Flickerfest comes to town

A smorgasbord of top short films running the gamut from absurdist comedy to sci-fi adventure will be screened at the Mercury CX Cinema when Flickerfest comes to town next weekend.

The short film festival’s touring highlights from the 2023 Flickerfest competition include nine Australian shorts, showing from 6pm on Saturday, May 13, followed at 8.30pm by the “best of international shorts”, which features stories from countries including Denmark, Canada, Ukraine, the Netherlands and China.

There are five South Australian shorts in the national line-up, including Bunker: The Last Fleet, a First Nations sci-fi film starring actor, writer and co-producer Natasha Waganeen, and animated short Tangki (Donkey), in which three Aṉangu women tell the story of how donkeys came to be well loved in their desert community. In The Fritz, actor Trevor Jamieson – who played Fingerbone Bill in the 2019 remake of Storm Boy ­– plays a man who, after being hit by a meteor, arrives at a party where he tries to confront his brothers about their past.

The SA filmmakers will introduce their own films and take part in a Q&A, with the full SA Flickerfest program available to view here online.

Meanwhile, after a tumultuous few months that culminated in the appointment of a new interim GM and board, the Mercury has announced it will hold its AGM on May 30. An agenda and further information is available here, with the notice saying it will be an opportunity to “hear all the news, both past (Annual Report 2022) and future (Strategic Plan 2023-2025)”.

Our Mob callout

Our Mob 2022 prize winner Temaana Sanderson-Bromley. Photo: Naomi Jellicoe

Expressions of interest are being sought from South Australian First Nations artists interested in showing their work in the Adelaide Festival Centre’s annual Our Mob exhibition in 2023.

Our Mob: Art by South Australian Aboriginal Artists will be presented in the Festival Theatre galleries from August 19 until October 7, with participants also eligible for several prizes, including the $2000 Trevor Nickolls Art Prize and the $5000 Don Dunstan Foundation Emerging Artist Prize. Last year’s emerging artist prize winner, Temaana Sanderson-Bromley, will show his work in a solo show during the 2023 Our Mob.

Expressions of interest close on July 1, with further details and the application form here.

The Festival Centre says that as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, this year’s Our Mob will include a special program of First Nations visual art, music, literature, and storytelling, as well as a music performance at Her Majesty’s Theatre.

Countdown to SALA

Artists and venues interested in participating in this year’s South Australian Living Artists Festival have until next Wednesday (May 10) to register

SALA CEO Kate Moskwa says more than 12,000 artists participate annually in the August festival, with visual artists of all levels invited to register solo or group exhibitions and activities that can be accessed either online or in person.

“Anywhere can be a SALA venue, including schools, cafes, retail spaces, office foyers and home studios,” she adds. “SALA spans the entire state of South Australia, with no exhibition too big or too small.”

You can register here on the SALA website. Registered artists are eligible for a range of SALA awards, and can also apply for a SALA Solo Photographic Opportunity (closes May 17) and/or the City of Onkaparinga SALA Artist Residency (deadline June 30).

Dreaming Big

Georgi Paech.

With the biennial DreamBIG Children’s Festival just a couple of weeks away, the Adelaide Festival Centre has announced that long-time creative producer Susannah Sweeney is set to pass the baton to Georgi Paech after this year’s event.

Sweeney has held the role since 2014 (when it was still known as Come Out) and has overseen four festivals, with Paech coming on board as co-producer for the 2023 DreamBIG. Paech was previously a producer at Windmill Theatre Company and has also worked with Adelaide Fringe, Adelaide Festival, Moon Lantern Festival, Insite Arts, the Just So Festival in Cheshire, England.

This year’s DreamBIG Festival will run from May 17 to 27 and feature more than 50 shows, activities and exhibitions for children of all ages, with the full program online. Paech will present her first festival as sole creative producer in 2025.

Dance triple bill

Sydney Dance Company will be back in Adelaide next week with a new triple bill of works it describes as a “sensorial delight”.

Ascent, which features immersive installations, will be presented in the Dunstan Playhouse from May 11-13. It explores themes of humanity, technology and nature through two new works – SDC artistic director Rafael Bonachela’s I Am-ness and Spanish choreographer Marina Mascarelli’s The Shell, A Ghost, The Host & The Lyrebird – and a reprise of Antony Hamilton’s Helpmann Award-winning Forever & Ever (which is set to a score by Justin Hamilton of The Presets).

“We wanted to start the year on a high with Ascent – a powerful triple-bill that will uplift and captivate audiences as we take them on a journey through three bold, emotive and energising works,” Bonachela says of the show, which has already played to sold-out audiences in Sydney and Canberra.

From Adelaide to the world

Adelaide’s innovative theatre works for children and young people are once again being showcased on the international stage as Patch, Windmill and Slingsby theatre companies resume touring in earnest for the first time since the pandemic began.

Between them, the three organisations are touring five shows internationally in the coming months, with Patch taking ZOOOM to six cities across America and Canada; Slingsby taking Emil and the Detectives to New Zealand and Hong Kong, and 2021 Adelaide Festival hit The Boy Who Talked to Dogs to Dublin; and Windmill presenting Bluey’s Big Play and Hiccup! across multiple locations in the US.

The artistic directors of each of the companies say the tours showcase South Australian talent to the world, as well as providing opportunities for local artists, creatives and crew.

“It’s so important for young people to experience engaging theatre, and I’m thrilled that children across the globe will enjoy Adelaide’s best work in 2023,” says Patch artistic director Geoff Cobham.

Green Room is a regular column for InReview, providing quick news for people interested, or involved, in South Australian arts and culture.

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