Australian film festival in Bangalore

Bangalore's well known film society Suchithra Film Society will be collaborating with the Australian High Commission, New Delhi to present the Australian Visions which will showcase the emerging trends in Australian cinema.

A four day festival of acclaimed Australian films will be held in Bangalore from 14th to 17th March 2008. The film festival is part of a package of contemporary Australian cinema called the Embassy Roadshow and is brought to India under the auspices of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Film Commission.

The four-day festival will be opened by Mr I M Vittala Murthy, Secretary, Department of Kannada and Culture, Information and Tourism, Government of Karnataka. Popular Australian radio and TV science communicator, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, will be special guest at the opening. Others who will be present include noted Kannada filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli, and Mr Murray Harris, Head of Public Affairs, Australian High Commission.

"Through the films in the festival, we hope to showcase the varied facets of life in Australia, its history and the Australian cinematic excellence," says Shashidhar Nanjundaiah, one of the convenors of Australian film festival and a senior functionery of the Suchithra Film Society.

According to Shashidhar Nanjundaiah, the films which have been selected are critically acclaimed. The films include Ned Kelly starring Heath Ledger, The Tracker which features Australian indigenous actor David Gulpilil and the Oscar award winning short film Harvey Krumpet. The festival opens with Jindabyne, a murder mystery that revolves around four men who are on a fishing trip in an isolated hill country.

The Tracker which is set in the mountain ranges is a period film that happens in 1922. It is about a Follower, Philosopher and the Tracker all in the pursuit of a fugitive.