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Editorial

I'm talking about film festivals, of course. Not the big ones like Melbourne or Sydney or Brisbane, or even the upcoming Breath of Fresh Air Film Festival in Tasmania. I'm thinking of the cultural-specific ones, and during August and September we have two very distinct and different film festivals touring our Great Southern Land - the 2011 AICE Israeli Film Festival and the Russian Resurrection Film Festival.

We're well-versed in festivals that celebrate French films, or Italian films, or Spanish films, or German films, or even queer films, but we don't see much from the world's largest country (Russia, if you had to be told), and one of the world's oldest-yet-newest countries, Israel. And it's a welcome change, let me tell you. So let's take a quick look at both of these festivals.

Russian Revolution Film Festival 2011
18 August - 21 September, 2011
Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Perth and Adelaide
www.russianresurrection.com

Now in its eighth year, this festival is presenting 15 new Russian films, ranging from the comedies, Lucky Trouble starring Milla Jovovich, and Six Degrees of Celebration, to the Golden Globe-nominated The Edge, and a couple of animated childrens' films, Kukaracha and a new adaptation of The Nutracker, along with a couple of crime thrillers Stoker, Pyrammmid and Who Am I? There's also a number of retrospectives, including the 1969 film Red Tent starring Peter Finch and Sean Connery.

There are also a couple of guests attending, including actress Ingrid Olerinskaya (Inadequate People) and director Konstantin Buslov (Loot). Both will be doing Q&A sessions with the films.

2011 AICE Israeli Film Festival
Sydney: 23 - 28 August 2011, Palace Verona
Melbourne: 30 August - 4 September 2011, Palace Cinema Como & Palace Brighton Bay
www.aice.com.au

Strangely enough, the Israeli Film Festival is also in its eighth year, and continues to demonstrate that Israeli films and filmmakers are becoming some of the finest in the world. With ten feature films, three documentaries and a short film programme, this year's festival covers a lot of ground, opening with The Matchmaker, set in the late 1960s about a teenage boy who works with a matchmaker and dealing with post-war love and loss, and the controversially titled Critics Week-selected film, The Slut.

The festival is also paying special tribute to director Dover Koshashvili by screening his debut film Late Marriage from 2001, as well as his latest feature, Infiltration, which will close the festival in both Sydney and Melbourne. The star of Infiltration, Oz Zehavi will also be a guest of the festival.

So if you're tired of grandstanding and over-inflated Hollywood movies, there are alternatives. Well, there always are, but these two festivals will give you much more food for thought and entertainment. Give them a go; you won't be disappointed…

Tim Hunter, Citysearch

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