia Pericles. Tickets and further details can be found at this link.
Additionally, Wednesday will feature an evening of short films at Busselton’s Weld Theatre. At 6:30pm, a series of both heartbreaking and heartwarming short films will play, with a cash bar available and a Filmmaker Q&A following the screenings. Tickets are available here.