Australian films selected for Clermont-Ferrand

Two Australian films have been selected for the 36th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France.

An Australian market presence and the launch of a new short film marketing guide will support the Australian filmmakers in attendance.

Perception, from writer/director Miranda Nation, and the documentary Ghost Train, from producer/directors James Fleming and Kelly Hucker, have been selected for the festival's prestigious International Competition.

Perception, which was financed through Screen Australia's Springboard initiative, follows Crystal, a single mother and stripper, as she grasps at life and confronts a challenging health diagnosis. The film was produced by Lyn Norfor and stars Maia Thomas, Corey Hannan, Amanda Ma and Nyah Shahab.

Ghost Train is a documentary about an elderly man whose wife's decline into dementia leaves him feeling alone, until he chances upon a cabaret-restaurant and becomes captivated by the lead actress.

Clermont-Ferrand is widely regarded as the world's leading international short film festival and marketplace. In 2013, the festival had a total of 7737 films submitted and recorded 148,000 admissions; the concurrent market was visited by 3,300 filmmakers and executives including buyers, distributors, press, festival selectors and talent scouts.

For the first time, Screen Australia will coordinate a marketplace presence with a stand and a special market screening of seven Australian short films: Aboriginal Heart, Butterflies, Emo (The Musical), The Gallant Captain, The Landing, The Wilding and What Remains.

The aim is to promote Australian shorts, explore and gain a greater understanding of current marketplace opportunities for short films, while also developing relationships with the associated international industry. A new short film marketing guide for filmmakers has been written by Sandy George for Screen Australia, and will go live before Christmas.

Screen Australia's Head of Marketing, Kathleen Drumm, said, We believe that Clermont-Ferrand offers a unique platform to showcase some of the best short-film work from around the world, and is an important meeting place for key buyers, sellers, agents and programmers. We recognise the valuable support and advice the festival provides to filmmakers and we are looking forward to our experience in February.

Our new short film marketing guide is designed to help filmmakers make good decisions about the life of their films from very early days. It is full of practical information and outlines how to negotiate the festival, sales and self-distribution landscape, she said.

The Short Film Market (4 8 February 2014) will take place alongside the film festival, with an exhibition hall, market screenings and industry meetings. The 36th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival runs from 31 Jan 8 Feb 2014: http://www.clermont-filmfest.com/

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

GHOST TRAIN

14:30 mins

Producers/Directors James Fleming, Kelly Hucker

Synopsis An elderly man, struggling to cope with his wife's dementia, becomes captivated by a young actress at Dracula's, the local cabaret-restaurant. A documentary about the many forms of love and finding life in unexpected places.

PERCEPTION

14:30 mins

Producer Lyn Norfor

Writer/Director Miranda Nation

Cast Maia Thomas, Corey Hannan, Amanda Ma, Nyah Shahab

Synopsis Crystal, single mother and stripper, is diagnosed with breast cancer. Faced with her own mortality, she is forced to confront how she really feels about herself and her relationships with those close to her.

MARKET SCREENING

ABORIGINAL HEART

12 mins

Producer/Writer Tim Duncan

Director Michelle Blanchard

Cast Adam Demos, Valerie Bugmy, Erica Dixon

Synopsis A young city doctor gets bamboozled by the gentle cunning and stunning art of a group of Aboriginal women in the outback.

BUTTERFLIES

13 mins

Producer/Writer Warwick Burton

Writer/Director Isabel Peppard

Cast Rachel Griffiths, Nicholas Hope, Honey Spence, Henry Nixon

Synopsis To a struggling artist, the prospect of a paying job seems inviting but the reality threatens to kill her imagination.

EMO (THE MUSICAL)

16 mins

Producer Lee Matthews

Writer/Director Neil Triffett

Cast Harry Borland, Charlotte Nicdao, Zak Marrinan, Robert Tripolino

Synopsis When Ethan, an Emo kid who hates almost everything, falls in love with Trinity, a good Christian girl with a passion for life and her Lord Jesus Christ, can they live happily ever after? Or will it all end in tears?

THE GALLANT CAPTAIN

8 mins

Producer/Director Katrina Mathers

Writer/Director Graeme Base

Cast Toby Pearce

Synopsis A boy and his cat journey into unknown waters with a bottle, a boat and a vivid imagination.

THE LANDING

18 mins

Producer Jade van der Lei

Writer/Director Josh Tanner

Cast Henry Nixon, David Roberts, Tom Usher, Daniel Kontrobarsky

Synopsis A man returns to the midwestern farm of his childhood on a desperate mission to unearth the horrifying truth of what landed there in the summer of 1960.

THE WILDING

15 mins

Producer Jannine Barnes

Writer/Director Grant Scicluna

Cast Reef Ireland, Frank Sweet, Luke Mullins, Shannon Glowacki

Synopsis When juvenile inmate Malcolm is offered a chance at parole, he is torn between his chance for freedom and protecting the one he loves.

WHAT REMAINS

14 mins

Producer Fran Wang-Ward

Writer/Director William Storr

Cast Den Kamenev, Nick Farnell, Olaf Savage

Synopsis A stranger enters the broken home of a father and son, inadvertently bringing them together.

LINK:	http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/news_and_events/2013/mr_131211_clerm...
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