Antenna Documentary Festival

10-14 October 2012 www.antennafestival.org

OUR STAFF

STAFF David Rokach Festival & Artistic Director Richard Welch Program Manager Julia Scott-Stevenson Communications Manager Programming David Rokach, Julia Scott-Stevenson, Richard Welch Pre-Selection Committee Sascha Ettinger Epstein, John MacFarlane, Maya Newell Festival Development Nassim Arrage, Catherine Japunčić, Paul Simpson, Julia Scott-Stevenson, David Rokach, Richard Welch Advisory Board Sinai Abt, Ruth Cullen, Hussain Currimbhoy, Avi Feldman, Pat Fiske, Thalia Hoffman, Susan Mackinnon, Julia Overton, Tom Zubrycki Administration Jaye Early, Davina Norman

WELCOME

Welcome to the second year of the Antenna Documentary Festival! We were stunned and thrilled with the success of Antenna’s first outing in 2011, which confirmed to us that there is a real need for a documentary film festival in Australia. This year we are determined to share our passion for documentary with an even wider audience, and to that end the festival is growing. The 2012 event will see over 30 feature documentaries, master classes and industry sessions held across the city. Still a relative newcomer on the scene, we have been humbled by the sheer quantity of film submissions and believe that the standard of documentaries, both locally and internationally, continues to rise. The inspiration behind Antenna was to showcase great films that challenge, enlighten and entertain audiences, with a program that reflects what’s happening in documentary cinema and the events of the wider world. The past year has seen the Arab Spring, the global financial crisis and numerous environmental disasters and we believe that our program will encourage audiences to look at these and other events in a new light. While presenting global snapshots, the program also drills down to the micro level, featuring intimate films that examine ordinary and extraordinary lives and personal relationships that will resonate and astound in equal measure. Whilst we’ll be bringing films and guests from all around the world, we are keen to showcase Australian talent and provide a platform on which Australian filmmakers can flourish. As a local festival, we believe it is essential to celebrate local emerging and established talent and with this in mind, we are proud to feature 14 Australian films in the Australian and Short Documentary Competitions, helping to bring wider audiences to Australian content. This year Antenna will present three awards across our program. The feature awards include the SBS Award for Best International Documentary and the Award for Best Australian Documentary, with generous cash prizes of $3,000 and $2,000 respectively. Antenna will also present the ABC Award for Best Short Documentary, which comes with a cash prize of $1,000. We heartily thank our partners and sponsors, together with the many volunteers who have given their time and expertise. Without such support the festival would simply not be possible. We look forward to seeing you at the festival! The Antenna Team

TICKETS & INFORMATION

Festival Venues Dendy Newtown 261 King St, Newtown NSW (02) 9550 5699

Dendy Opera Quays 2 Circular Qy, Sydney NSW (02) 9247 3800

To buy tickets, go to www.antennafestival.org

Ticket Prices Festival Launch Opening Night + Party Sydney Premiere of The Ambassador by Mads Brügger $35/$25

Doc-Talk Adult $10 Concession $5

General Admission Adult $17 Concession $14.50 Senior $10

Walkley Foundation Sessions Adult $15 Concession $10

Multi Passes 3 films - $45 5 films - $70 10 films -$130

Group Tickets Available for groups of 10 or more people For more information email [email protected]

JUDGES

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION

STUDENT COMPETITION

David Wilson

Penny Smallacombe

Steve Warne

Director, True False Film Festival (US) David is the co-founder and director of the True/False Film Fest in the US. David is also an associate programmer for the Sundance Film Festival, and serves as consultant for a number of creative funds. David Wilson’s attendance is supported by the American Embassy.

Acquisitions at NITV Penny is a member of the Maramanindji people, from the Daly River Region in the NT. She worked as a producer/director with the Indigenous Programs Unit at the ABC and most recently as an Acquisitions Officer for NITV.

Documentary Video & Film Assessor/ Educator Steve has over 25 years experience in the making and assessment of film and TV documentaries. He is Documentary Development Manager at Film Victoria, and also judges film festivals and trains filmmakers across Australia and South East Asia.

Joseph Maxwell

Martha Ansara

Matt Ravier

Commissioning Editor, Documentaries SBS Joseph has developed, directed and produced high end, prime time documentaries for major broadcasters in the UK and the US. He joined SBS as Commissioning Editor, Documentaries in January 2012.

Filmmaker Martha was one of the first women in Australia to work as a cinematographer. She later became an award-winning documentary film director and producer, and has worked as a lecturer in film at UTS and AFTRS.

Director, The Festivalists Matt is the founder and director of The Festivalists, the non-profit company behind such events as the Sydney Film Festival Hub, the Possible Worlds Film Festival, Kino Sydney and Jurassic Lounge.

Dan Edwards

Aviva Ziegler

Matt Cooney

Writer, critic and journalist Dan is a freelance writer, critic and journalist. His articles have appeared in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, New Matilda, The Diplomat, RealTime and Senses of Cinema.

Filmmaker Aviva is one of Australia’s most experienced documentary filmmakers, and has won many prizes for her work. Aviva also produces documentaries for ABC Radio National and is a Councillor of the Art Gallery of NSW.

Filmmaker Matt has produced and directed a variety of short films and documentaries including ‘Ol Blue Eyes’, which picked up the Award for Best Student Documentary at the inaugural Antenna Festival in 2011.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

OPENING NIGHT

CLOSING CEREMONY

The Ambassador Denmark / 2011 / 94 Minutes

Call me Kuchu Sydney Premiere

Imagine this strange continuum: at one end, the funniest film about corruption and the illegal diamond trade in Africa. At the other, the most journalistically daring exercise in vainglorious self-indulgence. Situating The Ambassador on that spectrum is the viewer’s task, but Danish director Mads Brugger’s film is definitely in the realm of extremes. With surprising ease, Brugger buys himself a consular posting to the Central African Republic, and records his encounters with murderous thugs, shady opportunists and crooked diplomats on hidden camera. What transpires is shocking, not only because of his subjects’ matter-of-fact criminality, but also because Brugger pushes his alter ego to a Borat-like caricature, testing the limits of what those he meets with will believe.

USA / 2012 / 87 Minutes

Sydney Premiere

David Kato is Uganda’s first openly gay man and an activist who’s been working hard with gay, lesbian and transgendered citizens - called ‘kuchus’ - fighting a new bill threatening the death penalty for homosexuality. David insists: “If we keep on hiding, they will say we’re not here.” Pervaded by constant fear of attack, David’s life is also characterised by moments of happiness and celebration. In its quietly observational way and with access to those on both sides, Call Me Kuchu is an inspiring and moving film that documents events leading to a hard-won victory and a devastating loss for the GLBTIQ community. Selected Festivals & Awards: Best Documentary - Berlin Film Festival, Best Documentary - Hot Docs, Sheffield Doc/Fest

Selected Festivals & Awards: IDFA, Hot Docs, Rotterdam Film Festival

Director: Mads Brügger Producers: Peter Engel, Carsten Holst Print Source: Danish Film Institute

Wed, 10 October, 7:00pm Dendy Opera Sun, 14 October, 7:00pm Dendy Newtown

Directors: Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Katherine Fairfax Wright Producer: Malika Zouhali-Worrall Print Source: Cats & Docs

Sun, 14 October, 8:00pm Dendy Opera

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

5 Broken Cameras

Colombianos

Palestine/ Israel /France / 2011/ 90 Minutes

Sydney Premiere

Sweden / 2012 / 90 Minutes

Australian Premiere

Australian Premier

When good-natured Palestinian farmer Emad buys a handicam to film the birth of his fourth son, he also decides to film the Israeli bulldozers rolling into his West Bank Village, Bil’in. What follows is a six-year heartfelt explosive personal and political epic shot right from the hip, documenting the growth of Emad’s sons and the genesis of an international resistance movement. Emad’s wife begs him to cease his constant filming, yet it has become an inextricable part of who he is – and Emad’s five broken cameras are not the only casualties.

This achingly intimate struggle between two handsome twenty-something Colombian brothers, raised in Sweden by their fiercely independent single mother, plays out almost like a fictional drama. Ambitious, athletic Pablo, a medical student in Bogotá, convinces younger brother Fernando, an off-the-rails addict spiralling out of control in Stockholm, to come and live with him and turn his life around. Hillside jogs and guitar lessons are all part of the abstinence program, but there’s a chasm of misunderstanding that is difficult to bridge. The strength of filial love is palpable but self-destructive habits die hard, even when the salvation of a family is at stake.

Selected Festivals & Awards: Sundance - Directing Award for World Documentary, IDFA - Special Jury Award, Sheffield Doc Fest Audience Award

Selected Festivals & Awards: Hot Docs

Screens with The Secret Bar By Theodore Fatseas

Directors: Guy Davidi & Emad Burnat Producers: Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi, Serge Gordey Print Source: Cats & Docs

Thu, 11 October, 6:30pm Dendy Newtown Sat, 13 October, 7:00pm Dendy Opera

Director: Tora Mårtens Producer: Antonio Russo Merenda Print Source: Swedish Film Institute

Sat, 12 October, 4:00pm Dendy Newtown

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

The Flat Israel / Germany / 2011/ 97 Minutes

Girl Model Australian Premiere

USA / 2011 / 78 Minutes

Sydney Premiere

On a shelf, buried within the other keepsakes that clutter the Tel Aviv apartment of director Arnon Goldfinger’s recently deceased grandmother, is a newspaper clipping that contains an uneasy and shocking secret. Uncovered as Goldfinger and his family empty the flat, the clipping propels the filmmaker on a journey to discover the truth about his grandparents, who immigrated to the Holy Land from Nazi Germany in the 1930s. This truth, revealed in increasingly fascinating layers, is one that nobody else - family included - seems enthusiastic about dredging up. Goldfinger’s relentless pursuit uncovers a remarkable story about his family’s history, but also one about memory and wilful forgetting.   Selected Festivals & Awards: Tribeca International Film Festival - Best Editing Award, Jerusalem Film Festival - Award for Best Documentary Director

Selected from thousands of hopefuls, naïve thirteen-year-old Nadia is whisked away from sub-zero temperatures and poverty in Siberia to model in Japan, where the market thrives on ultra-thin, super-young girls. Thirty-something Ashley, the talent scout and jaded ex-model who handpicked Nadia, knows firsthand that photo shoots are not the only thing that awaits her in Asia. Disillusioned by the industry’s obsession with youth and beauty, Ashley is nonetheless somehow unable to tear herself away from it. This subtle observational exploration of human exploitation and global trafficking is terrifying in its cruelty and simplicity.

The screenings are supported by the Israeli Embassy & Goethe Institute Sydney

Screens with On Her Shoulders by Caro Macdonald, Kylie Plunkett and Poppy Shmith

Director: Arnon Goldfinger Producers: Arnon Goldfinger & Thomas Kufus, zero one film Print Source: Ruth Diskin Films

Directors: Ashley Sabin, David Redmon Producers: David Redmon, Ashley Sabin Print Source: Dogwoof Films

Thu, 11 October, 7:00pm Dendy Opera Sun, 14 October, 6:30pm Dendy Newtown

Selected Festivals & Awards: IDFA, SXSW, Full Frame, Toronto International Film Festival

Sat, 13 October, 6:00pm Dendy Newtown Sun, 14 October, 5:00pm Dendy Opera

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

Herman’s House

Planet of Snail Australian Premiere

Canada / 2012/ 81 Minutes

“What kind of house does a man who has lived in a six-foot-by-nine cell for over 30 years dream of?” This was the question Herman J. Wallace was asked by Jackie Sumell, a young art student he’d never met. In 1972, Herman was already serving a 25-year prison sentence when he was wrongfully convicted of murdering a prison guard and sentenced to solitary confinement. He’s been there ever since. Herman’s House is a compassionate and forceful film that follows this surprising and gripping story of an unlikely friendship between an artist and a prisoner, charting the odyssey that unfolds from that one simple question.

South Korea / 2011/ 87 Minutes

Sydney Premiere

Young-Chan is deaf-blind and uses finger-tapping to communicate. Soon-Ho has a debilitating spinal problem that has impaired her growth. This intensely moving study of how a South Korean couple live and love with disability fully immerses us in their lives, as everyday moments are transformed into delicate explorations filled with wonder. From changing a light bulb (itself an extraordinary act of teamwork and ingenuity), to depicting the sensation of rain, even writing plays about their world, Young-Chan and Soon-Ho astonish us and challenge our preconceptions. This heartwarming film lays bare the couple’s intensified inner world, and is a story of the power of the human spirit.

Selected Festivals & Awards: Hot Docs, Full Frame, True/False Selected Festivals & Awards: IDFA - Best Feature-Length Documentary, Sheffield Doc Fest, Doc-Aviv - Best International Film

Screens with Letter Tape by Rowena Crowe

Seung-Jun Yi is a guest of the festival. The screenings will be followed by Q&A.

Director: Angad Singh Bhalla Producers: Angad Singh Bhalla, Lisa Valencia-Svensson Print Source: Storyline Entertainment Inc.

Fri, 12 October, 7:00pm Dendy Newtown

Director: Seung-Jun Yi Producer: Min-Chul Kim, Gary Kam Print Source: Cat & Docs

Fri, 12 October, 7:00pm Dendy Newtown Sat, 13 October, 5:00pm Dendy Opera

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

Back To the Square Norway / Canada / 2012 / 83 Minutes

Tomorrow Australian Premiere

‘What has become of Egypt since the revolution?’ is the question posed by Petr Lom’s Back to the Square. Shot in the aftermath of the first uprising, when most of the media attention had waned, the answers are troubling. Five subjects, each with powerful stories, recount their days up to and after General Mubarak’s resignation. Each tells of harrowing yet commonplace abuse at the hands of the police and military. Back to the Square succeeds in offering a sobering corrective, reminding viewers of the military’s continued stranglehold on freedom and that the revolution was merely the beginning, not the end. Selected Festivals & Awards: IDFA, Hot Docs, Rotterdam Film Festival, Hong Kong Film Festival jury prize; Amnesty Award Planete Doc Warsaw; Norwegian Film Festival Special Jury Prize

Sydney Premiere

Russia / 2012 / 90 Minutes

Tomorrow is an unnerving yet highly captivating portrait of ‘Voina’ (War), a Russian anarchist art collective whose prankster stunts have won them worldwide admiration, myriad YouTube fans and support from the likes of Banksy. Vor and his girlfriend Koza lead the group on missions with their toddler, Kasper, strapped across their backs. Outraged by the corrupt and authoritarian state Russia has become under Vladimir Putin, the group plans to paint a white phallus on the Liteiny Bridge and upend a police car in St Petersburg. The rough at the edges, dogme-style adventure quickly escalates into an unforgettable and thought provoking drama that builds and delivers on all counts. Selected Festivals & Awards: Berlin International Film Festival

Petr Lom is a guest of the festival. The screenings will be followed by Q&A.

Director: Petr Lom Producer: Torstein Grude Print Source: Norwegian films

Sat, 13 October, 5pm Dendy Newtown Sun, 14 October, 3:00pm Dendy Opera

Director: Andrey Gryazev Producer: Andrey Gryazev Print Source: Rise and Shine

Fri, 12 October, 9:30pm Dendy Newtown

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

Women with Cows

The Young Man Was – Part 1 Australian Premiere

Sweden / 2011 / 93 Minutes

Australian Premiere

Australian Premier

Women with Cows is a twisted Grey Gardens set on a crumbling Swedish farm. Stubborn, 70-something year-old Britt Georgsson has spent a lifetime milking and is devoted to her cows. Her sister Inger couldn’t wait to escape the bovine torture - she married and left the farm but is now begrudgingly drawn back to help. Despite being literally doubled over by a badly healed back injury, Britt soldiers on, but the government steps in and it is Inger who must decide on her loyalties. Beautifully and respectfully shot, this intimate fly-on-the-wall documentary is a touching reminder of the importance of family, compromise and compassion.

This innovative documentary is a master class in suspense, built on the incredible real life recordings of a hostage negotiation. In 1977, flight JAL472 was hijacked by the Japanese Red Army and landed in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Filmmaker Naeem Mohaiemen was a boy at the time watching the events unfolds live on his television. Largely using the simple device of text on screen, Mohaiemen manages to convey a gripping and tense narrative. As the disembodied voices let us into the most classified of conversations an uneasy relationship develops between hijacker and military commander, bridging a gulf between them of culture, language and some crackly airwaves.

Selected Festivals & Awards: BFI London Film Festival, Hot Docs Selected Festivals & Awards: Hot Docs Screens with A Good Hunter by Maya Newell Screens with The Hidden Gem by Namratha Thomas

Director: Peter Gerdehag Producer: Lasse Rengfelt Print Source: SVT Sales

Sat, 14 October, 2:00pm Dendy Newtown

Director: Naeem Mohaiemen Producer: Naeem Mohaiemen Print Source: Naeem Mohaiemen

Sun, 14 October, 2:30pm Dendy Newtown

INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Tropicalia Brazil / 2012 / 87 Minutes

Chasing Ice Sydney Premiere

Bossa Nova with a popular bent, a dash of rock’n’roll and a political outlook, Tropicalism was the musical movement that encapsulated the eclectic culture of Brazil in the late sixties. Legendary tropicalistas Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Tom Zé and others look back as the audience is swept along through rare sights and sounds of this iconic cultural movement. The freedom of expression sought by the tropicalistas was hard fought in a repressive political climate, with audiences both for and vehemently against. Tropicalia shows how it was possible for a newborn sound to be both warmly embraced and cruelly persecuted, all in the space of less than a year.

USA / 2012 / 74 Minutes

Sydney Premiere

Twenty years ago, National Geographic photographer James Balog was a climate change sceptic, until he started photographing the retreat of the world’s glaciers. Together with filmmaker Jeff Orlowski, he treks to remote locations to set up the Extreme Ice Survey. The challenges are immense: installing custom-built time-lapse cameras across three continents, in some of the harshest conditions on earth. What they capture will blow you away; the stunning and terrifying images from Greenland to Iceland, Nepal to Alaska cannot be ignored. If ever there was a call to action, the visual proof of the extinction of these incredible yet vulnerable features of our physical environment is it. Selected Festivals & Awards: Sundance – Excellent In Cinematography Award, Hot Docs, Sheffield Doc/Fest

Director: Marcelo Machado Producer: Denise Gomes Print Source: Bossa Nova Films

Fri, 12 October, 7:00pm Dendy Newtown

Directors: Jeff Orlowski Producers: Jeff Orlowski, Paula DuPre’ Pesmen, Jerry Aronson Print Source: Madman

Sat, 13 October, 3:00pm Dendy Opera

INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Detropia USA / 2012 / 91 Minutes

Grandma Lo-Fi: The Basement Tapes of Sigrídur Níelsdóttir Australian Premiere

Detroit represents the recent experience of the US intensified and in microcosm – jobs are gone, houses are empty, a once grand city teeters on the edge. This haunting yet thoughtful portrait of a community in crisis profiles those who refuse to follow thousands of others and leave the crumbling city behind. They soldier on, struggling to find a way through the decay around them and refashion their city anew. Their fighting spirit is strengthened with a dash of creative embrace of change and possibility; for these residents, the writing is not yet on the wall.

Denmark, Iceland / 2011/ 62 Minutes

Australian Premiere

At the age of 70, Sigríður Níelsdóttir began to record and release music from her living room. Seven years, 600 songs and 59 albums later she has become a cult figure in the contemporary Icelandic music scene. Captured on Super 8 and 16mm film, Grandma Lo-Fi takes us on a ride into the ordinary madness and boundless creativity of this eccentric old lady. In Sigríður’s world, pigeons coo with the beat and cream whisks are transformed into flying helicopters. The film features animated music videos by Mugison, Múm, and Sin Fang of Seabear who pay tribute to their much-loved Grandma Lo-Fi and her irresistibly catchy yet unique pop tunes.

Selected Festivals & Awards: Sundance, Hot Docs, True/False Film Festival, Doc Aviv Selected Festivals & Awards: SXSW, Hot Docs, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Doc Aviv Screens with I Have a Dream: The Making of a Mural by Darrin Baker & Liz Paddison

Directors: Rachel Grady, Heidi Ewing Producers: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady, Craig Atkinson Print Source: Loki Films

Sat, 13 October, 7:00pm Dendy Newtown

Directors: Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir, Orri Jónsson, Kristin Björk Kristjánsdóttir Producers: Louise Højgaard Johansen, Sæmundur Nordfjörd Print Source: Killit Films

Sat, 13 October, 9:00pm Dendy Newtown

INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Italy: Love It or Leave It

Into The Abyss

Italy / Germany / 2012 / 75 Minutes

Sydney Premiere

Sipping caffe, riding a vespa, exploring ancient ruins: Italy conjures many a romantic vision. But faced with an increasingly lower standard of living, economic woes and political disharmony, Italian lovers Luca and Gustav must decide: stay in Italy, or test their fortunes elsewhere, like so many other young Italians. Looking for answers, they embark on a six-month road trip around the famous sites of this fallen giant in a vintage red Fiat 500. This heart-warming documentary poses some tough questions about the filmmakers’ beloved country, as they search for reasons to stay and get ever closer to their final decision: Italy, love it or leave it? Selected Festivals & Awards: Best Film & Audience Award - Milano Film Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Hot Docs, Leipzig Dok.Fest,

Germany / England / USA / 2011/ 105 Minutes

Sydney Premiere

Werner Herzog’s exploration of death row - and death itself - through its occupants, their executioners, their victims and their victims’ families is everything you would expect from the master filmmaker. Herzog pushes unflinchingly through that conversational discomfort zone where most would stop short of certain questions, and it’s that extra distance that allows him to tell a riveting story. With Herzog’s measured, distinct voice as our guide and 28-year-old murderer and death row inmate Michael Perry as a starting point, we’re taken beyond the standard stories and tropes to find intimacy in the inhumane, and to experience unforgettable portraits of darkness and light. Selected Festivals & Awards: Toronto International Film Festival, London International Film Festival - Best Documentary

The screening is supported by Istituto Italiano di Cultura The Screening is supported by Goethe Institute Sydney Screens with Feel Home by Leonie Blignaut

Directors: Gustav Hofer, Luca Ragazzi Producer: Gustav Hofer Print Source: Gloss Entertainment

Fri, 12 October, 8:00pm Dendy Opera Sat, 13 October, 9:45pm Dendy Newtown

Director: Werner Herzog Producer: Erik Nelson Print Source: Werner Herzog Film

Fri, 12 October, 6:00pm Dendy Opera Sun, 14 October, 5:00pm Dendy Newtown

SCHEDULE

WED 10TH OCT

THU 11TH OCT

5:30 PM

7:00 PM

6:30 PM

7:30 PM

5 Broken Cameras 6:30 pm

DENDY NEWTOWN 1

2012 Walkley Documentary Finalists

DENDY NEWTOWN 2

FRI 12TH OCT

8:30 PM

1:30 PM

5:00 PM

Hermans House 6:00 pm

My Thai Bride 7:30 pm

8:00 PM

NEWTOWN 9

Tropicalia 7:00 pm

1:30 pm Opening Night The Ambassador 7:00 pm

The Flat 7:00 pm

Into the Abyss 6:00 pm

STATE LIBRARY

AGNSW Doc Talk: Masterclass with David Wilson 6:00 pm

AFTRS

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL SCREENING

AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION

DOC TALK SESSION

AGNES VARDA TRIBUTE

WALKLEY DOCUMENTARY SCREENING

9:00 PM Mongolian Bling with Q&A 9:00 pm

Doc Talk: Beyond the Broadcast

DENDY

OPERA QUAYS

7:00 PM Planet of Snall with Q&A 7:00 pm

We Are Legion 8:30 pm

5:00 pm

DENDY

6:00 PM

Italy: Love It or Leave It 8:00 pm

Tomorrow 9:30 pm

SCHEDULE

SAT 13TH OCT

12:00 PM DENDY NEWTOWN 1

DENDY NEWTOWN 2

DENDY NEWTOWN 9

2:00 PM

4:00 PM

6:00 PM

8:00 PM

10:00 PM

Women with Cows 2:00 pm

Colombianos 4:00 pm

Girl Model 6:00 pm

Putin’s Kiss 8:00 pm

Italy: Love It or Leave It 9:45 pm

Work Hard Play Hard 1:00 pm

AFTRS

Back to the Square with Q&A 5:00 pm

Detropia 7:00 pm

Grandma Lo-Fi: 9:00 pm

12:00 PM

2:00 PM

Low & Clear 1:00 pm 2012 Walkley Documentary Finalists 12:00 pm

4:00 PM

Over my Dead Body 3:00 pm

6:00 PM

Into the Abyss 5:00 pm

The Young Man The Soldier & Was Don’t Miss Da Bus 2:30 pm 4:30 pm

8:00 PM

The Ambassador 7:00 pm The Flat 6:30 pm

Doc Talk: The Power Pitch 1:30 pm Chasing Ice 3:00 pm

OPERA QUAYS

AGNSW

Outing 3:00 pm

Doc Talk: Masterclass with Petr Lom 12:00pm

DENDY

STATE LIBRARY

SUN 14TH OCT

Planet of Snail with Q&A 5:00 pm

Back To the Square with Q&A 3:00 pm

5 Broken cameras 7:00 pm

2012 Walkley Documentary Finalists tbc 2:00 pm The Beaches of Agnes 12:30 pm

The Gleaners and I 3:00 pm

Cleo from 5 to 7 2:00 pm

Girl Model 5:00 pm

Closing Night Call Me Kuchu 8:00 pm

INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Low & Clear USA / 2012 / 70 Minutes

Outing Australian Premiere

To call Low and Clear a fishing movie is like saying Herzog’s Grizzly Man is a film about bears. JT and Xenie bonded over fly-fishing, yet their different philosophies on casting off reflect their wildly divergent approaches to life. As with so many friendships, distance and the day-to-day grind have faded the ties, but the two rally for one final trip together. The stunning mountains and riverbeds of British Columbia frame this portrait of a fragile and fracturing relationship. Will they rediscover their shared passion, or will the trip drive a final wedge between them? Selected Festivals & Awards: SXSW - Audience Award, Hot Docs, True/False Film Festival

Austria / 2012 / 75 Minutes

Australian Premiere

Sven is a goofy, floppy haired 26-year-old student. He is also a paedophile. The eternally unbreakable taboo is brought under the microscope in this confronting and controversial documentary as, incredibly, Sven ‘outs’ himself to the audience. Having realised at the age of fifteen that he was attracted to children, Sven is firm in maintaining that he will never act on his desires. Over four years of filming Sven attempts to remain steadfast, seeking professional help yet also testing his selfimposed boundaries. Outing raises uncomfortable questions about where the line is drawn in acting on such forbidden desires, while shedding light on this morally unacceptable yet clearly existent problem. Selected Festivals & Awards: Hot Docs

Directors: Kahlil Hudson, Tyler Hughen Producers: Kahlil Hudson, Tyler Hughen Print Source: Finback Films

Sun, 14 October, 1:00pm Dendy Newtown

Directors: Sebastian Meise, Thomas Reider Producers: Sabine Moser, Oliver Neumann Print Source: Austrian Film Commission

Sat, 13 October, 3:00pm Dendy Newtown

INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Over My Dead Body Canada / 2012 / 78 Minutes

Putin’s Kiss Australian Premiere

Dance film meets heart-rending personal journey tale in Over My Dead Body, the confronting story of dancer Dave St Pierre. Cystic fibrosis has forced Dave to retreat to choreography while he awaits a double lung transplant. Through choreography he can express the agonising emotions of an existence measured by a ticking clock, and he creates raw, complex and controversial works that delve deeply into mortality and the frailty and strength of the human body. Filmmaker and friend Brigitte Poupart accompanies Dave on the excruciating two-year wait for a transplant, capturing every false start and moment of uncertainty and hovering around the ever-present question – will he survive?

Denmark / 2012 / 85 Minutes

Australian Premiere

Masha Drokova is the pin-up girl for Russia’s Nashi movement, the flag-waving Putin-supporting youth league. Catapulting to fame when she received her first kiss on national television from Vladimir Putin, she earnestly represents thousands of youths as their public mouthpiece and seems assured of a rapid ascent through the ranks. Masha is stunned, though, when a friend who was critical of the regime is horrifically assaulted. The closer she examines what happened, the more her ethical and personal beliefs are shaken to the core. Masha now faces the biggest decision of her life.

Selected Festivals & Awards: Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Hot Docs

Selected Festivals & Awards: Sundance - World Cinema Cinematographer award, IDFA

Screens with Part One: Love by Tony Radevski

Screens with The Observer by Julian Shaw

Director: Brigitte Poupart Producer: Virginie Dubois, Stéphanie Morissette Print Source: Les Films Du 3 Mars

Sun, 14 October, 3:00pm Dendy Newtown

Director: Lise Birk Pedersen Producer: Helle Faber Print Source: Danish Film Institute

Sat, 13 October, 8:00pm Dendy Newtown

INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL SCREENINGS

We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists USA / 2012 / 93 Minutes

Work Hard Play Hard Sydney Premiere

You’ve heard of them as an underground gang of online activists and troublemakers, but Anonymous started life as a very different kind of collective. An online joke-sharing forum turned serious when a prank against Scientology brought major repercussions, and members the world over rallied to spawn a global civil disobedience movement. But with almost as many different manifestos as there are members, it’s impossible to nail down a single purpose. Interviews with members, observers and other major players explore just how this amorphous collective of ‘hacktivists’ are using their newfound power in the increasingly Internet-reliant global system.

Australian Premiere

Germany / 2011 / 90 Minutes

Work Hard Play Hard is a patient yet intriguingly layered road movie showcasing the workplace of tomorrow. From innovative office architecture that is supposed to cater to every emotion and task of the employee, to the digital registration of employees’ personality traits, the human has become the focus of modern management practice. The film explores the corporation’s eternal search for the holy grail of worker efficiency, turning the workers into resources in the process. What seems like a (social) science fiction film is also an intelligent and darkly satirical documentary that shows how the workingman has entered the matrix of a total working world. Selected Festivals & Awards: FIPRESCI Award - DOK Leipzig, Visions du Reel 2012

Selected Festivals & Awards: SXSW, Sheffield Doc/Fest , Hot Docs The screening is supported by Goethe Institute Sydney

Director: Brian Knappenberger Producer: Brian Knappenberger Print Source: Luminant Media

Thu, 11 October, 8:30pm Dendy Newtown

Director: Carmen Losmann Producer: Erik Winker. Print Source: Taskovski Films

Sat, 13 October, 1:00pm Dendy Newtown

AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION

Don’t Miss Da Bus Australia / 2012 / 35 Minutes

Mongolian Bling Australian Premiere

Sydney Premiere

Australia /2012/ 89 Minutes

Drugs, alcohol and fighting have riven Robinvale, a small border town along the Murray River in Victoria, causing endless pain to its small community. Daryl Singh knows the men’s stories better than most. In organising the ‘men’s shed’ - a place for men to gather, receive counselling and hold community events - he has felt their pain and is committed to restoring pride in their daily lives. In 2011 the men embark on a journey by bus to Melbourne, to participate in the ‘Thousand Warrior March’. For Daryl and the men it is a moment to show their true colours, confront their demons and repair the past.

Old meets new and east meets west in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia and the heart of the country’s burgeoning hip-hop scene. The ancient and unique local culture melds in fascinating tapestry with the tendrils creeping in from the outside world, and what emerges are the bouncing beats of this contemporary and youthful music style, with a very Mongolian flavour. An eclectic cast of characters populates this story of a vibrant and growing subculture; Gennie for instance is breaking stereotypes of her own as a female rapper and mother. The creative exploration and power-plays on show reflect the country’s own search for a modern identity.

Screens with The Soldier by Sascha Ettinger Epstein

Screens with Lady Tiger and Queen Armani by Fadia Abboud

Director: Victor Steffensen Producer: Jason De Santolo Print Source: Jason De Santolo

Sun, 14 October, 4:30pm Dendy Newtown

Director: Benj Binks Producers: Nubar Ghazarian, Liz Burke Print Source: Binks Inc.

Fri, 12 October, 9:00pm Dendy Newtown

AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION

My Thai Bride Australia / 2012 / 54 Minutes

The Soldier Sydney Premiere

Australia / 2012 / 35 Minutes

Australian Premiere

This powerful film explores the little-known story of the foreign marriage industry and the pitfalls facing would-be couples. Whilst on a business trip in Bangkok, Ted, a lonely middle-aged man from Wales, falls for a young petite Thai woman, Tip, who’s looking for a way out of poverty. The whirlwind romance leads Ted to sell up back home and move to Thailand to be with his new wife. But setting up a pig farm in rural Thailand is very different from enjoying the bright lights of Bangkok. When Ted’s money begins to run out, he starts to learn what his Thai wife already knew: without money you can lose everything.

Piously devoted to The Salvation Army since 1949, Ken currently serves as the receptionist at the Salvo’s youth refuge, Oasis, where his old-world philosophy of hard labour and abstinence clashes dramatically with the daily reality of the centre’s wayward teens. Transferred from suburbia to the Kings Cross corps as a chaste young man, he has circulated in Sydney’s wildest locale for most of his adult life; brushing uniformed shoulders with the drug addicts, prostitutes and transvestites that make the area notorious. These days Ken’s march is more of a shuffle, but his dedication to the cause is as fiery as ever.

Selected Festivals & Awards: Hot Docs 2012 Winner - Best Mid-Length Documentary

Screens with Don’t Miss Da Bus by Victor Steffensen

Screens with The Caravan by Shannon Alexander

Director: David Tucker Producer: David Tucker Print Source: Show Real Films

Thu, 11 October, 7:30pm Dendy Newtown

Directors: Sascha Ettinger Epstein, Ian Darling Producers: Ian Darling, Sascha Ettinger Epstein Print Source: Shark Island Productions

Sun, 14 October, 4:30pm Dendy Newtown

AUSTRALIAN SHORTS

Sponsored by ABC

Antenna is proud to collaborate with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to present the ABC Award for Best Australian Short Documentary. Ten short documentaries, made by Australian filmmakers, were selected to participate in the 2012 festival. The winner will receive a cash prize of $1000 as well as a one week internship at the ABC.

A Good Hunter Maya Newell Australia/2012/5:30 min Chased by a whitefella taking orders from Aboriginal elder MK, a big lizard runs for his life.

The Caravan Shannon Alexander Australia/2012/10:00 min A 30 year-old man, who lives in a caravan at his mother’s property in the country, is fed up with his circumstances and looks for a new home in the city.

Feel Home Leonie Blignaut Australia/2011/12:00 min Every Saturday in winter, a tiny South African town plays host to a pigeon race like no other.

The Hidden Gem Namratha Thomas Australia/2012/25 min (Sydney Film School) A 43-year-old Indigenous transgender has decided to go back home for the first time as Jemma. Will her family be accepting of the person she is?

I Have a Dream: The Making of a Mural Darrin Baker & Liz Paddison Australia/2012/25 min

On Her Shoulders

Caro Macdonald, Kylie Plunkett, Poppy Shmith, Australia /2011/11:55 min A short and colourful history of women’s rights in Australia.

The incredible story of the making of the Martin Luther King mural in Newtown, Sydney.

Part One: Love

Lady Tiger and Queen Armani

Six gay men with very different experiences of love lost and found.

Fadia Abboud Australia/2012/11:07 min Two Arab girls in love, a rapper and a dancer, look for fame and fortune.

Letter Tape Rowena Crowe Australia/2012/9:00 min Old tape recorded messages of love are resurrected to provide a glimpse back in time.

The Observer Julian Shaw Australia/2012/6:43 min A short film about the acclaimed Australian documentary filmmaker Bob Connolly.

Tony Radevski Australia/2012/11:08 min

AGNÈS VARDA TRIBUTE Agnès Varda is a Paris-based photographer and film director and a key figure in modern film history. She is much revered across the globe for her deconstruction of the documentary form and her boundary-pushing work. Antenna Documentary Festival, in collaboration with the Alliance Francaise, the French Embassy and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, presents a tribute to this legendary French filmmaker.

The Beaches of Agnès

The Gleaners and I

Cleo from 5 to 7

109 minutes / France / 2008

82 Minutes / France / 2000

90 Minutes / France / 1985

The Beaches of Agnès extends the personal journey

The Gleaners and I is Varda’s widely celebrated exploration of those who fossick at the fringes of our existence. Picking over the discarded items of the rest of the world, the gleaners invite reflection on modern life. This warm, funny, inventive documentary is a diary and essay on poverty, and an examination of thrift and the curious place of scavenging in French history and culture.

Varda’s hybrid verité/fiction masterpiece follows two hours in the life of Cleo, a successful pop singer, as she awaits the outcome of a test for cancer. Anxiously wandering the streets of Paris - its cafes, crowds, cinemas and street theatres - Cleo gains a new sense of perspective on her sheltered, artificial life and gradually ceases playing the role her admirers expect of her. Varda once described her film as ‘the portrait of a woman painted onto a documentary about Paris’.

documentary into new territory, as Varda traces and restages her own history. With humour and emotion, she shares her beginnings as a stage photographer, then as an early filmmaker of the French New Wave, her life with Jacques Demy, her feminism, her trips to Cuba, China and the US, her life as an independent producer and her family life. Each story fleshes out this portrait of an incredible woman.

Sat, 13 October, 12:30pm

Sat, 13 October, 3:00pm

Sun, 14 October, 2:00pm

Art Gallery of NSW

Art Gallery of NSW

Art Gallery of NSW

DOC TALK For Antenna’s second year, we’re excited to bring you Doc Talk -

a carefully curated program of documentary discussions, interviews and master classes with international documentary filmmakers and industry representatives.

Master Class with David Wilson – Getting your film into festivals (In collaboration with AFTRS) David Wilson is the co-founder and director of the True/False Film Fest in the US, and has been an associate programmer for the Sundance Film Festival since 2008. In his role as director of True/False, Wilson has been invited to speak on panels at Sundance and the IFP Markets in New York and Chicago. He also serves as a consultant for the Creative Capital Foundation, the LEF Moving Image Fund, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Wilson’s not-to-be-missed master class will cover what he looks for when programming at True/False and Sundance, as well as provide tips on international festival strategy for documentary films.

The Power Pitch –

Hussain Currimbhoy, Sheffield Doc/Fest Programmer at Antenna 2011

Master Class with Petr Lom – Human rights and filmmaking

(In collaboration with AIDC)

(In collaboration with AFTRS)

Every filmmaker passionate about their project wants control of their story, yet few are in the position to fund their own work. The rest of us need to find investors or donations and with this drive for funding, our independence is at stake. This extraordinary pitch master class goes a few steps further than your average pitch training. Moderated by Julia Overton, filmmakers Petr Lom, Sascha Ettinger-Epstein and Benj Binks will repitch already-made films to an expert industry panel. This session will show how to engage external investors whilst holding on to your moral, ethical and creative capital and reveal what concessions and compromises the filmmakers made and why.

Petr Lom specialises in documentary filmmaking with a particular focus on human rights. Directing, shooting and editing his own films, he works with a largely cinema verite/ observational style. In this masterclass, Petr will dispense wisdom gained throughout his diverse career. He will cover key ethical challenges in human rights filmmaking; from operating in closed societies to how to tell compelling and important stories without endangering the film’s participants. Petr will also give his perspective on observational filmmaking. The importance of stillness, long takes, and learning to be patient are just some of the approaches he will discuss that are key to capturing the poetry he believes is hidden behind the everyday. Petr’s film Back to the Square screens in the International Competition at Antenna.

Beyond the Broadcast Making documentaries without a broadcaster (In collaboration with OzDox)

Faced with increasingly prescribed and format-driven broadcaster slots, documentary filmmakers around the world are exploring alternative ways to fund their films. Some of these different paths include crowd-funding, philanthropy and self-funding to rough-cut. Antenna, together with the Australasian Documentary Forum ‘OzDox’, will host a panel of practitioners and experts who will discuss the possibilities and dissect the success stories.

Special Guest - Yi Seung Jun Korean director Yi Seung-Jun has been making documentary films since 1999. His work has appeared regularly on Korean television and he has won several awards, including the 20th Producer/Director Award of Korea, the Audience Award at the Seoul International Youth Festival and the NETPAC Award at the Jeonju International Film Festival for his film Children of God. Yi will be at Antenna to present his latest documentary, Planet of Snail, which won the 2011 IDFA Award for Best Documentary.

SPONSORS