Aussie flicks under the stars … truly a vision splendid!
The Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival returns to Winton at the end of June with a special 40th anniversary screening of Crocodile Dundee, among other gems.
Aussie films, country hospitality and a stunning setting – welcome to the Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival.
This nine-day festival has cemented its place in Winton as Australia’s only Outback film festival, with this year’s 13th program attracting movie buffs and cinephiles from across Queensland and beyond, June 26 to July 5.
The quirky festival – with its big night sky backdrop of the open-air cinema and the vast landscapes surrounding the town – is gaining a burgeoning international reputation.
It’s this niche that has enabled Vision Splendid to attract a growing array of filmmakers such as writer and producer Stephen Knight, who is thrilled to have his indie film Girl in the Shadows make its global premiere.
“I was absolutely gobsmacked and I walked around in a haze for a while,” Knight says. “I am just honoured. It means a lot to us and obviously it’s actually the best home for it. I’m a country boy. I was born on a wheat farm in Narrabri. Girl in the Shadows is about a country cop. It’s a country story surrounded by these beautiful landscapes, landscapes like the Moonbi Mountains, and that is all part of the character in the movie.
“(Vision Splendid) is the perfect place to do its big reveal. The lead actress Sam Cluff just won an award over at the Berlin Indie Film Festival for best actor.”
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Selecting Girl in the Shadows for the program is also a triumph for Vision Splendid creative director Dr Greg Dolgopolov, who is about to deliver his seventh festival, a role he clearly relishes.
“Girl in the Shadows is by a group of filmmakers from Tamworth,” Dolgopolov says. “We are so pleased to have their world premiere at the festival. It was beautifully filmed and an important story about a female policewoman and PTSD.
“Australian films, even really great films, will often not stay in cinemas for more than a week or two. I feel that Vision Splendid fills that important role of putting together a selection of the best Australian films over the past 18 months, and a range of films from documentaries to shorts. And this year for the first time we are doing Australian-made AI-assisted films.
Dolgopolov says he curates a festival to give a “sense of gluttony – where you consume as much as you can”.
Vision Splendid’s glittering opening night includes a special 40th anniversary screening of Crocodile Dundee, alongside other retrospectives.
‘we’ve got a 50th anniversary screening of The Devil’s Playground and a 10th anniversary screening of Red Dog True Blue’
“We’ve rebuilt the truck that featured in Crocodile Dundee and it’s going to be up and running, doing laps of Winton,” he says. “Delvene Delaney’s coming (for the Crocodile Dundee screening). Her company Rimfire Films produced the film with John Cornell, her husband, who was the key producer. Director Peter Faiman is coming up for the (screening).
“And then we’ve got a 50th anniversary screening of The Devil’s Playground and a 10th anniversary screening of Red Dog True Blue. The director Kriv Stenders is coming up for the festival and has three films in the program. He’s a great Queensland director. He’ll be coming back to Winton next year to make a large-budget film. So he will be doing some reconnaissance in the area and meeting some of the locals but also getting a sense of the scale of what he can do.”
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David Field and Geoff Morropell will be in Winton to present their documentary That Half Barbaric Twang and performing live with their band, The Number Four Band.
“David’s new film The Kink is for people who like something a little bit kinkier and we’re showing Oyster Farmer, which is one of his favourite films, and Oranges and Sunshine,” Dolgopolov says.
The announcement of the cancellation of this year’s Brisbane International Film Festival has added to a challenging environment for film festivals, but Dolgopolov is remaining optimistic.
“A few festivals have fallen over, which is a shame,” he says. “And they are big festivals. It’s definitely tough. We are probably 35 to 40 per cent under our regular budget and we run a lean festival already. So, we have had to make some adjustments and cuts, but we’re really pleased to keep going. It’s important for tourism and the community because people love the idea of the Outback, but they need to try to get out there.”
The concept for the Vision Splendid festival was born at the premiere of Mystery Road at Winton in 2013. Over dinner, filmmakers, actors and producers came up with the idea to make Winton and Outback Queensland a world-leading filmmaking and movie culture hub.
Adding to Dolgopolov’s optimism is the contribution of 30 volunteer university students (apart from local volunteers) who come to the festival to make small films and assist at screenings.
“That makes us pretty remarkable because they make films in town with the locals, so there’s that real community engagement. Those films will be screened on the final night and they’re pretty special because they’re made with a lot of love and they’re really authentic.”
Dolgopolov says seasonal changes give the festival an ever-evolving character.
“There’s been a fair bit of rain in Northern Central Queensland,” he says. “So it will look very different to what it looked like a few years ago when it was in a 12-year drought. And it’s fantastic for filmmakers looking for that red Outback, red dirt look. Now it’s lush, green and full of pasture. It’s quite a different experience.”
Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival, Winton, June 26 to July 5.
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