th annual Gold Coast Film Festival will screen 38 films from 15 countries, including six Australian premieres and seven Queensland premieres from 31 March – 10 April. The city’s flagship film event has confirmed Sundance Film Festival favourite Eddie the Eagle is set to land on the Gold Coast for the film’s Queensland Premiere and the Opening Night of the Gold Coast Film Festival on Thursday 31 March. Inspired by true events Eddie the Eagle, starring Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman and Christopher Walken, tells the uplifting story of Michael Edwards, better known as ‘Eddie the Eagle’, the courageous British ski jumper who charmed the world at the 1988 Winter Olympics. This feel good movie is sure to delight and inspire film lovers of all ages. Director Stephen Page will also make his debut at the Gold Coast Film Festival with his genre-bending film Spear. It is the first feature from Stephen Page of Sydney’s Bangarra Dance Theatre and it marks a pivotal event in Australia’s film history as the world’s first contemporary Indigenous dance movie. Stephen Page and cast member Hunter Page-Lochard, star of the upcoming ABC-TV series Cleverman, will attend the screening on Saturday 2 April, followed by a Q&A session. Gold Coast Film Festival Director Lucy Fisher said the 2016 Festival provides a strong platform for film lovers, aspiring filmmakers, families and students to be entertained, inspired and empowered. “This year the Festival program offers a diverse selection of some of the most lauded films from Queensland and around the world, and from both first time filmmakers to Academy Award nominees. The program is action-packed with 80 screenings, events, seminars and films, offering something for everyone,” Ms Fisher said. “The Gold Coast is proving itself as the perfect playground for filmmakers with a range of international blockbusters filming in the city, so we are proud to focus on fostering the next generation of local talent by providing students and emerging film professionals with plenty of workshops with leading producers, directors and writers, as well as networking and professional development opportunities.” New to the Gold Coast Film Festival this year is YScreen, a program of entertaining and intelligent films and workshops for children and teens, set to encourage young audiences to become active viewers, stimulate critical discussion of film in classrooms and provide an insight into other cultures and ways of life. For the first time in its 14-year history, the Festival is inviting schools to view selected festival films and has put together special school excursion screenings that will be held alongside film criticism workshops, conducted by professionals from the Australian Film Critics Association on 11 and 12 April. YScreen films include 2016 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film, Mustang, a confronting coming-of-age tale set in Istanbul where innocent fun leads to house imprisonment and arranged marriages; Landfill Harmonic, an uplifting documentary about the transformative power of music; Boy & The World a 2016 Academy Award nominee for Best Animation and; Labyrinthus, an action packed film delving into a computer game world. The Festival has also strengthened its commitment to showcasing women filmmakers through its Women In Film initiative. For the first time, all festival films have been screened through Alison Bechdel’s Bechdel Test to determine whether films have realistic female characters and receive a tick of approval if they pass. In a first for film festivals around Australia, the Gold Coast Film Festival will also introduce free on-site childcare for the Gender Matters and Producing industry panels on Sunday 10 April. The on-site childcare is offered in a bid to help remove barriers for women within the industry wanting to attend professional development opportunities. On Friday 1 April, the annual Women In Film Luncheon, presented by Screen Queensland will return with an incredible, multi-talented guest speaker. Australian actor, film producer, writer, editor and director Gracie Otto has been confirmed to attend the event and share her insight and experiences. Gracie’s feature documentary The Last Impressario premiered at BFI London Film Festival 2013 and she has recently set up an all-female production company, The Dollhouse Collective, with Rose Byrne, Shannon Murphy, Krew Boylan and Jess Carrera. Other special guests attending the Gold Coast Film Festival include one of Australia’s most recognised actresses, Claudia Karvan, who has been awarded the 2016 Chauvel Award. Named in honour of Charles Chauvel, the prestigious award acknowledges Karvan for her significant contribution to Australian cinema. Karvan has an extensive filmography; she first appeared in Gillian Armstrong’s High Tide (1987) with Judy Davis, then in Phillip Noyce’s Echoes of Paradise (1987). On Saturday 9 April, the festival will welcome audiences to a special event: David Stratton In Conversation With Claudia Karvan. The night will be an intimate look at Karvan’s career, accompanied by footage from her films and moderated by film critic and previous Chauvel Award recipient, David Stratton. On Friday 1 April, director Heath Davis, producer Luke Graham and cast, Steve Le Marquand and Max Cullen, will attend the Queensland Premiere and special Q&A screening of locally produced sports themed drama Broke. The film follows the story of disgraced rugby league star and gambling addict, Ben “BK” Kelly, who attempts to turn his life around with the support of his two biggest fans. Other films with Queensland premieres at the 2016 Gold Coast Film Festival include Girl Asleep, Louder Than Bombs starring Gabriel Byrne, Jesse Eisenberg and Isabelle Huppert, and Australian thriller Observance, which recently premiered at the Fantasia Film Festival and London Film Festival. The Festival will also host the Australian Premiere of Atom Egoyan’s powerful drama, Remember, which tells the story of an elderly Auschwitz survivor, suffering from early dementia, who embarks on a mission to find – and kill – the Nazi commander responsible for the death of his family. Audiences can participate in a unique video Q&A screening with American director Stephen Littger, following the Australian Premiere of his provocative drama Her Composition on Wednesday 6 April. The Festival will also be joined by producer Farah Abushwesha and director Ron Scalpello for the video Q&A screening and Australian Premiere of their survival thriller Pressure on Thursday 7 April. On Friday 8 April, distinguished writer of hugely popular film Last Cab to Darwin, Reg Cribb will attend the 10-year anniversary screening of Last Cab to Freo at the Gold Coast Film Festival, followed by a Q&A with Cribb. 2016 also sees the return of Queensland Showcase, an integral strand of the festival that supports and showcases the directors, producers and writers from our own backyard. The Festival will screen the Australian Premiere of The Hunters Club, which was shot on the Gold Coast by director Kit McDee, who will attend the film’s screening. On Saturday 10 April, Australian drama and Toronto Film Festival favourite, A Month of Sundays, starring Anthony LaPaglia will screen as the festival’s closing film. Other special events throughout the 10-day festival include REELLife, a series of workshops and panels, movie trivia night and SIPFest, an annual short film competition transforming Surfers Paradise beach into a vibrant and unique cinema, featuring 14 short 10-minute cinematic masterpieces by emerging filmmakers from around Australia. Tickets for all events and films are now on sale at www.gcfilmfestival.com]]>