Get MIFFed at Star Cinema

Cinematic excess: MIFF artistic director Al Cossar said this year's program is multi-faceted. Photo: SUPPLIED

EAGLEHAWK’s Star Cinema will host two weekends of fabulous films as part of the 2024 Melbourne International Film Festival Regional Showcase.

One guaranteed highlight is sure to be Oscar-winning stop-motion filmmaker Adam Elliot’s new feature, Memoir of a Snail, which sees legendary Australian actors Magda Szubanski, Eric Bana and Jacki Weaver lending their voices to the production.

Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail was recently named Best Feature at this year’s Annecy International. Photo: SUPPLIED.

Black-and-white contemporary movie Flathead will also be presented at the Star, with a cast playing themselves to tell the story of an elderly man returning home to Bundaberg on a spiritual quest, while The Magic Beach is a reimagining of Alison Lester’s popular illustrated children’s book via a mix of live action with animated stories from ten Australian animators.

Demonstrating the sheer diversity of the regional lineup, documentary Queens of Concrete will also be on show, which follows three young skateboarders, Hayley (14), Ava (13) and Charlotte (9) as they strive to make the Australian 2020 Summer Olympics team.

Go-getting girls: Queens of Concrete follows three young skateboarders as they strive to make the Austrailian 2020 Summer Olympics Team. Photo: SUPPLIED

MIFF’s artistic director Al Cossar said the program this year is “a multi-faceted festival of cinematic excess, designed to delight, and sure to bring out the best in your imaginations.”

“This year’s MIFF program features incredible Australian filmmaking, world cinema, drama, comedy, horror, animation, bold experimentation – things you’ve been waiting months to see, and others you never thought you’d get a chance to,” he said.

“We’re thrilled to welcome audiences back.”

The Melbourne International Film Festival Regional Showcase runs from Friday to Sunday, 16 to 18 August, then Friday to Sunday, 23 to 25 August.

The full schedule can be found at starcinema.org.au.