The Malinauskas Government today confirmed an election pledge to spend $2m on making the Adelaide Film Festival an annual event.

InDaily reported in February that Labor had committed to give the AFF an extra $500,000 annually over four years in a bid to raise its profile and make it a permanent fixture on Adelaide’s events calendar.

The AFF has been held 11 times since 2003 and was an annual event from 2015 to 2018 before returning to a once every two years format.

Arts Minister Andrea Michaels said today that staged the AFF every year would “grow its reputation as a destination for international film culture and cement it as a fixture on the global creative calendar”.

Michaels said the AFF features on Variety Film magazine’s list of 50 unmissable film festivals, and last year was awarded Best Festival at Arts SA’s Ruby Awards.

This year’s festival will run from October 19-30 at venues across the city and will open with the world premiere of The Angels: Kickin’ Down The Door, a behind the scenes look at the iconic Adelaide rock band.

Opening night will also feature the world premiere of short film Marungka Tjalantananyi/Dipped in Black, while the festival will showcase premieres by 15 Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund films.

“The AFF’s 2022 iteration has already received a record number of submissions from filmmakers, following the remarkable success of the 2020 event which saw a record box office as the local community and the Australian screen industry came together to celebrate cinema, despite COVID-19,” Michaels said.