CINEMA BY THE RIVER RETURNS FOR A SPECTACULAR 2011 SEASON

CINEMA BY THE RIVER RETURNS FOR A SPECTACULAR 2011 SEASON
This immensely popular Alice Desert Festival outdoor screening event returns over two starry nights on the banks of the Todd River at Snow Kenna Park.

PLEASE NOTE: In the event of rain on the weekend CINEMA BY THE RIVER will be held in the Youth Hub Hall. 

Bring a picnic, blanket, chairs/swag/beanbag for this weekend’s Cinema By The River, sunset Saturday and Sunday on the banks of the Todd River, with a fantastic line-up of new releases and classic film.

Cinema By The River begins this Saturday with the awards ceremony and premiere screening of the winners of this year’s Lens Flair Central Australian Short Film Competition in three categories: Drama/Fiction, Non-Fiction and Youth.

Saturday night’s feature screening is the Australian classic Picnic at Hanging Rock (PG) directed by Peter Weir. The beautiful and haunting award-winning 1975 drama depicts the mysterious disappearance of schoolgirls in the Victorian bush at the turn of the 20^th century.

Sunday night is New Indigenous Cinema night, featuring work made by NT, WA and NSW Indigenous filmmakers Steven McGregor, Yumutjin Wunungmurra, Curtis Taylor and Ivan Sen.

Ivan Sen’s multi award-winning feature film Toomelah (MA+) is set in the remote post-mission community of Toomelah (Gamilaroi + Bigambal people) on the NSW/QLD border and features non-professional community actors.  Daniel, a small ten year-old boy dreams of being a gangster. Kicked out of school he befriends a local gang leader until a rival gangster arrives back from jail to reclaim his turf. Daniel is caught in the middle of a showdown, leaving him with a big choice about his uncertain future. Toomelah was featured in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ showcase of this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Actor Daniel Connors received a ‘special mention’ for his outstanding performance from the jury of the Cinema des Antipodes Festival in St Tropez, France. Cinema By The River is thrilled to be presenting this powerful film in its premiere central Australian screening.

Short film Mamu, by emerging Martu filmmaker Curtis Taylor, is a powerful cautionary tale of what can go wrong if cultural Law is not followed in the age of social media. Two young Martu women, Cassandra Nanudie and Majorie Thomas, are travelling from Pumnu community in the Gibson Desert of W.A. to present this premiere NT screening and to visit Alice Springs organisations and community media enterprises throughout the week.

Yiki Bunggal directed by Yolngu songman Yumutjin Wunungmurra and produced by the Mulka Media Centre in Yirrkala is a visually stunning weave of archival and new footage and traditional music that take you into the beating heart of an important ceremonial knife dance from North East Arnhem Land.
Tales from the Daly (Nauiyu Nambiyu) is a CAAMA Productions film by award-winning director Steven McGregor. This short documentary is set in the spectacular landscapes of the Daly River region in the north-west of the N.T. where the Sugar Glider travels across the sky mischievously moving the clouds around, bringing big rains. Beware the Wabuymem spirit who lives in the Banyan Tree and lies in wait for overly curious children!

Cinema By The River Coordinator Lisa Stefanoff says it was uncanny how spooky story short films started to fall into her hands once she selected Picnic at Hanging Rock as the opening night feature… ’Tis the season!… Bring your friends, make camp together!