42nd Festival 1995

It was said that cinema began in 1895, with the Lumière Brothers exhibiting their moving pictures to a paying audience in a Parisian café. As such, this year would mark a hypothetical centennial anniversary of the cinematic form. The wide array of films presented would, in a sense, reflect the ever-changing nature of the cinematic form and the current state of international cinema. Films screened included Michael Haneke’s 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance, Abbas Kiarostami’s Under the Olive Trees, Marcel Ophüls’ The Troubles We’ve Seen, Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom, Louis Malle’s Vanya on 42nd Street, Terry Zwigoff’s Crumb and Michael Apted’s Moving the Mountain.

Retrospectives included a showcase of 10 underappreciated Australian classics, grouped under the heading End of the World, and including such films as Backroads, Pure Shit and Going Down. A presentation of 16 hours of French documentaries, which were presented by Michel Ciment, a presentation of films from the Sarajevo Group of Authors and a program looking at the cinematic response to the end of World War II, in particular the films of British director Humphrey Jennings.

The second Sydney Salute was a tribute to Andrew Sarris, influential New York film writer and critic, who came to the Festival and presented a special screening of John Ford’s Stagecoach. Frame by Frame screenings were held with Condrad Hall discussing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Dr. George Miller and Nick Enright presenting Lorenzo’s Oil.

This was Russell Stendell’s first year as President of SFF, with Pat McDonald passing the baton. This festival was also dedicated to the memory of Peter Luschwitz, who had made virtually all of the festival trailers over the previous decade and who died suddenly mere weeks before the festival began.

The 1995 Ian McPherson lecture was delivered by Liz Jacka.

Opening Night Film: All Men Are Liars (directed by Gerard Lee)

Closing Night Film: Cold Comfort Farm (directed by John Schlesinger)

Award Winners

Dendy Award for Australian Short Films (General):

Food (for) Thought, directed by Daniel Crooks

Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films (Fiction over 25 minutes):

Audacious, directed by Samantha Lang

Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films (Fiction under 25 minutes):

A Modest Proposal, directed by Lawson Bayly

Dendy Award for Australian Short Films (Documentary):

Eternity, directed by Lawrence Johnston

Yoram Gross Animation Award:

Redback, directed by Robert Stephenson

Ethnic Affairs Commission (EAC) Award:

50 Years of Silence, directed by Ned Lander, Carol Ruff and James Bradley

NSW Film and Television Office Rouben Mamoulian Award:

Something to Sing About, directed by Martin Daley