AUSTRALIAN DIRECTOR MEETS LEADERS OF PHILIPPINE FILM INDUSTRY
Australian film director Elissa Down with Mowelfund Film Institute Director Edgardo ‘Boy’ Vinarao, National Artist for Film Eddie Romero and Mowelfund, Inc Executive Director Boots Anson-Roa during her visit to the film school last week as part of the Australian Embassy’s 7th Australian Film Festival which was held in Manila and Cebu from 5 to 14 November.
Down met with seasoned Filipino directors and conducted a master class for student film writers and directors at the Mowelfund Film Institute, sharing her experiences of making the critically-acclaimed Australian film, The Black Balloon. The film, inspired by Down’s own experiences growing up in an army family with two brothers with autism, won the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival Crystal Bear in 2008 for Best Feature-Length film in the Generation 14plus category and Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Direction, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Editing. The film was one of six Australian films featured during the festival including Unfinished Sky, The Bank, The Hard Word, Danny Deckchair, and Garage Days.