Great to see an Australian documentary filmmaker winning an Oscar. Shame that Eva Orner feels that she has to work outside the country:
Orner says she will be forced to stay in New York because the Australian film industry can not support the type of films she wants to make.It can't be for lack of pressing subjects. Yesterday's Coroner's report into the deaths of 22 aborigines in the Kimberley region is one glaring starting point.
Orner says documentaries such as Taxi to the Dark Side "just don't exist in Australia".
Aust lacks opportunities, Oscar winner Orner says (ABC News 26 February 2008)
The impact of the mining and energy boom, especially on the environment in the West, cries out for some first class film journalism or journalism of any kind for that matter.
The so-called underbelly of crime and corruption has barely been scratched.
Open the dailies and stick a pin to choose a topic: binge drinking and illegal drugs; conspicuous wealth and conspicuous homelessness; corporate power and corruption.
There are also plenty of more uplifting themes to be explored as well. I posted last week on a good news story, the premiere of Desert Heart, a documentary by David Batty of Bush Mechanics fame.
Perhaps Dick Pratt could redeem himself by funding some documentary projects. If finance is a major stumbling block, we must ask why the corporate sector has had its hands in its pockets during a time of unprecedented growth.
Hope someone takes up the issue of corporate funding of documentaries at the 2020 Summit. Go for it Cate.
Please make your suggestions for topics in Comments.
2 comments:
For the rest of the 20,699,000 people in Oz not invited to the Summit, the online community created a wiki called Oz Ideas to be our forum to list and vote on the best ideas to improve Australia (including the film industry). It’s free and can be anonymous. We just think everyday people probably have just as good ideas for this country than the experts, so the site acts as a national online brainstorming session. It’s at http://ozideas.wetpaint.com.
See what you think, and if you like it, please come participate.
Cheers,
Jim
Jim
I have nominated so I'm still hoping to go. I hope someone's running a book. My odds should be very attractive. Anyway it's on my bucket list.
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