Four debuts, two local films in Adelaide competition line-up

Four directorial debuts are among the Adelaide Film Festival’s (Oct 15-25) 10 competition titles: Visar Morina’s Father, a refugee story that opens in 1990s Kosovo and closes in Germany; Danish director Daniel Dencik’s historical drama Gold Coast, set in Africa; Lamb, set in director Yared Zaleke’s homeland of Ethiopia; and South Korean thriller Office from Hong Won-Chan.

The two Australian films in the mix are Sue Brooks’ Looking For Grace, starring Richard Roxburgh, Radha Mitchell and rising star Odessa Young, and a love story complicated by tribal tradition that was filmed in Vanuatu and sees documentary collaborators Bentley Dean and Martin Butler cross over into narrative drama.

Carol, Todd Haynes’ story of lady love set in Manhattan in the 1950s, also has a strong Australian connection given that the homegrown Cate Blanchett plays a wealthy socialite whose life becomes entangled with that of a shop assistant.

Rounding out the competition titles, all of which are Australian premieres are: 316, a story told through shoes by Iranian director Payman Haghani; Neon Bull from Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro, who cut his teeth on documentaries; and Peter Sollett’s Freeheld, starring Julianne Moore.

The Cannes Film Festival’s Christian Jeune heads the jury and his team comprises creative director and composer Tom Hajdu, filmmakers Annemarie Jacir and Sophie Hyde and film critic Maggie Lee.

Amanda Duthie’s biennial 10-day Adelaide Film Festival opens on October 15 with the world premiere of Scott Hicks’ documentary Highly Strung,

Films by other Australian directors include Jocelyn Moorhouse’s The Dressmaker, Scott Hicks’ documentary Highly Strung, Matt Saville’s A Month Of Sunday’s, Stephen Page’s Spear, Matthew Bate’s Sam Klemke’s time Machine, Meryl Tankard’s Michelle’s Story and Rosemary Myers’ Girl Asleep, Robert Gibson’s Death Of A Chook and Wayne Hope’s Now Add Honey.

This year’s art and the moving image commission is Hossein Valamanesh’s Char Soo, the Don Dunstan Award will be presented to writer Andrew Bovell (Lantana) and the festival will close with Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth.

The competition titles are:

• Carol, dir. Todd Haynes
• Freeheld, dir. Peter Sollett
• Looking for Grace, dir. Sue Brooks
• Gold Coast, dir. Daniel Dencik
• Lamb, dir. Yared Zaleke
• Neon Bull, dir. Gabriel Mascaro
• Office, dir. Hong Won-Chan
• 316, dir. Payman Haghani
• Father, dir. Visar Morina

The ten documentaries competing for the Flinders University International Documentary Award are:

• Brand: A Second Coming, dir. Ondi Timoner
• Heart of a Dog, dir. Laurie Anderson
• He Named Me Malala, dir. Davis Guggenheim
• I Am Belfast, dir. Mark Cousins
• Ice and the Sky, dir. Luc Jacquet
• The Pearl Button, dir. Patricio Guzman
• The Propaganda Game, dir. Alvaro Longoria
• Remembering The Man, dir. Nickolas Bird, Eleanor Sharpe
• Sherpa, dir. Jennifer Peedom
• Speed Sisters, dir. Amber Fares