ARCHIVED MEDIA RELEASE
PA/29/06 15 December 2006
Australian films return to Chennai International Film Festival
A retrospective of seven multi award-winning films of Australian film maker, Rolf de Heer will feature at the Chennai International Film Festival from 17-25 December.
The films, brought to Chennai as part of AusArts India – Celebrating Australian art and culture 2006-2007, a two-year cultural promotion program in India supported by the Australian Government, will provide audiences with a snapshot of the diversity of Australian society and the excellence of film-making in the country.
"This is the second year of Australia’s participation at the Chennai International Film Festival as part of AusArts India," said the Australian High Commissioner to India, Mr John McCarthy. “The films reflect the excellence of Australian cinema and offers a closer look at the multi-layered nature of Australian society and culture. We hope that like last year, Australian films will strike a chord with the Indian audiences.”
He added that “the two-year AusArts India promotion is all about bringing to India the best of Australian film, literature and arts. Rolf de Heer’s works fit the bill perfectly, being renowned as among the most captivating films to come out of Australia.”
Australian films, and the work of Rolf de Heer, featured prominently at the International Film Festival of India in Goa and the Kolkata film festivals recently and they will also participate in the Mumbai Festival from 14-28 January 2007.
Rolf de Heer is one of Australia’s most respected film-makers, and his films consistently challenge conventions and push the boundaries of the film-maker’s art. The retrospective brought to Chennai features some of de Heer’s most significant films and includes the stunningly beautiful Ten Canoes, winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, and the first feature film to be shot entirely in Aboriginal language. This film, along with his 2002 production, The Tracker, showcase the dramatic natural beauty of the Australian outback and chronicle stories from Australia’s indigenous communities, providing a unique window into Australian culture, landscape and history.
The Rolf de Heer films at the Chennai International Film Festival are:
Ten Canoes
Bad Boy Bubby
Alexandra’s Project
The Tracker
The Man who read Love Stories
Dance Me to my Song
The Quiet Room
AusArts: film, arts, literature is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia International Cultural Council an initiative of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in partnership with Australian Film Commission and the Australia-India Council.
For further information, please contact, Mr Shekhar Nambiar, Senior Public Affairs Advisor, on 011 4139 9900.