While I don’t want this brief message to be overtaken by ‘thank yous’, a big thank you must go out to all the many individuals, organisations, partners and sponsors that made our 50^th awards a phenomenal celebration. I must also mention two inimitable entertainers – Julia Zemiro and Stephen Curry – your stellar performances thrilled audiences over two nights.
 
The 50^th anniversary event generated some robust debate. This, on the whole, is a good thing. But where does the AFI shake down on some of the questions of the day? 
 
Firstly, audiences are important, and here at the AFI we’ll keep doing what we can to recognize excellence, nurture screen culture and build audiences. Our charter is to do that, both for easily accessible popular entertainment, and for screen products that are by their nature intended for a specialised, niche or festival audience.

Our view is that important stories that are well-made will find audiences over time.  How large we expect that audience to be should be based on a range of things, as should our judgement of whether a film is commercially viable. The Jammed for example, found a relatively small audience. Yet, due to its low budget and smart marketing, it is a commercially viable, not to mention a critically excellent film. Bravo! What more should we expect?

The Black Balloon, this year’s winner of the L’Oréal Paris AFI Award for Best Film has taken out major prizes in festivals around the world and is this week in release in New York and California; the reception so far is very promising. The Black Balloon was the leading Australian film at the local box office and will no doubt be profitable in the very near future. Again, what more should we be asking for? Mary and Max, an Australian claymation feature film has just been selected to open the prestigious Sundance Film Festival – not a bad honour considering it was in competition with about 3,660 other feature films, a number that reveals the intensely competitive nature of the global industry today.

While it is true that our industry has challenges that we need to address, we must be careful in the discourse we create, for there is much to be proud of, and losing sight of what we are doing well may only make it harder for us to collectively achieve the outcomes we all want: a secure and excellent screen industry that we can all be proud of. The Chair of the Australian Film Critics’ Association, Peter Krausz has expressed just these points in a recent article, which you can read here. 

Finally, in case there is any confusion, well-made, entertaining “exploitation” films are a great and necessary part of our national cinematic canon, and we’re exceedingly proud to be sending ‘Ozploitation’ documentary Not Quite Hollywood – the winner of this year’s AFI Award for Best Documentary – to MIPDOC/MIPTV in Cannes next year. Just between you and me, I also thought Punishment was one of the more entertaining films entered this year. But don’t worry; I am not expecting everyone to agree with me…The fairly simple point that was made on the weekend – and perhaps misunderstood – was that we need an industry that produces a suitably diverse range of films that connect with diverse, broad and overlapping audiences. How we do this is part of an ongoing debate and we hope to continue it with you in the new year with an interactive website that will allow us to post your interesting (sufficiently courteous) threads. In the meantime, feel free to send your comments or observations our way (info@afi.org.au).

Looking into the new year, there’s much to be excited about. Apart from the previously mentioned claymation Mary and Max, there are a bunch of films from new and emerging filmmakers. We are also likely to be blessed by the likes of Bruce Beresford (Mao’s Last Dancer), Jane Campion (Bright Star), Robert Connolly (Balibo), Sarah Watt (My Year Without Sex), and Rachel Perkins (Bran Nue Dae). Look out for these and many others – a literal feast of interesting works are on the way – and hence we hope, not too much complaining!
 
All the best for the holiday season.
 
Damian Trewhella
CEO