The Sydney Film festival is upon us yet again, and this year there are loads of great films on show, we have over ten films to see that were worked on by ASE members including Anna Craney, Ken Sallows ASE, Frans Vandenburg ASE, Peter Crombie, Melanie Sandford ASE, Roland Gallois, Karryn De Cinque, Karen Johnson, Paul Williams,  Benjamin Broad, Lindi Harrison and Antoinette Ford. It is really exciting that so many of our members have work in this International Festival - some even have a couple of films showing!

For more information on the festival head to the Official Site.
The Sydney Film Festival runs from the 8th - 24th June 2007, and the ASE recommends supporting your fellow editors and seeing the following films:

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9th June. 1.45pm. Greater Union George Street
16th June. 2.15pm. State Theatre

Meditations On a Name
Editor - Peter Crombie

A hot day on the road brings tensions to the boil between Wattle (Alice Ansara) and her hippie father (George Shevtsov).

This short film is screening with the feature: Fresh Air

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10th June. 7.00pm. Metro Theatre

What the Future Sounds Like
Editor - Karryn De Cinque

The pioneering work of the Electronic Music Studios, a radical group of British
avant-garde electronic musicians, and their development of Britain's first synthesiser, the VCS3, which changed the sound of popular music and inspired musicians such as Brian Eno, Hawkwind and Pink Floyd.

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12th June. 7.00pm. Metro Theatre

Great Australian Albums — Born Sandy Devotional
Editor - Antoinette Ford
Conform Editor - Benjamin Broad

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
The Triffids were hailed by the British music media as 'one of the most influential and important bands to come from Australia'. Led by singer and songwriter David McComb, The Triffids formed in Perth in 1978 and soon achieved popularity in Europe: but more than 10 years of a nomadic existence took their toll on McComb, who died in 1999. This compelling and poignant documentary remembers the songs of David McComb and revisits the making of this classic album as told by former band members Rob McComb, Alsy MacDonald, Jill Birt and 'Evil' Graham Lee. It also features interviews with musicians such as Steve Kilbey and Paul Kelly, who reinforce why The Guardian claims Born Sandy Devotional to be 'one of the dozen greatest albums of all time'.

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12th June. 7.25pm. Greater Union George Street

In Our Name
Editor - Roland Gallois

WORLD PREMIERE

Christopher Tuckfield (three times winner at the Dendy Awards) combines dramatised re-enactments and interviews with leading commentators - including Kenneth Roth of Human Rights Watch; Juan E. Mèndez, UN Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide - and academics to investigate the use of torture. Compelling interviews with torture survivors, poetry by renowned playwright and novelist Ariel Dorfman and music by Elena Kats-Chernin add to the significant emotional impact of the film. "It bothers me that people begin to justify torture again, but it also bothers me that people try to redefine torture to avoid the prohibition."

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13th June. 6.35pm. State Theatre

West.
Editor - Roland Gallois

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

Daniel Krige's highly anticipated first feature, set in Sydney's western suburbs, is an edgy drama that follows the intense friendship between two cousins, Pete (Khan Chittenden) the dreamer and Gerry (Nathan Phillips) the pragmatist. Faced with limited choices and no-easy way out, their lives are fuelled by a cycle of booze and drugs and punctuated with intermittent violence, petty crime and careless sex. Their knife-edge existence threatens to implode when Pete cops a bashing on Gerry's behalf and they both fall for the same girl (Gillian Alexy) who, it seems, will get the better of both of them. Misplaced loyalty, street justice and the breakdown of family and social support are tackled head-on in this gutsy, uncompromising film, with a great cast that includes David Field and Anthony Hayes, and a rousing score by Dave McCormack and Andrew Lancaster.

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16th June. 4.25pm. Greater Union George Street 

4
Editor - Lindi Harrison

WORLD PREMIERE

Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and four outstanding violinists are the threads that weave this exploration of how nature shapes who we are. As spring reaches Tokyo, violinist Sayaka Shoji demonstrates to her young students the timeless lessons in the music and in their own culture. Niki Vasilakis and friends travel from all corners of Australia to the far north to share the music of summer with the Thursday Island Community. As the leaves turn, Cho-Liang (Jimmy) Lin and his neighbours reveal to us their New York City's vibrant, complex personality. Finally, in the icy reaches of Finnish Lapland, Pekka Kuusisto and his colleagues bring the warmth of music and human interaction to the small local community. A wonderfully rich documentary that sweeps you away with fascinating characters, fine music and glorious images.

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19th June. 7.00pm. Metro Theatre

Great Australian Albums - Diorama
Editor - Frans Vandenburg ASE
Conform Editor -  Benjamin Broad

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

Silverchair's Diorama is, according to Rolling Stone magazine, 'one of the boldest musical statements ever made by an Australian rock band'. For singer and songwriter Daniel Johns, Diorama was an artistic odyssey, written and recorded amidst the emotional and health issues that had plagued him since his teenage years when Silverchair first shot to international fame. He envisaged Diorama to be an album that sounded unlike any that had come before, working with dance music artist Paul Mac and incorporating a string section inspired by the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. Johns battled the advice of the record company, as well as a debilitating attack of arthritis, to achieve this incredible album. Daniel Johns talks candidly of this journey, aided by fellow band members Ben Gillies and Chris Joannau, and interviewees Paul Mac, Matt Lovell, John Watson and Melissa Chenery among others.

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21st June.  6.25pm. Greater Union George Street

Cross Life
Editor - Ken Sallows ASE

WORLD PREMIERE

Sydney's Kings Cross is the heart of this many-layered tale of city life. McCarthy's feature debut started out as a community arts training program to help unemployed creatives gain employment in the film industry. The team produced a short documentary, then decided, with strong support from the local community, to develop the material into a drama. The interweaving stories, based on interviews with Kings Cross characters, tell of heartbreak, lost dreams, and an overwhelming desire for love - ironic when the film is set in Sydney's most infamous red light district. The film's unique history adds both a sense of reality and poignancy; as you sit in your cinema seat, the characters you're watching are walking the streets only a few blocks away.

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22nd June. 8.45pm. Greater Union George Street

Words from the City
Editor - Paul Williams

Word up! From multi award-winning Adelaide dwellers Hilltop Hoods, through story-teller Fijian/Australian MC Trey from Sydney's outer west, to the snappy politics of inner-Melbourne's TZU, this evocative documentary explores the energetic and vibrant culture of Australian hip-hop. Focusing on the verbal and lyrical virtuosity of the performers - including Wire MC, Downsyde, Layla, Koolism, Bliss'n'Eso and Maya Jupiter - the filmmakers match the vernacular they document with a smart visual style. Travelling across the country over a long hot summer, capturing the MCs at festivals, gigs, recordings, and just hanging out, the film is infused with a great sense of place, and a distinctly Australian combination of casualness and urgency. Not just for fans of hip-hop (who will love it!), this film is for anyone with an interest in the vitality of language, politics and attitude.

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23rd June.  2.05pm. State Theatre

Katoomba
Editor - Karen Johnson

Annie and Mel have spent their lives in Katoomba and ever since school they have sworn to leave together. Then they meet Don, and everything changes.


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23rd June. 3.15pm. State Theatre

Growing Up and Going Home
Editor - Melanie Sandford ASE

Three teenagers, adopted by an extended Australian family as children, return to Ethiopia to reconnect with the family, friends and culture they left behind.

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23rd June. 3.15pm. State Theatre

The Passion of Gina Sinozich
Editor - Karryn De Cinque

76-year-old Gina Sinozich started painting six years ago when her husband was diagnosed with dementia. Her paintings demonstrate a unique sense of ordinary lives being shaped by historical forces.

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24th June. 4:15pm. Greater Union George Street.

Searching for Sandeep
Editor - Anna Craney

WORLD PREMIERE

From online through SMS to video diary, love in the digital age is a tricky, multi-tentacled beast. Despite living in one of the gay capitals of the world, 28-year-old Sydneysider Poppy Stockell is forced online in her search for love. When she meets 31-year-old Anglo-Indian Sandeep Virdi, she thinks she's found the one. Unfortunately, Sandeep lives at home in the British Midlands with her conservative Sikh parents and four younger sisters. And then there is the small obstacle that she's not out to any of them! Through raw, incredibly frank footage, Searching 4 Sandeep follows Poppy and Sandeep's tumultuous relationship across two years and three continents. As intimate and comfortable with technology as she is with her sexuality, Searching 4 Sandeep feels like Poppy's extended-mix video blog, a new kind of document for the future family archive.

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