Ten years of CDoc

Historic: The Theatre Royal is the oldest continuously running cinema on the Australian mainland. Photos: SUPPLIED

THIS month marks the tenth anniversary of the Castlemaine Documentary Festival, which is to be held in Australia’s oldest continuously running mainland cinema, the Theatre Royal.

The program will feature eight new Australian and international feature length documentaries between Friday 14 and Sunday 16 June.

Attendees can also engage with filmmakers in live question and answer sessions and panels.

A Highlight of CDoc 2024 is WINHANGANHA (‘remember, know, think’), which is an examination and revisioning of Australian audiovisual history by Wiradjuri poet and artist Jazz Money.

“It’s always a really tight selection across three days,” said Festival director, Claire Jager.

“It’s all fabulous feature length programming and there’s a buzz being in that wonderful old Theatre Royal.

“This year is the 10th year which is a big milestone and it’s a testament to how much people have grown to love it that they come and support us every year.”

At Western Reserve the festival yurt will host short documentaries and activities with a focus on younger audiences.

“It’s warm and cozy and a really lovely little intimate space,” said Ms Jager.

“We have family friendly things for between eight and 14-year-olds screening films they would never usually see.”

WINHANGANHA is by Wiradjuri poet and artist Jazz Money.

The annual showcase of regional talent, LOCALS, will begin at 5pm on Saturday 15 June with shorts by Central Victorian filmmakers and a celebration of the last decade of the festival.

“The stories are a way of reflecting back and engaging us and seeing what’s going around us,” said Ms Jager.

“I realised that there were lots of practitioners in our area and that we have a really strong regional hub in this area.

“From that we began LOCALS three years ago to showcase work by our local practitioners.”

The full festival program can be found at cdocff.com.au