The New Zealand comedy RED, WHITE & BRASS directed by Damon Fepulea’i will open the 10th annual festival of Australian and New Zealand films on Friday, 10 November 2023 at the Lucerna Cinema. The Aussie & Kiwi Film Festival will showcase six feature films along with six shorts and for the first time ever, part of the program will also be screened at the Edison Filmhub cinema. The festival will be accompanied by an exhibition of contemporary Aboriginal painting called Dreaming, school screenings of the Australian environmental movie Blueback (Modrous) and degustation events.
Purchase tickets for screenings at Lucerna cinema here.
Purchase tickets for screenings at the Edison Filmhub here.
Maka who hails from Tonga is an enthusiastic rugby fan and he will do anything to get to the World Cup match between Tonga and France. But it’s sold out and there’s zero chance of getting more tickets. Then he has an idea. But he only has four weeks and a handful of friends to make his crazy idea come true. Inspired by a true story, Red, White and Brass will open this year’s 10th edition of the festival at Lucerna cinema. The film will also have its Czech premiere at the festival.
“We are really pleased to open the festival with a comedy. It’s lovely to watch not only an entertaining story but one that happens to be educational too, because we also learn a little more about Pacific Islander people and their relationship with their national sport. At the same time, it will be a pleasure for us to watch the reactions of Czech audiences to this somewhat crazy story produced by Taika Waititi, currently the most well-known contemporary New Zealand filmmaker,” commented festival director Martina Vacková, adding: “Another famous name also appears in the Australian new release feature The New Boy. Acclaimed Australian actress Cate Blanchett who plays one of the leading roles in the movie, told the audience at the Cannes Film Festival world premiere that they were about to see a not so glorious part of Australia’s past.”
THE NEW BOY transports audiences to 1940s Australia. In a remote convent, a renegade nun, Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett), runs a mission for Aboriginal children. One night, a new boy is brought in who appears to have special powers, but the boy’s indigenous spirituality is incompatible with life in a Christian environment, and his mysterious power becomes a threat to the deeply religious sister. This film will also have its Czech premiere at the festival.
A focus on Indigenous filmmakers and protagonists
Another movie which will be shown in the Czech Republic for the first time is WE ARE STILL HERE (Stále jsme tady), a collection of stories created by Indigenous filmmakers in response to the 250th anniversary of James Cook’s landing in Australia in 1772. The eight interwoven stories from the present, past and future tell the story of how, despite two centuries of colonialism, the Indigenous people of Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific are still very much present. The short stories which cover a variety of genres were filmed by 10 indigenous Australian, Maori and Pacific Islander artists, united by the theme of the impact of colonialism on Indigenous cultures.
The feature film SWEET AS (Krajina uvnitř) also outlines some of the issues that impact First Nations populations. The film does this in a refreshingly modern way, helping it to win an award at the Berlinale festival. Indigenous teenager Muura has a lonely, boring and even pitiful life with her alcoholic mother. One day, she runs out of patience and goes to live with her uncle. He does not want to see Muura turn into a welfare case and signs her up for a photography trip to the Australian outback with other problem teenagers. An unusual road movie not only for its scenes of the breathtaking Australian outback, but also as a story about friendship, first love, courage and responsibility. This movie is the feature debut of Indigenous director Jub Clerc, inspired by her own desire to become a filmmaker.
The Aussie & Kiwi Film Festival is made possible with the help of grant assistance from the City of Prague, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Embassy of Australia in Warsaw and the Embassy of New Zealand in Berlin. The principal partner of the 10th year of the festival is DermapenWorld, which has introduced microneedling, a top Australian technology in skin care to the Czech market. The festival is organised by the AKFF z.s. association, a group of volunteers who dedicate their free time to producing and running the event each year. The main part of the festival takes place at the Lucerna Cinema and Edison FilmHub in Prague and along with the screenings, there is also an important accompanying program in the form of school screenings, talks, exhibitions, discussions, degustations and other events.
