Byron Bay Film Festival

Last updated
Byron Bay International Film Festival (BBFF)
GenreAll
DatesMid Australian Spring
Location(s)Byron Bay, Australia
Years active2006–present
Website www.bbff.com.au

The Byron Bay Film Festival (BBFF) is a popular AACTA Awards accredited independent awards-based film event held in the late Australian summer at the Byron Community & Cultural Centre, in the coastal town of Byron Bay.

Contents

The festival was established in 2005 by the then Byron Community & Cultural Centre Venue Manager Greg Aitken; local Byron Bay Filmmakers David Warth, John Abegg, Vera Wasowski and current Co-Director Osvaldo Alfaro. In late 2008 the festival changed its name to the Byron Bay International Film Festival but still continues to go by the acronymized BBFF as it has done previously.

Award categories

Awards are given to the winners of the following categories:

Co_Lab_Create

Where Australia's XR Community Connects

Byron Bay Film Festival organises a program of films, a weekend of events, workshops and masterclasses specifically aimed at the growing Virtual Reality (VR)/ Augmented Reality (AR) sectors and the industries that have helped drive the creation of this medium – Venture Capital, Gaming, Film & VFX.

Festival presentations

BBFF06

The first festival ran in early 2006 and screened 55 Australian films from 18–25 January.

BBFF07

The 2007 Byron Bay Film Festival was the first to allow international entries and ran from 9–17 February, during which 100 films from 24 countries were screened.

BBFF08

The 2008 Byron Bay Film Festival also ran for nine days from 29 February to 8 March 2008 during which 152 films from 34 countries were screened. The Indian-Malaysian entry Laya Project won the Best Film award on the final night of the 2008 festival. It was directed by Harold Monfils.

BBFF09/10

The nine-day festival was not held during 2009. In Brisbane for Earth Day 5 June 2009 BBFF presented 2 Best of BBFF Sessions at Greenfest 09. The next festival ran from 5–13 March 2010.

BBFF2011

The festival ran from March 4 to 13 in 2011, expanding to 10 days and also screening in neighbouring Lismore.

BBFF2012

The 2012 Byron Bay International Film Festival ran from March 2 to 11 at five venues across Byron Bay, Lismore and Murwillumbah. The program included the inaugural Full Moon Cinema screening.

BBFF2013

The 7th Byron Bay International Film Festival was held from March 1 to 10 2013 and screened 222 films in 55 sessions from 42 countries. 13 films had their world premiere and 122 had an Australian premiere. South African film, Otelo Burning, directed by Sara Blecher, was the first in the festival's history to collect a hat trick of awards, including Best Film, Best Dramatic Feature and Best Surf Film. [1]

BBFF2014

The 8th Byron Bay International Film Festival was held between 28 February and 9 March 2014. It screened 222 films from 36 countries. 43 films had their world premiere and 102 had an Australian premiere. Opening Night film, When My Sorrow Died: The Legend of Armen Ra And The Theremin received a standing ovation and collected the Best Film and Best Documentary Awards. [2]

In May 2014, for the first time Byron Bay International Film Festival collaborated with Vivid Sydney, presenting the workshop "Strategies For A Successful Sea Change", in which it sought to demonstrate how creative talent can forge their career from the Northern Rivers of NSW. At the Vivid Sydney awards, the festival received one of only two special commendations from the NSW state government as a NSW Emerging Creative Talent. [3]

BBFF2015

The 9th Byron Bay International Film Festival was held between 6 and 15 March 2015. [4] Frackman picked up Best Film and Best Environmental Film at the 2015 Byron Bay International Film Festival. [5]

BBFF2016

In 2016 the festival switched their dates to the Australian spring - with the 10th Byron Bay International Film Festival held Oct 14th to 23rd, while the festival had been introducing Virtual Reality to attending filmmakers since 2013 BBFF2016 marked the first official introduction of Virtual Reality within the program. Two VR/AR/MR focused weekends top and tailed the festival - on the Opening Weekend BBFF presented Co_Lab_Create_v001 - a weekend think-tank aimed at VR/AR Creators whilst the closing weekend featured Ncube8 - which was an introductory weekend of workshops, panels and demonstrations aimed at filmmakers and the public.

BBFF2017

The 11th edition of the Byron Bay International Film Festival was held between 6 and 15 October 2017, with fifteen international premieres, and eighty Australian premieres.

BBFF2018

The 12th Byron Bay Film Festival was held in October, during this edition 175 films were selected.

2018 Awards by categories :

BBFF2019

BBFF 13th edition took place between the 18 and 27 October 2019.

BBFF 2020

The 14th BBFF was held from 23 October to 1 November 2020, as a Special Edition Festival adhering to covid restrictions. This special edition featured over 30 sessions, highlighting 52 films and included special red carpet premieres and a key talk with Jack Thompson, Wayne Blair and Pauline Clague.

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byron Bay Bluesfest</span> Annual Australian music festival

The Byron Bay Bluesfest, formerly the East Coast International Blues & Roots Music Festival, is an annual Australian music festival that has been held over the Easter long weekend in the Byron Bay, New South Wales, area since 1990. The festival features a large selection of blues and roots performers from Australia and around the world and is one of the world's leading contemporary music festivals.

The Adelaide Film Festival is a film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented biennially in March from 2003, since 2013 AFF has been held in October. Subject to funding, the festival has staged full or briefer events in alternating years; some form of event has taken place every year since 2015. From 2022 it takes place annually. It has a strong focus on local South Australian and Australian produced content, with the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund (AFFIF) established to fund investment in Australian films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheffield DocFest</span> Documentary festival in Sheffield, England

Sheffield DocFest is an international documentary festival and industry marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thessaloniki Documentary Festival</span>

The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival is an international documentary festival held every March in Thessaloniki, Greece. TDF, founded in 1999, features competition sections and ranks among the world's leading documentary festivals. Since 2018, TDF is one of the 28 festivals included in the American Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences Documentary Feature Qualifying Festival List. TDF is organized by the Thessaloniki Film Festival cultural institution, which further organizes the annual Thessaloniki International Film Festival, held every November. French producer Elise Jalladeu is TDF's general director; film critic Orestes Andreadakis serves as its director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BFI London Film Festival</span> Annual film festival held in London, England

The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. The festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 feature films and 150 short films from more than 70 countries are screened at the festival each year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anand Gandhi</span> Indian film director

Anand Gandhi is an Indian filmmaker, entrepreneur, media producer, innovator and systems researcher. He is also the founder/CEO of the Mumbai-based new media studio and systems think tank Memesys Culture Lab. His debut feature film Ship of Theseus (2013), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, won the National Film Award for Best Picture. Gandhi's second film as creative director, executive producer and screenwriter, Tumbbad opened the Critics' Week at the 75th Venice Film Festival, released to a wide critical acclaim in October 2018.

Gideon Obarzanek is an Australian choreographer, director, and performing arts curator, and founder of the dance company Chunky Move.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Perkins</span> Australian filmmaker

Rachel Perkins is an Indigenous Australian film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. She founded and was co-director of the independent film production company Blackfella Films from 1992 until 2022. Perkins and the company were responsible for producing First Australians (2008), an award-winning documentary series that remains the highest-selling educational title in Australia, and which Perkins regards as her most important work. She directed the films Radiance (1998), One Night the Moon (2001), Bran Nue Dae (2009), the courtroom drama telemovie Mabo (2012), and Jasper Jones (2017). The acclaimed television drama series Redfern Now was made by Blackfella Films, and Perkins directed two episodes as well as the feature-length conclusion to the series, Promise Me (2015).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Oblowitz</span> South African filmmaker (born 1952)

Michael Oblowitz is a South African filmmaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amiel Courtin-Wilson</span> Australian film director

Amiel Courtin-Wilson is an Australian filmmaker. He has directed over 20 short films and several feature films. His debut feature film, Hail, premiered internationally at Venice Film Festival in 2011. He is also a musician, music producer, and visual artist.

Shark Island Productions is a documentary film production company based in Sydney, Australia, creates extensive education, outreach and community engagement campaigns with its films. It is the production arm of Shark Island Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynette Wallworth</span> Australian artist/filmmaker

Lynette Wallworth is an Australian artist and filmmaker, known for her use of emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR), and interactive installations. She is known for her 2016 VR project Collisions, which tells of the "collision" between Aboriginal Australians and western culture in the form of British nuclear testing at Maralinga in the 1950s. She has won two Emmy Awards for her work: one for Collisions and one for Awavena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taylor Steele (filmmaker)</span> American film director and producer

Taylor Steele is a filmmaker. Steele has been involved in the surf film industry for over two decades. He has won awards as both director and producer. His production company, Poor Specimen, has launched the careers of some of surfing's most influential figures and has played a role in the success of bands such as Blink-182, Pennywise, and Jack Johnson, who were introduced in Steele's early movies.

<i>Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia</i> 2013 film

Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia is a 2013 documentary film about the life and career of author Gore Vidal. It premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2013.

The Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) is an international film festival which takes place annually in York, England, at the beginning of November. Founded in 2011, it is a celebration of independent film from around the world, and an outlet for supporting and championing filmmaking.

Cathy Henkel is a South African documentary filmmaker who lives and works in Australia. Her works have typically focused on subjects of environmental activism, and to a lesser extent, the performing arts.

<i>Frackman</i> 2015 Australian film

Frackman is a 2015 Australian documentary film about the former construction worker turned anti-fracking activist Dayne Pratzky as he responds to the expansion of the coal seam gas industry near Tara, Queensland. The film was produced by Richard Todd of Aquarius Productions, Simon Nasht of Smith & Nasht and with Trish Lake of Freshwater Pictures and was Directed by Richard Todd of Aquarius Productions. The film also features the president of Lock the Gate, Drew Hutton, conservative radio personality Alan Jones and many other residents of Queensland and New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Darling</span> Australian filmmaker

Ian David Darling is a documentary film director and producer.

Aaron Wilson is an Australian film director and screenwriter, known for the 2013 suspense war drama Canopy and the 2021 period drama Little Tornadoes.

Zach's Ceremony is an Australian coming of age documentary film. It looks at the transition to adulthood from an indigenous cultural perspective. It features Zach Doomadgee and his father Alec Doomadgee.

References

  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-26. Retrieved 2013-07-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Official Press Release - 2014 Award Winners" (PDF). Byron Bay Film Festival Official Website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-26. Retrieved 2014-10-26.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-26. Retrieved 2014-12-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Byron Bay Film Festival Official Website - About".
  5. "Frackman picks up Byron Film Fest's top award". NorthernStar.com.au. 20 Mar 2015.