Film fans to Buninyong for festival

THE twenty-seventh annual Buninyong Film Festival will be the biggest yet, beginning this Friday, 24 May.

Over three days within the grand, historic Buninyong Town Hall, 11 films will be screened, showcasing an array of arthouse productions from Spain, Lebanon, Italy and the United States, and some Australian documentaries and short films.

This year, the BFF is offering shorts, All These Creatures and Terror Nullius back to back, Studio 54 The Documentary, Capernaum, Dancing the Invisible: Jill Bilcock, Summer 1993, The Insult, Midnight Oil 1984 and Happy as Lazzaro.

BFF organising committee member, Niki Kostos was part of the film selection process.

“We tried for a wide range of feature films and documentaries,” she said.

“We try for different countries too and we do tend to choose subtitled films. It’s just finding a good balance.

“We always start off with an Australian film, and this year we have two Lebanese films.

We get surprised sometimes of the subject and the country that it’s from.

“It’s also an opportunity to see a group of arthouse films in one go that you don’t really get in Ballarat.”

Movie goers can gain entry to see Oddball on the Sunday morning with a gold coin donation.

The animal trainer of that film and Red Dog, Luke Hura will be in Buninyong with a dog to meet festival attendees and show how he prepares animals for movie roles.

The BFF is offering free screenings of Mooramong – Private Hollywood, captured on celluloid in the 1930s by silent film actress, Claire Adams.

Filming her daily life at the Mooramong Homestead in Skipton, with husband, Donald ‘Scobie’ MacKinnon, it depicts a glamourous art deco existence amongst a rural setting, far from the madness of Hollywood.

This is an opportunity to see something not generally available, and door prizes at the festival will include Mooramong DVDs.

Guided heritage walks around Buninyong will focus on significant sites, led by Doug Bradby and Anne Beggs-Sunter.

Both leaving from the
Town Hall, The Geology of Buninyong walk is on Saturday at 1pm, and the Significant Historical Buildings of Buninyong walk is on Sunday at 11am.

For President of the festival, Lisa Cressey it was important acknowledge local history within the festival this year.

“It’s the Ballarat Heritage Weekend so we thought, let’s try an add a heritage value,” she said.

As the BFF approaches the end of its 3rd decade, it’s as popular as ever, uniting Buninyong and drawing people to the village for a “unique country experience.

“We fill up all of the B and Bs in Buninyong,” Ms Cressey said.

“We’re all about giving back to the community as well, so that’s why we’ve had our BFF Dinner at Pig and Goose for quite a few years now, we donate money back to the CFA and also, Maggie and Kate, the little café, are making boxed lunches.

“Our major sponsor is the Buninyong and District Community Bank Branch.

The film festival is a major part of events in Buninyong and they wanted to make sure that we continued.

We try and keep it in the village,” she said.

After a festival rebrand last year to yellow and black, the Town Hall will be lit up gold in celebration.

Head to buninyongfilmfestival.com.au for screening times, further information and to book tickets.