The Bellarine celebrates local and domestic filmmakers this weekend with the ninth North Bellarine Film Festival (NBFF).
Showing at Parks Hall in Portarlington on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 November, the program includes both full-length and short films, with many of them either made in or with strong connections to the Geelong region.
Films include opening night feature The Wedding Banquet, a romantic comedy starring Lily Gladstone and Bowen Yang, short documentary The Salty Bitches, which follows a group of women who form a swimming group, and Leah Baulch’s locally made short film Lara.
On Saturday night the festival will announce its Emerging Filmmaker award winners, showcasing the shortlisted films and documentaries of Victorian filmmakers aged 25 years and younger.
NBFF chair Bill Lussier said seeing the work of some of Victoria’s finest young filmmakers early in their careers was one of the highlights of the festival.
“Our Emerging Filmmaker Awards on Saturday night are really for all those young filmmakers, to celebrate their work in a public space,” he said.
“It really benefits them; getting screen time is really tough for filmmakers.
“And what we’re finding is that the quality of the films we’re receiving (for the awards) is getting better and better every year.
“We’ve always got good films, but this year the number of really high quality films was terrific. People who have taken part in the past are telling their friends at film school and in their networks.”
Many of the films featured at the festival also have connections to the local area. One example is Mother of Chooks, a locally made documentary about an Ocean Grove woman known as the Chook Whisperer and her band of chickens.
“That’s a really terrific film about Elaine Janes and her chooks that really celebrates a local Bellarine character,” Mr Lussier said.
“Loads of people know her from down in Point Lonsdale, for several years she was a volunteer at the Potato Shed, she used to be a competitive weightlifter…it’s a fantastic story. She’s a real character and a fun lady to talk to.”
Visit trybooking.com/CXKXS for tickets and more information.
