North Bellarine Film Festival launches

LOCAL businesses and supporters of the North Bellarine Film Festival gathered at Portarlington’s Pier St cafe last week for the launch event.

Around 70 film enthusiasts were in attendance to celebrate the November 14 and November 15 festival, as the main event edges closer.

Committee vice-president Rob Walton said the atmosphere in the room was very lively.

“There’s certainly a bit of excitement in the air this year, it’s a stepping stone from last year.

“We’ve certainly got a lot of supporters that are backing us now, so it’s really looking very positive this year.”

Now in its ninth year, the festival was established to bring high-quality films to the Bellarine and has continued to attract a growing audience.

This year, filmmakers had the choice of entering into the Emerging Filmmaker Award, Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award, or the Short Film category.

Finalists in both of the award categories will also go in the running for the People’s Choice Award, decided by an audience ballot on the second night of the festival.

Mr Walton said there is a very exciting selection of films screening this year.

“Certainly, on the Friday night, we have a feature film, but we’re also including a film about our local swimmers at Indented Head, called the Salty Bitches, and that’s certainly attracting a lot of local attention.”

For more information and to purchase tickets to the North Bellarine Film Festival, head to northbellarinefilmfestival.org