The Short Film category at the Adelaide Film Festival will in future be sponsored by Flinders through an agreement that increases the University’s long-standing involvement with the State’s premier film event.
Festival director Ms Katrina Sedgwick recently signed a new agreement with Professor Faith Trent, the Head of the University’s Faculty of Education, Humanities, Law and Theology.
Screen Studies senior lecturer Dr Mike Walsh said short film is a particularly appropriate category for Flinders to sponsor.
“We have proved over the last few years that Flinders is the best place to go to get a good grounding to get established as a new filmmaker, so it makes sense to have our name associated with these films,” Dr Walsh said.
Domination of the recent South Australian Screen Awards by Flinders students and graduates points to the effectiveness of the University’s approach in training aspiring filmmakers, he said.
“First of all they have to work hard; secondly they have to engage with local industry institutions like the Festival, the Media Resource Centre and the SA Film Corporation” Dr Walsh said.
“We like to think that our graduates have more than just production skills – they have an understanding of how the film industry works and how to go about finding a place in it.”
Flinders will continue its usual support for the Festival through student placements, both Screen and Media and International Tourism courses.
Dr Walsh will continue in his role as talent spotter for the Adelaide Film Festival, recommending films screened at Asian and North American film festivals and also providing the Festival’s program notes.
Dr Walsh said that in its four years to date, the Festival has achieved enormous prominence,
particularly through the success of feature films such as Ten Canoes and Samson and Delilah, made with the backing of the Festival’s investment fund.
“And the University’s association is a good way to emphasise that what we do out here is useful to screen culture and to the film industry in general,” he said.