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A warm breath from Down Under

By Ho Yi
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Jan 19, 2007, Page 14

Peter Cattaneo's Opal Dream. PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE AUSTRALIAN COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY OFFICE

Since cinema is commonly accepted to be the most direct media through which to understand a region's culture, sociopolitical setting and ways of life, over the last five years, the Australian Commerce and Industry Office (ACIO) in Taipei has facilitated cultural contact between the two countries through free packages of old Aussie movies supplied by Australia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But this year, they decided to take things into their own hands and showcase some new productions.

"We selected five new feature films [three of them are Taiwan premieres] that are both critically acclaimed and commercially successful so as to give local audiences the latest trend taking shape in Australian cinema," said Stephanie Tsai (蔡親儀) of ACIO's culture and media department. The films were also selected to provide something for audiences of different age groups.

Multiple award-winning film Look Both Ways and star-studded Candy are both geared to young adults. The debut of Sarah Watt, an acclaimed animation director, Look Both Ways blends live action and hand-drawn animation to tell an intelligent melodrama of three interconnected characters forced to come to terms with themselves after life-changing events that take place during a hot weekend.

Stills from Neil Armfield's Candy.

Taking a more sober look at life, Candy is a contemporary love story about two innocent lovers who spiral into heroin addication. The movie stars award-winning Abbie Cornish, Heath Ledger from Brokeback Mountain and Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush and portrays addicts as people who's will to make something wonderful happen from apparently dull lives ends up destroying them.

Festival Notes: What: 2007 Australian Film Showcase Where: Audio Visual Hall at Eslite Xinyi Store (誠品信義店視聽室) at 6F, 11 Songgao Rd, Taipei (台北市松高路11號6F) When: Today through Jan. 28 Tickets: NT$750 for a ticket package of five films; NT$180 for individual tickets, available through NTCH ticketing outlets or at www.artsticket.com.tw Web site: www.australia.org.tw

Leaving the city behind, The Oyster Farmer is an idiosyncratic story about a desperate young urbanite hiding among an oyster farming community on the Hawkesbury River and winding up falling for the lifestyle through a series of encounters with a group of eccentrics. Darkly humorous, the film is also a cinematographic achievement that breathes life into Australia's stunning landscape.

Fancy a touch of magic in a familiar setting? Opal Dream, Oscar-nominated British director Peter Cattaneo's screen adaptation of the much-loved children's book Pobby and Dingan, is about a little girl and her two imaginary friends. For those interested in the life of teenagers from a typical suburban Australian family, Hating Alison Ashley is a coming-of-age flick about a young girl going through all the hardships of high school: fitting in, hating relatives, having a crush on the school bad boy and competing with the perfect girl.

Apart from the new direction in programming, ACIO has teamed up with Eslite Bookstore for the first time to provide for this mini film showcase. And according to Tsai, If the format goes down well, Tsai said, then ACIO would introduce more new Australian works in the future.
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