Tully's Tips: A Film Festival Story

As part of my Screen Culture course at AFTRS in 2010 I was required to conduct a creative project that in some way commented on an issue or contributed to a sector of the film and television industry. For this I chose to set out on a mission to establish a Korean Film Festival, partly due to my passion and knowledge of cinema from the Peninsula, but also because I couldn't believe a Korean Film Festival didn't currently exist. While the Japanese Film Festival had just completed its 13th Year, Korea was null and void and so I set out to change this fact.

After merging with a project team at the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, which consisted of Kim Young-gu (a staff member of KOFIC, the Korean Film Council) and Jungyeob Ji (an experienced assistant director and crew member of the Korean Film Industry), what resulted was the 1st KOFFIA Korean Film Festival in Australia. The event had its ups and downs, successes and failures, but most important of all, it will return in 2011. Other forms of Korean Film Festivals had occurred in Australia before, but none returned for successive years. A primary difference for KOFFIA was that this festival was not just for the Korean community in Australia, but for everybody, and this was at the heart of its success.

Jung, Kieran and Young-gu at KOFFIA

The Dark Age of Australian Cinema

(Note: An edited version of this post was previously submitted for my AFTRS Screen Culture course, Industry Appreciation article, January 2010)

It may seem ironic to title a reflection on a man I claim to be significant to the Australian industry with such a negative statement, but that has always been what is so unique about Antony I. Ginnane. From a Business background with an aim seemingly purely to make money, he is now the man whose job it is to lead our industry out of a Dark Age, and I believe he may be the man to do so. (I was inspired to publish this article I wrote after recently writing on the state of Korean Film in Australia over on the KOFFIA Blog).

The Dark Age was a period of perceived cultural decline or social collapse. To claim that the Australian industry is in such an era is not a bold statement in my mind, but a clear fact. While in a year  (this article was first created in 2010) that has been termed a ‘great year for Australian film’ the box office does not reflect this. Yes “Mao’s Last Dancer”, “Samson & Delilah” and “Charlie and Boots” may be the exceptions, but this is still an industry that does not provide a clear career path for young filmmakers. Plain and simple, it is not a sane decision to enter an industry that cannot sustain itself.