CinefestOZ 2021 Wrap Up
Western Australian productions and screen practitioners shined in a dynamic festival that celebrated the picturesque South West.
Across five days in the final week of August, CinefestOZ saw audiences, filmmakers and special guests attend screenings, discussions, short film showcases and industry events spread across the South West hubs of Bunbury, Busselton and Augusta-Margaret River.
Justin Kurzel’s Nitram took out the $100,000 CinefestOZ Film Prize on Gala Night, beating finalists Here Out West, River and The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson. The Film Prize winner was decided by a jury of five esteemed members of the film industry including actress Isla Fisher, director Zak Hilditch, producer Judi Levine and filmmaker Julia Redwood, led by Jury Chair Nadia Tass. WA-raised Isla was also honoured with CinefestOZ’s Screen Legend Award, which recognises an Australian actor or filmmaker of international repute.
WA Writer/Director Gary Hamaguchi took out two $2,500 prizes at the second annual CinefestOZ Short Film Awards, winning CineWest Best WA Short Film for The Lost Crystals of Jessica’s Room, produced by Jodie Bell, and CinefestOZ Indigenous Best Short Film for Aboriginal Warrior alongside Writer/Producer Brooke Collard.
A number of Western Australian documentaries premiered at the festival, including Facing Monsters, Girl Like You, Under the Volcano and the immersive Star Dreaming, which screened inside the Prospero Dome Theatre.
Two Western Australian web series screened in their entirety on the big screen, with Kojonup-filmed web series Homespun premiering in Bunbury, and Iggy & Ace screening in Busselton ahead of its SBS On Demand premiere on 9 September.
CinefestOZ’s annual two-day industry program included a number of fascinating panels including ‘No Stories About Us, Without Us’, a discussion on diverse storytelling, casting and crewing and ‘Our Voices On Screen #2’ which discussed the importance of Indigenous key creatives taking the helm to ‘tell our stories, our way’ and the importance of authentic storytelling.
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