Antenna Documentary Film Festival 2015

Moving to Sydney in 2009, David Rokach identified a gap in the market for a documentary festival. He started his own with the help of Rich Welch (now one of the festival directors). Antenna Documentary Film Festival was born and five years later, it has grown from strength to strength.

“When we began the festival the aim was to celebrate documentary cinema from around the world that challenged, educated and entertained audiences – and I think this is still very much what we’re about,” Welch explained.

This year Welch and the selection panel watched over 800 documentaries from around the world, whittling it down to 30 for the festival.

Some of the subjects featured this year include refugees disguised as a wedding party (On The Bride’s Side), David Gulpilil giving a tour of his home town (Another Country), preparing for aliens (The Visit), and a trailer park where sex offenders reside (Pervert Park).

This year’s festival will also feature a retrospective of acclaimed documentary maker Alan Berliner at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Berliner will be a special guest to present his work for the first time in Australia.

“We’re absolutely thrilled and honoured to have Alan Berliner attend the festival,” Welch revealed. “Alan is a true documentary master. His films are both cinematic and experimental in style and connect with audiences far beyond the traditional documentary world.”

“For many of the documentaries, Antenna is Sydneysiders’ only chance to see these great documentaries. It’s such a wonderful experience watching these powerful, funny and cinematic documentaries in a crowded cinema. And so for anyone that hasn’t been to Antenna before, I’d say just to give it a try!” (ASim)

Oct 13–18. Various Venues. From $16 with multi-pack tickets available. Tickets & info: antennafestival.org

BY ALICIA SIM