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Weaving festival magic

“Sammy’s Adventures: the Secret Passage”... described by the promoter as “turtally wonderful."

YOU’D expect Simon Weaving, in his third year as director of the Canberra International Film Festival, to be full of weighty cinematic observations.

After all, the cover picture for his program comes from a Danish film called “Melancholia”.

Then there’s “We Need to Talk about Kevin” featuring Tilda Swinton, in what Weaving calls “a melancholy moody piece”, and there’s Australian documentary maker Rob Nugent’s film about locusts, “Memoirs of a Plague”.

On the other hand, he’s also programmed in “Score”, a Canadian musical about hockey starring Olivia Newton John, the reviled Newton-John/ELO musical “Xanadu” and The Village People in “Can’t Stop the Music”.

And there’s a film where Brian Brown stars as an Englishman in a Norwegian film set in the Caribbean.

When I meet Weaving for an in-depth talk, I find that his mind has turned to turtles and teddies. Turtles and what? You may ask.

Well, yes, in this, the 15th festival, he’s decided we need some good children’s films, accessible, conveyed in English and carrying good messages.

It’s not as easy as you’d think, especially since many of the best kids’ films come from non-English-speaking countries.

Turtles and teddies to the rescue – the turtle movie is the first 3-D feature for the festival.

“Sammy’s Adventures: the Secret Passage”, described by the promoter as “turtally wonderful” (oh, dear) and introduces a little turtle, Sammy, born in 1959 but living, Forrest Gump-like, through the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and further.

The film is a Belgian animation, but is voiced by English-speaking high-flyers, including Melanie Griffith and John Hurt.

“Kooky”... an environmentally-conscious film by Jan Sverak.
Then there’s “Kooky”, an environmentally-conscious film by Jan Sverak, who won an Academy Award for his film “Kolya”, using puppetry, animation and live action.

A cute, if scruffy, teddy-bear struggles to get back home to his six-year-old owner after being thrown out with the rubbish. It’s dubbed in English.

This year, Weaving seems to have changed his mind about the perils of programming sci-fi films.

“Melancholia” is one such, and in “Attack the Block”, aliens make the mistake of landing on Earth in contemporary, broken Britain.

You’d have to say it sounds like a lot of fun.

The festival runs until November 6 at Dendy and the Arc cinemas.

More information at www.canberrafilmfestival.com.au

"Attack the Block”... in which aliens make the mistake of landing on Earth in contemporary, broken Britain.

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Helen Musa

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