Macquarie supports women in film at Sydney Film Festival

As part of an exciting new external engagement strategy for the Faculty of Arts, Macquarie is a major sponsor for the 2016 Sydney Film Festival which kicks off tomorrow.

One of the world’s longest running film festivals, the 12-day festival is one of Sydney’s premier cultural events and attracts more than 176,000 attendees at 11 iconic venues.

The Department of Media, Music, Communication and Cultural Studies has been instrumental in the planning of this partnership, which will specifically focus on women in film. As the Festival notes: “Women are directing less than 10 per cent of the 250 top grossing films worldwide. That figure underscores a known problem in the industry: women simply aren’t getting the same opportunities to share their voices and visions as their male counterparts.”

As part of the partnership. Professor Kathryn Millard – one of the University’s award-winning filmmakers – will host a discussion on 13 June with Academy Award-winning director Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy. Chinoy will discuss her personal experiences as a woman making films in Pakistan, following a screening of her film Journey of A Thousand Miles.

“Macquarie University has outstanding strengths in screen production and critical thinking in this field,” notes Kathryn.

“A deep engagement with the screen production and cultural sector is critical to our ability to keep re-imagining the future of cinematic storytelling and screen media. We are delighted to partner with Sydney Film Festival as it brings people together to view, discuss and passionately debate cutting-edge films from around the globe.”

Macquarie’s presence will also be included before screenings of 20 films by women throughout the festival. Macquarie Screen Studies lecturer Dr Ilona Hongisto says she is particularly thrilled about the diversity of this year’s festival program.

“From foundational works by the late Chantal Akerman to the ground-breaking cinema of Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy – this edition of the Sydney Film Festival makes its mark with cinema that has the capacity to change the world,” she says.

To find out more about what’s on at this year’s festival, or to purchase tickets for film screenings and festival events, visit the Sydney Film Festival website.

Date:


Share:


Category:


Tags:


Back to homepage

Comments

Leave a Reply

Required fields are marked *

We encourage active and constructive debate through our comments section, but please remain respectful. Your first and last name will be published alongside your comment.

Comments will not be pre-moderated but any comments deemed to be offensive, obscene, intimidating, discriminatory or defamatory will be removed and further action may be taken where such conduct breaches University policy or standards. Please keep in mind that This Week is a public site and comments should not contain information that is confidential or commercial in confidence.

Got a story to share?


Visit our contribute page >>