Two documentaries, an Indigenous retrospective and mini-series added to Australian line-up at Berlinale

More Australian stories have been announced for the 2013 Berlinale, adding to an exciting and diverse Australian line-up.

The feature documentaries Make Hummus Not War and Red Obsession have been selected to screen in the Culinary Cinema program, which presents films dedicated to food, pleasure and the environment.

Red Obsession, directed by David Roach and Warwick Ross, who is also the producer, looks at the new relationship between the famous ch teaux from the Bordeaux vineyards, and the new and affluent wine collectors in China. The screening will be followed by a dinner inspired by Bordelais and China by VAU chef chef Kolja Kleeberg. The Berlinale screening will mark Red Obsession's world premiere.

Make Hummus Not War, directed by Trevor Graham and produced by Trevor with Ned Lander, documents a conflict waged passionately in the kitchens of the Middle East, fought over chickpeas.

Following its recent international premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, the mini-series Top of the Lake will also screen as part of the Berlinale Special program, which presents recent works by contemporary filmmakers. Top of the Lake is written by Jane Campion and Gerard Lee, directed by Jane Campion and Garth Davis, and produced by Philippa Campbell with executive producers Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Jane Campion.

Three Indigenous features and four Indigenous short films have been selected as part of the inaugural NATIVe A Journey into Indigenous Cinema at Berlinale 2013.

Features selected for this program are Ivan Sen's Beneath Clouds produced by Teresa-Jayne Hanlon; Warwick Thornton's Samson & Delilah produced by Kath Shelper, and Ten Canoes, written and directed by Rolf de Heer with the people of Ramingining, co-directed by Peter Djigirr and produced by Julie Ryan and Rolf de Heer. Three short films from writer/director Warwick Thornton Greenbush, Nana and Payback will also screen, along with writer/director Erica Glynn's short, Ngangkari.

The program will introduce audiences to the milestones of Indigenous filmmaking and includes features, documentaries and short films from New Zealand/Oceania, Canada and the United States as well as Australia. Discussions between experts, filmmakers and audiences before and after the films will give greater insight into the culturally diverse and politically, economically and artistically charged history of Indigenous cinema and its creators.

A number of Indigenous Australian filmmakers will travel to the festival to participate in the special program, including Erica Glynn, who is also Head of the Indigenous Department at Screen Australia.

The Berlin International Film Festival will take place 7 17 February 2013.

www.berlinale.de

CULINARY CINEMA

MAKE HUMMUS NOT WAR

77 mins

www.makehummusnotwar.com

DIRECTOR Trevor Graham

PRODUCERS Trevor Graham, Ned Lander

SYNOPSIS This is a laughing matter. But it's totally serious. It's a story with all the drama of a Middle East war, starring the usual suspects: Jews and Arabs, Israel and Lebanon. The Palestinians are cheering on the sidelines too. It's just as ferocious as the last Israeli war with Lebanon in 2006. But it has no tanks. No bullets. No bombs. No bloody casualties. Just chickpeas! This is a culinary war over chickpeas and the humble tasty dish made from them HUMMUS. It's a story about who owns food and the Middle East's heritage all of which is subterfuge for a bigger, bloodier picture, riddled with age-old hatreds, rivalry, land and identity.

RED OBSESSION

76 mins

DIRECTORS David Roach, Warwick Ross

PRODUCER Warwick Ross

SYNOPSIS With the GFC decimating its traditional Western markets, Bordeaux may have found its savior and biggest customer ever - China, but as Bordeaux struggles to accommodate Chinas voracious appetite for its rare and expensive wines, will the China market be the bubble that never bursts or the biggest threat yet to Bordeauxs almost mythical status in the world of fine wine?

BERLINALE SPECIAL

TOP OF THE LAKE

PRODUCTION COMPANY See-Saw Films Pty Ltd

PRODUCER Philippa Campbell

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Jane Campion

WRITERS Jane Campion, Gerard Lee

DIRECTORS Jane Campion, Garth Davis

CAST Elisabeth Moss, Peter Mullan, David Wenham, Holly Hunter

BROADCASTERS BBC Two (UK), UKTV (Australia/New Zealand) and Sundance Channel (US)

SALES AND DISTRIBUTION BBC Worldwide

SYNOPSIS A 12-year-old girl walks out chest deep into the freezing waters of an alpine lake. The girl is Tui Mitcham, daughter of the local drug lord, Matt Mitcham. She is discovered to be five months pregnant and won't say who the father is. Then she disappears.

NATIVe Features

BENEATH CLOUDS

90 mins

WRITER/ DIRECTOR Ivan Sen

PRODUCER Teresa-Jayne Hanlon

CAST Damian Pitt, Dannielle Hall

SYNOPSIS Lena is a fair-skinned teenage girl with a dark-skinned mother in an isolated town. She rejects the Indigenous family which surrounds her and longs for the love of her Irish father. Vaughn, a dark-skinned teenage boy lives in an isolated prison camp. He is angry at the white world that surrounds him and lashes out when provoked. Incarceration has made him old before his time and has separated him from the love of his family. These two hardened young souls escape from their worlds and hitchhike together towards Sydney in a struggle for purpose, identity and love.

SAMSON & DELILAH

101 mins

www.samsonanddelilah.com.au

WRITER/ DIRECTOR Warwick Thornton

PRODUCER Kath Shelper

CAST Rowan McNamara, Marissa Gibson, Mitjili Gibson, Scott Thornton

SYNOPSIS Samson and Delilah's world is small an isolated community in the Central Australian desert. When tragedy strikes they turn their backs on home and embark on a journey of survival. Lost, unwanted and alone they discover that life isn't always fair, but love never judges

LINK:	http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/news_and_events/2013/mr_130122_berli...
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