MIFF and Always Live bring music to Geelong

In an Australian first, Mushroom Pictures, the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) and Always Live will bring the magic of music and film to Geelong and two other major Victorian regional centres next month.

Launching in late November, the LongPlay Music Festival will showcase of the best music documentaries from across the globe at Geelong’s Pivotonian Cinema, as well as at the Regent in Ballarat and the Sun in Bairnsdale.

The four-day festival is a curated selection of world-class music feature films, bringing the music experience to screens to energise regional Victoria through the unique storytelling of music and cinema.

Headlining the exciting line-up of music documentaries is The Angels: Kickin’ Down The Door – the new feature documentary about the legendary Australian rock band.

LongPlay will also feature the Sinead O’Connor biopic Nothing Compares; the 4K restoration of Martin Scorsese’s classic The Last Waltz; and We Are The Thousand, a story of how Foo Fighters fans formed the world’s biggest band in Italy.

We Are The Thousand will be of particular interest to Geelong music and film fans, as the Pivotonian Cinema is across the street from GMHBA Stadium, the venue for the Foo Fighters’ sold-out concert (also part of Always Live) in March.

The festival has also announced that Angels brothers Rick and John Brewster will perform an acoustic set of some of their biggest hits on November 21 at the Ballarat Regent Cinema immediately after the screening and take questions from fans in the audience.

This event is part of Always Live, a statewide celebration of contemporary live music supported by the Victorian government through Visit Victoria.

Mushroom Pictures have been working closely with Always Live to ensure regional centres were top of mind when designing and rolling out cultural and entertainment programmes, and the LongPlay Music Film Festival marks the first of what will be many years of expanded programmes that will stretch across Victoria.

“Mushroom Pictures is excited to partner with MIFF to bring audiences together to experience world-class music documentaries in some of our best regional cinemas,” Mushroom Studios chief operating officer Bethany Jones said.

MIFF artistic director Al Cossar said Mushroom Pictures and MIFF combining to curate a music film festival program was a perfect match.

“We’re delighted to be a part of this very special event beyond our annual MIFF program and to connect these fascinating films with regional Victorian audiences.”