June 18, 2015
Mayor Wayne Kratzmann wants to see the Big Screen Film Festival return to the South Burnett next year to celebrate its tenth anniversary.
More than 1000 people attended screenings of eight Australian Films at the Festival in Nanango last weekend.
And over 200 attended the Festival’s gala opening night to meet this year’s special guest star Ryan Corr over canapes and drinks before taking in a screening of “The Water Diviner”, in which Corr played one of the major roles.
“Over the last nine years Big Screen has inspired several RADF applications and other film culture innovations in our area.” Mayor Kratzmann said.
“It has played an important role in the South Burnett’s cultural landscape, and we want to see this partnership continue.”
The Mayor said the Festival had also exposed “half a generation” of South Burnett school children to Australian films telling Australian stories, underlining one of the important roles the National Film and Sound Archives (NFSA) played in public life.
Last year the future of the Festival was thrown into doubt when the NFSA’s budget was cut by the Federal Government.
But after a number of meetings with NFSA officials, the Mayor was able to secure a Festival commitment for 2015.
He said today he now intends to seek a similar commitment for the Festival’s tenth birthday in 2016.
“We have been very thankful for the support we’ve received from Michael Loebenstein, the NFSA’s CEO, and our major sponsor Heritage Bank Nanango,” the Mayor said.
“We hope our partnership can see a 10th year out.”
