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Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF)
MIFF logo
Location	Melbourne, Australia
Founded	1951
Number of films	400 approx
Official website

The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an acclaimed annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1951,^[1] making it one of the oldest in the World.

MIFF is Australia's largest film festival with over 400 films shown from more than 50 different countries, as well as the largest showcase of new Australian cinema.^[1] It's also Australia's most attended film festival with over 182,000 admissions (2007 estimate). In 2007, it contributed more than AU$8 million to Melbourne's economy,^[1] making it a significant city event.

The festival is currently accredited by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,^[2] the Australian Film Institute,^[3] and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts;^[2] and is the only festival in Australia to be accredited by all three.

MIFF is a member of the four major Melbourne film festivals line up, which also include the Melbourne International Animation Festival (MIAF), Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF) and Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF).

The current festival director is Richard Moore, and its ambassadors include Eric Bana, Geoffrey Rush, Fred Schepisi and Morgan Spurlock.^[4]

The 58th festival took place between July 24th and August 9th, 2009. The 59th festival will take place between July 23rd and August 8th, 2010.

Festival

The Forum Theatre

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image

Official programs:

• Opening Night Film - in 2009, the opening night film was Balibo^[5]
• Homegrown - short and feature fiction and documentary films from Australia^[6]
• International Panorama - short and feature fiction and documentary films from around the World^[7]
• Neighbourhood Watch - short and feature fiction and documentary films from Asia^[8]
• Closing Night Film - in 2009, the closing night film was Bran Nue Dae^[9]

Special programs:

• Arts and Minds - a program of films celebrating the creative industries^[10]
• Melbourne Citymission Charity Screening - in 2009, the charity screening was Blessed^[11]
• NextGen - a program of films aimed at younger generations^[12]
• Night Shift - a program of cult films screened after midnight till the early morning^[13]
• Special Screenings - generally film premieres or screenings with a director's Q&A
• States of Dissent - a program of films dedicated to human rights^[14]

Reoccurring events:

• Opening Night Gala - the red carpet launch of the festival
• 37° South Market - film business forums and national and international financing markets^[15]
• Accelerator - workshops and screenings for filmmakers to develop their skills, craft and industry contacts^[16]
• Festival Lounge - a venue offering free events, music and performances for the duration of the festival^[17]
• Lights, Camera, TRACKtion - short film mini-competition celebrating Melbourne's trams^[18]
• Short Film Competition - see: #Awards

Venues

The festival is conducted across various venues located in the Melbourne city centre, which include the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the Forum Theatre, Melbourne's Town Hall, RMIT's Capitol Theatre, the Victorian Arts Centre and various cinema complexes.^[19]

Awards

Whilst MIFF remains mostly a non-competitive festival, since 1962 it has staged a highly regarded short film competition.^[20] It also presents audience popularity awards for feature film and documentary.^[20]

The first award ever presented was for "Best Short Film", which was changed to the "Grand Prix for Best Short Film" in 1964.^[20] From 1985, the Grand Prix has been officially presented by the City of Melbourne.^[20]

Awards for feature film

• Most Popular Feature Film
• Most Popular Documentary
• FIPRESCI Prize

Short film competition

All competition

• Grand Prix for Best Short Film (presented by the City of Melbourne)
• Best Short Screenplay (presented by the Australian Writer's Guild)
• Best Fiction Short Film
• Best Animated Short Film (presented by RMIT)
• Best Documentary Short Film (presented by RMIT)
• Best Experimental Short Film
• Best Student Short Film
• Human Rights Award

Australian only

• Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film (presented by Film Victoria)
• Emerging Australian Filmmaker Award (presented by Melbourne International Airport)
• Award for Creative Excellence in an Australian Short Film (presented by Cinema Nova)
• Best Australian Achievement in Cinematography (presented by Panavision)
• Best Australian Achievement in Editing (presented by Avid Technology)

Winners of Grand Prix

Rebiya Kadeer film controversy

During the 58th festival in 2009, the controversial film The 10 Conditions of Love, which documents the life of exiled Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer, was screened in spite of attempts by the Government of China (which labels her a terrorist) to have the film withdrawn from the festival. The Dalai Lama sent this message of support:

Australian Federal Labor Member of Parliament, Michael Danby, says he discussed Ms Kadeer with [the Dalai Lama] recently: "He asked me to convey to you, in Melbourne, that she is another one of the national leaders who is a paradigm of non-violence," he said. "He wanted to make it very clear to people that the claims of this woman being a violent person or instigating violence, is from his point of view, and with all of his authority, wrong."^[21]

Chinese filmmakers pulled their films out of the festival two days before it opened on July 24.^[22] MIFF director Richard Moore refused to drop the film from the festival program,^[23] despite the festival website and its online ticketing system being hacked from an IP address of Chinese origin.^[24] The festival website was hacked soon after the launch of its 2009 program, with festival information replaced with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans.^[25] Victoria Police was placed on alert during the screening of the film, and pro-Uighur demonstrators gathered outside the Melbourne Town Hall.^[26]

The Government of China attempted to have the film withdrawn from the festival, going to the extent of contacting the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle.^[26] Doyle, however, refused to intervene. Australia's Ambassador to China, Geoff Raby, was summoned by China's Deputy Foreign Minister, Zhang Zhijun, to express displeasure about Kadeer's attendance at MIFF.^[27]

MUFF v MIFF

In 2000, MIFF's rejection of a feature film written and directed by Richard Wolstencroft led him to form the Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF). In subsequent years, MUFF has attempted to attract controversy by criticising the content of MIFF as well its director Richard Moore. MUFF claims to champion "authentic independent, genre, and alternative Australian films", but is primarily concerned with presenting low budget commercial exploitation films.^{[citation needed]}

References

External links

• Official website of the Melbourne International Film Festival
• Melbourne Citymission | Homeless Shelter - Chilren's Services - Disability Support - Education Support - Employment Services

See also

Major film festivals in Melbourne

• Melbourne International Animation Festival, Australia's largest animation festival
• Melbourne Queer Film Festival, one of the oldest queer film festivals in the World
• Melbourne Underground Film Festival

Other film festivals in Melbourne

• Human Rights Arts and Film Festival