| Location | Home of the Arts, Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 |
| Awards | Chauvel Award and others |
| Directors | Josh Martin (CEO) |
| Festival date | 19–30 April 2023 |
| Website | www |
The Gold Coast Film Festival (GCFF), formerly Gold Coast Film Fantastic, is an annual Australian film festival, as of 2022 [update] held at the Home of the Arts (HOTA) in Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland. Founded in 2002 as a fantasy film festival, GCFF now delivers a program of feature films, short films (SIPFEST), web series, film awards, and special events.
Modelled on the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, [1] the festival began with a focus on fantasy and Science fiction films. [2] The first festival took place in August 2002, under the direction of Casey Marshall Siemer, [3] with Oscar-winning visual effects specialist John Cox as patron. [4] The early festivals were known as Gold Coast Film Fantastic, and ran for four days in Robina. The inaugural event screened 21 films and included a Peter Jackson retrospective. [1] The third festival, which ran for a few days only, from 5 to 8 August 2004, took place at Robina. [5]
Sometime between late 2009 [6] and January 2011, the festival expanded its focus and changed its name to Gold Coast Film Festival. The 2011 event was staged at Birch Carroll and Coyle Cinemas, Southport. [7]
In 2013 the Gold Coast Film Festival supported Australia's first online video maker award ceremony, the Australian Webstream Awards, and is supported by ABC Gold Coast. [8] Past director Mitch Ziems helped open the ceremony that took place at the Metro Arts Theatre in Brisbane, Queensland on 16 November 2013. [9]
In 2014, under director Kylie Pascoe, [10] the festival broadened its focus in terms of genre, and also started showing more international films. [2] At that time the Gold Coast Film festival had a cultural partnership with Supanova Pop Culture Expo and QPOW! as a part of the Gold Coast's pop culture heritage. [11]
The festival became known for its support of gender equality in the Australian screen industry in 2016, and in 2018 was the venue for the launch of Women in Film and Television (WIFT) Australia. [2]
The 15th annual Gold Coast Film Festival ran from Wednesday 19 April – Sunday 30 April 2017 at venues across the Gold Coast. For the first time in its 15-year history, the Gold Coast Film Festival 2017 accepted submissions for feature films to screen at the event. [12] In this year, with the support of Screen Queensland, GCFF became one of seven festivals to become a feature film qualifier for AACTA Awards. [2]
Lucy Fisher was CEO and director of the festival from 2015 until the end of 2020. [13]
In 2021, Aimée Lindorff was director. [14] In this year, Gold Coast Film Festival delivered the first hybrid iteration of the Festival.
The festival delivers a program of diverse Australian and international feature films, [2] special events, seminars and workshops, special guests and art. [15] Its purpose is to promote the dynamic and creative culture community and to encourage the next generation of homegrown filmmakers. It celebrates and promotes all aspects of film and filmmaking, and offers a culturally diverse program of films, including local independent films and national and international special guests within the film industry. [8]
The event also hosts a series of free filmmaking workshops and seminars, [16] as well as the GCFF Future Filmmakers seminar held at Bond University for year 11 and 12 high school students who are interested in the film industry to learn from industry leaders. [17] [18]
The 2023 event runs from 19 to 30 April 2023. [19]
The Shorts in Paradise Festival, known as SIPFEST, is a free event showcasing short films from across Australia. Seven awards are on offer for these films. [20]
As of 2022 [update] , Josh Martin is CEO, with Sue-Anne Chapman chair of the board. Margot Robbie is patron of the festival, while the three ambassadors are Lincoln Lewis, Sue Maslin and Jenny Cooney. [21]
The festival is supported by Screen Queensland, Queensland Government, the tourism and events Queensland program, HOTA, and the City of Gold Coast. Other partners include Bond University, Warner Bros. Movie World, Village Roadshow Studios, and a number of other corporate sponsors. [22]
The Chauvel Award, formerly awarded at the Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF), was established in 1992 and named in honour of filmmaking couple Charles and Elsa Chauvel. [23] [24] Past recipients of the Chauvel Award include producer Anthony Buckley, directors Paul Cox and Rolf de Heer, actors Bryan Brown and Geoffrey Rush, cinematographer John Seale, documentary makers Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson, and film critic David Stratton. One of the last few awards at BIFF were awarded posthumously to Heath Ledger in 2008, and Alex Barnes & Dean Gibson in 2010 [25] before being revived by GCFF in 2016. Since then, the winners include: [26]
A number of other awards are given at the Gold Coast Film Festival. As of 2022 these are: [28]
The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately 66 kilometres (41 mi) south-southeast of the centre of the state capital, Brisbane. It is Queensland's second-largest city after Brisbane, as well as Australia's sixth-largest city and the most populous non-capital city, with a population over 600,000. The city's central business district is located roughly in the centre of the Gold Coast in the suburb of Southport. The urban area of the Gold Coast is concentrated along the coast, sprawling almost 60 kilometres, joining up with the Greater Brisbane metropolitan region to the north and to the state border with New South Wales to the south. Nicknames of the city include the ‘Glitter Strip’ and the ‘Goldy’. The demonym of a Gold Coast resident is Gold Coaster.
Surfers Paradise is a town and suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the suburb of Surfers Paradise had a population of 26,412 people.
Deborah Jane Mailman is an Australian television and film actress, and singer. Mailman is known for her characters: Kelly Lewis on the Australian drama series The Secret Life of Us, Cherie Butterfield in the Australian comedy-drama series Offspring, Lorraine in the Australian drama series Redfern Now and Aunt Linda in the Australian dystopian science fiction series Cleverman. Mailman portrayed the lead role of MP Alexandra "Alex" Irving on the Australian political drama series Total Control.
Robina is a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Robina had a population of 25,659 people.
Charles Edward Chauvel OBE was an Australian filmmaker, producer and screenwriter and nephew of Australian army General Sir Harry Chauvel. He is noted for writing and directing the films Forty Thousand Horsemen in 1940 and Jedda in 1955. His wife, Elsa Chauvel, was a frequent collaborator on his filmmaking projects.
Merrimac is a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Merrimac had a population of 7,212 people.
The Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) is an annual film festival held in Brisbane, Australia. Organised by the Screen Culture unit at Screen Queensland, the festival has taken place since 1992, with the program including features, documentaries, shorts, indies, experimental efforts, retrospectives, late night thrillers, animation, and children's films. The festival has attracted more than 400,000 visitors across its history. The festival was replaced by the Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival from 2014-2016 but has been revived in 2017 while the Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival has ceased operations. In 2018, BIFF was held at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), with screenings held across multiple venues.
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Home of the Arts (HOTA), opened as the Keith Hunt Community Entertainment and Arts Centre in 1986 and subsequently renamed The Arts Centre Gold Coast (TAC) and Gold Coast Arts Centre, is a cultural precinct situated in Surfers Paradise, City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. HOTA presents live music, theatre, dance, comedy, opera, children's shows, art, and cinema. It is surrounded by parklands and a lake. The HOTA precinct is the centrepiece of the City of Gold Coast Council’s Gold Coast Cultural Precinct masterplan.
The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, or BiFan, formerly known as Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Inaugurated in 1997, the festival focuses on South Korean and international horror, thriller, mystery and fantasy films, with particular attention to Asian cinema from East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is a non-competitive international film festival, with partial competition, awarding a number of awards.
Elsa Chauvel, was an Australian filmmaker and actress, and the wife and collaborator of film director Charles Chauvel. Elsa Chauvel was a pioneer in Australian film making, best known for her contributions to films such as Greenhide, In the Wake of the Bounty, and Jedda. Her legacy in Australian film was celebrated with the creation of the Chauvel Award, dedicated to the work of Elsa and Charles Chauvel, which honours Australian excellence in film.
Peter Hegedüs is a Hungarian/Australian writer, director and producer of both documentary and fiction films. He is also the grandson of the former Prime Minister of Hungary, András Hegedüs. Hegedüs' work explores critical social justice issues. His most recent film, Sorella's Story, was selected to screen at the Venice International Film Festival.
Martyn Park is an Australian writer, director, and Health & Training Coach.
The Imagine Film Festival, formerly Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival (AFFF), also known as Imagine Fantastic Film Festival or simply Imagine, is an annual film festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The festival was created in 1991 as the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, with a focus mainly on fantasy and horror films, before changing its name in 2009.
Thomas Richard Tate is a Laotian-born Australian businessman, property investor and politician who is the current mayor of the City of Gold Coast.
Susan Kathleen Milliken is an Australian film producer and author.
Sue Maslin is an Australian screen producer. She is best known for her feature films Road to Nhill (1997) Japanese Story (2003) and The Dressmaker (2015).
Monolith is a 2022 Australian science-fiction thriller film directed by Matt Vesely from a script written by Lucy Campbell, and produced by Bettina Hamilton. Described as high-concept science fiction, it stars Lily Sullivan, the only on-screen actor in the film, as a journalist uncovering a mystery.
Dena Curtis is an Australian film producer and director. She is known for writing and directing several short films, and directed the first series of ABC Television comedy series 8MMM Aboriginal Radio in 2015. She co-developed and co- produced the 2018 children's TV series Grace Beside Me, and co-produced the documentary series First Weapons (2023) and Firebite (2024). She is the owner of production company Inkey Media in Brisbane, Queensland.
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