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OCTOBER 28 2009

BALIBO receives 14 AFI nominations

The nominees for the 2009 AFI Awards were announced on Wednesday 28 October 2009, at a special event held at the Chauvel Cinema, Sydney.

 

BALIBO took away 14 nominations in the following categories:

AFI MEMBERS’ CHOICE AWARD
John Maynard, Rebecca Williamson

AFI AWARD FOR BEST FILM
John Maynard, Rebecca Williamson

AFI AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION
Robert Connolly

AFI AWARD FOR BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Balibo. David Williamson, Robert Connolly

AFI AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Tristan Milani ACS

AFI AWARD FOR BEST EDITING
Nick Meyers ASE

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SOUND
Sam Petty, Emma Bortignon, Phil Heywood, Ann Aucote

AFI AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE
Lisa Gerrard

AFI AWARD FOR BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Robert Cousins

AFI AWARD FOR BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Cappi Ireland

AFI AWARD FOR BEST LEAD ACTOR
Anthony LaPaglia

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Isaac
Damon Gameau

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Bea Viegas

 

Congratulations are also in order for Anthony LaPaglia - nominated for the AFI International Award for Best Actor for Without a Trace and also to Samson & Delilah who garnered 13 nominations.

All up, Footprint Films 2009 films - BALIBO, SAMSON & DELILAH, MY YEAR WITHOUT SEX & LUCKY COUNTRY secured 31 AFI nominations.

 

For more details, click here...


OCTOBER 14 2009

Screen Music Awards Dominated by Balibo and Australia

Balibo and Australia Lead Nominations For 2009 Screen Music Awards.
The music scores from two major feature films that portray unique reflections of Australian history lead the 2009 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS nominations.


To be held on Monday November 2nd, the SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS presented by APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) and the AGSC (Australian Guild of Screen Composers) recognise excellence in screen composition, and this year’s nominees are no exception. Acknowledging music composers across 12 categories representing feature films, children’s television, advertising, documentaries, short films and everything in between, the SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS hold a unique place on the entertainment calendar, being the only ceremony celebrating the achievements of Australian screen composers.

Music compositions for Baz Luhrmann’s epic blockbuster Australia and Robert Connolly’s political thriller Balibo feature heavily across this year’s nominations. Distinguished composers David Hirschfelder and Lisa Gerrard are both nominated for their work in the category of Best Feature Film Score for Australia and Balibo respectively. This category also features nominations for composers Graeme Koehne and Antony Partos for Disgrace and David Bridie for Two Fists One Heart.

2009 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS
Monday November 2nd, 2009
City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney

 

OCTOBER 12 2009

BALIBO - THE MOVIE Balibo was nominated for 7 IF Awards today including BEST FILM!! Thanks everyone for your votes. Congrats to Samson & Delilah, My Year Without Sex and all the other nominees too...
Click here to read the article

 

SEPTEMBER 10 2009
BALIBO European Premiere at London Film Festival
BALIBO will have its European premiere at the London Film Festival in October. The screening dates are Tue 20th Oct 18:15, Wed 21st 15:45, and Thurs 22nd 13:45.
For more information, check out the London Film Festival Website

 

SEPTEMBER 2009

For Immediate Release: Monday 31 August 2009

BALIBO FILM HONOURED AT EAST TIMOR 10TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
At a special honours ceremony in Dili on Sunday 30th August, the President of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta, presented director, Robert Connolly and producer, John Maynard the Presidential Medal of Merit for the film, BALIBO.
The awards, which were also attended by the film’s international star Anthony LaPaglia, followed seven nights of screenings of BALIBO, dubbed in the Tetun language, to thousands of East Timorese in Dili, Bacau and districts in the Eastern part of the country.


At the regional screenings the film was shown on an inflatable screen, and was toured by John Maynard  and actor Tom Wright, who plays Balibo Five journalist Brian Peters in the film.


Interviewed on his arrival back from East Timor, Maynard said, “This was a once in a lifetime experience for us, as well as the Timorese audiences who were, for the very first time, seeing a feature film dubbed in their own language about events in Timor. Men, women and children were moved to tears as they sat on the ground and watched what was for many, part of a hidden history and for some, a painful memory. BALIBO is the first feature film to be made in East Timor and it was a humbling experience to be able to return and screen BALIBO to the East Timorese who supported the making of the film.”


BALIBO is currently screening around Australia and will expand to more than fifty screens on 10 September.


The Presidential Medal of Merit is a special honour that is only awarded to those who have made a great contribution to the country.


For more information on Balibo please visit: www.balibo.com
For more information please contact: Rebecca Zipser
rebecca@bathtubcommunications.com
0409
644 474
+61409 644 474

 

AUGUST 2009

It’s been a busy year for Arenafilm and its distribution company, Footprint Films.

 

Arenafilm, through its production company, Balibo Film, produced BALIBO which was honoured at MIFF. MIFF announced the winners in the Audience Awards with BALIBO coming second in the poll.

 

BALIBO will also have its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (tiff.net.au). The final line-up for TIFF has also been announced, and BALIBO will be screening there as a part of the Contemporary World Cinema program. This year's festival has 17 Australian films screening - a record number. Director Robert Conolly will be attending the festival along with co-producer Rebecca Williamson and the film's stars Anthony LaPaglia, Oscar Isaac and Damon Gameau.


BALIBO has also screened for troops in East Timor - and goes on tour with the inaugural Tour de Timor bike race.

At the inaugural Tour de Timor bike race, Balibo Film will hold a special private screening of the film for Australian and New Zealand troops stationed in East Timor. The film will also be screened to over 300 cyclists participating in the Tour de Timor. The race stages end in Baucau, Loihuno, Betano, Maubisse and finishes at the Presidential Palace back in Dili on 28th August.

Facing perilous roads and camping under the stars, the film’s producer John Maynard, and two of the films stars, Mark Leonard Winter and Tom Wright, will travel with the race from village to village in East Timor. Projecting on a giant inflatable film screen, they will take the Tetun dubbed version of the film on the road so the people of East Timor can watch the film in their own language. Maynard, whose producing credits also include The Bank, Three Dollars and Romulus, My Father said it was a great opportunity to give their story back to the people of East Timor. “Balibo couldn’t have been made without the help of the East Timorese government and people,” he said. “As well as the support of the government we had East Timorese actors and crew who were so important in getting this story right. We therefore wanted to show the film to as many East Timorese as possible and as there are no cinemas in the country the inflatable screen on tour with the race was a perfect solution.”

Conditions of the road vary from paved to bush tracks, flat stretches to steep hills and river crossings over a challenging five days. The Tour de Timor culminates in Dili two nights before East Timor celebrates 10 years of independence. The final screening on 28th August in Dili will be in Tetun and will be attended by the film’s star Anthony LaPaglia, director/writer Robert Connolly, producer John Maynard and the President of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta.

 

July 2008

Balibo Film Pty Ltd is currently in production in Darwin and East Timor on the political thriller, BALIBO. In the film, war correspondent Roger East and the young José Ramos-Horta travel to East Timor to investigate the murders of the Balibo Five in 1975.  BALIBO is directed by Robert Connolly and produced by John Maynard and Rebecca Williamson and is scheduled for release in mid 2009.

 

March 2008

Arenafilm is pleased to announce a new partnership with Indigo Film & Television. Indigo Film & Television is an independent distributor and co-producer of films for the international market. They now hold the rights to THREE DOLLARS, THE BANK, THE BOYS, ALL MEN ARE LIARS and SWEETIE.

 

February 2008

ROMULUS, MY FATHER received two awards and six nominations for The Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) Awards held in Sydney in February, 2008.
These include:

Winner
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Marton Csokas - Romulus, My Father

SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Kodi Smit-McPhee - Romulus, My Father

 

Nominations
BEST FILM
Romulus, My Father - Robert Connolly & John Maynard

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Roxburgh - Romulus, My Father

BEST ACTOR
Eric Bana - Romulus, My Father

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Geoffrey Simpson ACS - Romulus, My Father

BEST EDITING
Suresh Ayyar ASE - Romulus, My Father

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kodi Smit-McPhee - Romulus, My Father

BEST MUSIC SCORE
Basil Hogios - Romulus, My Father

 

December 2007

ROMULUS, MY FATHER was recently nominated in every category for this year’s Australian Film Awards, making it the most nominated film in the Award’s history.  At the Awards ceremony, which was held on December 6, 2007, ROMULUS won the following awards:

AFI AWARD FOR BEST FILM
Romulus, My Father - Robert Connolly & John Maynard

AFI AWARD FOR BEST LEAD ACTOR
Eric Bana - Romulus, My Father

AFI YOUNG ACTOR AWARD
Kodi Smit-McPhee - Romulus, My Father

AFI AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Marton Csokas - Romulus, My Father

Arenafilm is currently in pre-production on BALIBO – a political thriller in which War correspondent Roger East and the young José Ramos-Horta travel to East Timor to investigate the murders of the Balibo Five.  BALIBO will be directed by Robert Connolly and production is anticipated for early 2008.


John Maynard has also just returned from location on his first short in twenty-five years.  NICE SHOOTIN’ COWBOY was written and directed by Ben Phelps and based on a short story by Anson Cameron.  It was shot in Shepparton, Victoria in December of this year.

 

 

November 2007

ROMULUS, MY FATHER has been acquired by US Distributor, Magnolia Pictures. Magnolia Pictures specialises in a unique slate of films including the Academy Award nominated documentaries ENRON: SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM, CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS and THE WORLD'S FASTEST INDIAN.

 

 

September 2007

ROMULUS, MY FATHER was selected for the Special Presentation section of the Toronto International Film Festival where it screened to packed houses.  A video of Richard Roxburgh, Producer Robert Connolly, Screenwriter Nick Drake and Eric Bana at the Elgin Theatre presenting ROMULUS on 12th September can be viewed here.

 

 

December 2006

After twenty years of business in Sydney, Arenafilm has opened a Melbourne office!  Robert Connolly has relocated to Melbourne to head up the Victorian branch of Arenafilm, whilst John Maynard remains in Sydney with the existing staff.

 

 

May 2007
ROMULUS, MY FATHER was released nationally in May 2007. It collected a Box Office of $2.6m – the highest this year for an Australian film.

 

 

Balibo