Antenna Documentary Film Festival 2022
Image: Still from Retrograde, opening night film of Antenna Documentary Film Festival 2022.
By MARTIN FABINYI
In its 11th year, the Antenna Documentary Film Festival screens an eclectic range of local and international non-fiction films during ten days in October. Along with feature and short documentaries, it also provides forums, seminars and Q&A sessions.
Festival programmer Tristan Deardon has curated a mix of 52 Australian and international documentaries. It has become the largest documentary film festival in Australia, with touring films an important part of the festival experience.
Australian films featured this year include Age of Rage – The Australian Punk Rock Revolution (Jennifer Ross – exploring the influential music genre), Juanita Nielsen Now, (Zanny Begg – an engrossing artistic interpretation of her murder scenario), Two Laws (Carolyn Strachan, Alessandro Cavadini – the story of police and judicial brutality in the 1930s in the Northern Territory.) and Tiger on the Rocks (Cathryn Vasseleu – chasing the elusive thylacine).
Opening the festival is the Australian Premiere of Retrograde by Academy Award nominated director Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land, City of Ghosts), which just had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival. The film follows the last months of the 20-year war in Afghanistan, capturing the turmoil as American troops pull out. A heart-wrenching look at the aftermath of the controversial end to the “forever war”.
Antenna will also host a range of special events. In collaboration with the National Film & Sound Archive, the festival will hold a retrospective for the American filmmaker Les Blank. A curated selection of four features and three shorts from throughout his career is designed to take audiences on a journey around the world to imbibe the everyday wisdom of artists, cooks, dancers, and musicians – individuals who subtly instruct us in the cathartic powers of cultural rituals.
One of the most important sessions is DocTalk, a full-day industry event featuring a curated program of masterclasses from Australian and international filmmakers. This year the international guests include Yvonne Ashley Kouadjo, the series producer of the award-winning short documentary series from the New York Times; Alon Schwarz, the director of Tantura; and Oli Harbottle, Chief Content Officer for Dogwoof, the distributor behind the Michael Hutchence biopic Mystify.
The Antenna Festival runs between 14th – 23rd October with screenings at Dendy, Palace Cinemas, the Randwick Ritz, the MCA and Event Parramatta.
The full program and tickets are available from the Antenna website.
Martin Fabinyi is a Sydney-based film producer and writer.
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