Travelling

Showcase

MIFF GOES ON THE ROAD FOR THE TRAVELLING SHOWCASE 2018 WITH FESTIVAL FAVOURITES TO SCREEN ACROSS REGIONAL VICTORIA

MIFF Travelling Showcase, the International Film Festival’s tour of regional Victoria returns from late August to November, featuring eight of the most talked about films of the 67th festival.

Supported by the Victorian State Government, a varied series of weekend programs featuring Australian and international feature films and documentaries will take place in nine locations starting in Belgrave on 31 August, before moving on to Bairnsdale, Ballarat, Wangaratta, Bendigo, Geelong, Bright, Mansfield and Mildura.

From a dramatically striking tale of two wildly different men who formed a unique and unlikely bond, to an exploration into the life of a world lauded pianist whose talents were overlooked at home in Australia, this year’s program features MIFF Premiere Fund-supported films Acute Misfortune, The Eulogy, Undermined: Tales from the Kimberley, Undertow and The Coming Back Out Ball Movie alongside uproarious new Aussie comedy The Merger, American star-studded rom-com Juliet, Naked and audacious crime drama American Animals.

2018 TRAVELLING SHOWCASE PROGRAM:

Feature films

Acute Misfortune (MIFF Premiere Fund-supported) – winner of The Age Critics’ Award for best Australian feature film, (Snowtown) stars as infamous Archibald Prize-winning artist Adam Cullen in a lyrical adaptation of The Saturday Paper editor Erik Jensen’s acclaimed biography. Starring Toby Wallace (Romper Stomper), Max Cullen (Love My Way) and Genevieve Lemon (The Dressmaker), Top of the Lake actor Thomas M. Wright makes his directorial feature debut weaving a striking tale of the bright young wunderkind writer and the brilliant yet deeply troubled artist.

Undertow (MIFF Premiere Fund-supported) - MIFF Accelerator Lab alumna Miranda Nation makes her feature directorial debut in a psychological thriller of grief, abuse and obsession, set against the backdrop of local footy culture. Shot in Geelong and along Victoria’s rugged Surf Coast, starring Josh Helman (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men: Apocalypse), Olivia DeJonge (The Visit), Laura Gordon (Joe Cinque’s Consolation) and Rob Collins (Glitch), Bonnie Elliot’s evocative cinematography sets the tone for this starkly topical feature debut.

The Merger – Based on comedian Damian Callinan’s acclaimed stage show of the same name, this is a feel-good new Australian comedy about a former Aussie Rules star, Troy Carrington, who’s returned to the small country town he grew up in and never wants to think about footy again. But when approached to save the town’s beloved team, Troy realises he has just the thing – the town’s recently arrived refugees. Starring John Howard (Packed to the Rafters), Josh McConville (The Infinite Man, Cleverman), Fayzaal Bazzi (Down Under), Kate Mulvany (The Great Gatsby) and Callinan himself, The Merger is a film with big laughs, a big heart and lashings of sweet and sour chicken kiev.

Travelling

Showcase

Juliet, Naked - Rose Byrne, Chris O’Dowd and Ethan Hawke star in this charming screwball rom-com – a story about love, fandom and literally facing the music, as adapted from Nick Hornby’s bestselling novel. From its insightful take on pop culture obsession to its incisive look at not-quite-middle-age malaise, this quintessential Hornby-penned effort is brought to life by director Jesse Peretz (Our Idiot Brother, MIFF 2011) with winning performances from his three leads

American Animals – Director Bart Layton again blurs the line between fact and fiction, as he did with The Imposter (MIFF 2012), to tell the story of Spencer and Warren, who become convinced they may just pull off the most daring art theft in modern history when they spy a couple of ultra-rare first edition books in their university library. With a cast that includes Barry Keoghan (Killing of a Sacred Deer, MIFF 2017), Evan Peters (X Men: Days of Future Past) and Udo Kier (Melancholia, MIFF 2011), American Animals proves that fiction cannot hold a candle to reality when it comes to sheer audacity and jaw- dropping outrageousness.

Documentaries

The Eulogy (MIFF Premiere Fund-supported)- Inspired by former Prime Minister Paul Keating’s searing eulogy for Geoffrey Tozer, and directed by Janine Hosking (My Khmer Heart), this new work explores the remarkable and tragic story of Australia’s greatest-ever, and perhaps most overlooked, pianist and includes Keating re-staging his famous funeral oration as music educator and conductor Richard Gill AO embarks on a journey to restore Tozer’s legacy.

Undermined: Tales from the Kimberley (MIFF Premiere Fund-supported) – Mega-mining and pastoral developments in the world-famous Kimberley threaten not just the pristine environment but more than 200 Indigenous communities and their peoples’ sacred links to Country. Traditional Owners, including activist and musician Albert Wiggan and academic Dr Anne Poelina, ask will the Kimberley’s custodians, lands and cultures survive these pressures? Director Nicholas Wrathall (Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia) delivers an urgent film that tells a sadly universal story of the David-and- Goliath battles Indigenous peoples face and the human costs of doing business.

The Coming Back Out Ball Movie (MIFF Premiere Fund-supported) - Director Sue Thomson captures the stories of the glittering October 2017 Coming Back Out Ball, hosted by cabaret legend Robyn Archer with performances by Carlotta, Deborah Cheetham and Gerry Connolly, and those LGBTI+ elders it honoured in this life-affirming love letter to Australia’s original fighters for queer equality. Whilst exploring complex realities around ageing in the LGBTI+ community, this is a celebratory and life-affirming film that will leave audience laughing, crying – and ready to dance.

Tickets for the MIFF Travelling Showcase are onsale now - for details of all films screening at each location visit: miff.com.au/travelling.

Belgrave (Cameo Cinemas) – 31 August – 2 September Bairnsdale (Sun Cinema) – 7-9 September Ballarat (Regent Cinemas) – 14-16 September Wangaratta (Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre) – 21-22 September Bendigo (Star Cinema Eaglehawk) – 5-6 October Geelong (Geelong Performing Arts Centre and The Pivotonian) – 12-14 October Bright (Cloud 9 Cinema) – 19-21 October Mansfield (Mansfield Armchair Cinema) – 26-28 October Mildura (Mildura Arts Centre and Wallis Cinemas Mildura) – 9-11 November