Last night, I joined Sydney’s film community at the Dendy Opera Quays for the launch of the 3rd annual Dungog Film Festival. Now, before you pull out a map or log on to Google to work out where the hell Dungog is and why they have a film festival, let me give you the stats:
• Dungog – population 8000
• Location – Upper Hunter Valley, 3 hrs north of Sydney
• Famous for… well, forests, mountains, bushrangers and increasingly, for the Dungog Film Festival
Held over four days, the Dungog Film Festival is a celebration of Australian film. It’s when the who’s who of Aussie film comes to Dungog and I’m led to believe that the population of this tiny town triples during the festival.
So what brings everyone to this sleepy town in May each year apart from the lure of Aussie films? Well the festival kicks off with the departure of the Dungog Express train which travels from Central Station in Sydney to Dungog on opening day. I’m told it’s commonly known as the ‘party train’ as the actors, directors and industry crew whose films are showing during the festival, are on board to get the festivities rolling.
On arrival, you’re whisked away to Opening Night Gala to watch a premiere Aussie film before celebrating at the Miners Marquee. Two of the premiere films that will have Gala Screenings this year are Richard Frankland’s Stone Bros and Kriv Stender’s Lucky Country. We were shown clips of both last night and while Lucky Country looks riveting, Stone Bros is the flick I can’t wait to see. We only saw about 3 minutes of film but it was nothing short of hilarious!
What’s excited me most about the Dungog Film Festival is that it unashamedly embraces being held in a small country town. The films are shown in the James Theatre, Australia’s oldest continuously running cinema and also at the local RSL. The locals all get involved from selling tickets in the box office to billeting visitors in their homes. It seems like a very spirited community event.
Come the 28 May, I think I’ll venture out of Sydney for the weekend and head north to Dungog. It sounds like it’s going to be a fun weekend full of local hospitality and great Aussie films. And with a slogan like this, how could you not wanna go?
Done Sundance. Done Cannes. Dungog.
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