VietNamNet Bridge - Recent Australian feature films and two short films will be introduced to Vietnamese audiences through the Australian Film Roadshow 2008 organised by the Australian Embassy in Vietnam.

The Roadshow programme includes seven feature films: Crackerjack, The Home Song Stories, Look Both Ways, Looking for Alibrandi, Razzle Dazzle, Ten Canoes, Two Hands and two short films: Crocodile Dreaming and the Academy Award-winning Harvie Krumpet.

Between them, the nine films have won 24 Australian Film Industry Awards and have been enjoyed by audiences in Australia and worldwide.

According to the Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Allaster Cox, it is so called the Roadshow because it is just that: a travelling exhibition of Australian films is to visit seven different Vietnamese cities, including Hanoi in the north, the central provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Binh and Ha Tinh, and Ho Chi Minh City and An Giang province in the south in three weeks.

Speaking at a press conference held in Hanoi yesterday, the Ambassador said “The Film Roadshow is a highlight of our cultural activities in Vietnam, allowing Vietnamese audiences to enjoy quality Australian films free of charge.”

The 2008 Film Roadshow features many internationally-known Australian actors and directors including Anthony La Paglia, Geoffrey Rush, Rolf de Heer, Heath Ledger, Joan Chen, Mick Molloy, David Gulpilil, John Clarke, Judith Lucy and William McInnes.

Among films on show this year are two critically-acclaimed Australian films which have received recent international attention: The Home Song Stories and Ten Canoes.”

The Home Song Stories, directed by Tony Ayres, tells the story of Rose, a glamorous Shanghai nightclub singer, and her struggle to survive in Australia with her two young children. In 2007, Stories won 8 Australian Film Industry Awards, including leading actress and screen play.

Ten Canoes, which won a special jury prize at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, was the first Australian full-length feature to be made entirely in an Indigenous Australian language. It follows a story told to Dayindi, who covets the wives of his older brother. To teach him the proper way, Dayindi is told a story from the mythical past, a story of wrong love, kidnapping, sorcery, bungling mayhem and revenge gone wrong.

The Roadshow will be held in Hanoi from November 14-20; in Thanh Hoa on November 17; in Nghe An on November 18, in Ha Tinh on November 19; Quang Binh on November 20; in Ho Chi Minh City from November 28 to December 3 and in An Giang province from December 2-4.

The Film Roadshow will screen at the National Cinema Centre (87 Lang Ha) in Hanoi and Megastar Cineplex (126 Hung Vuong) in Ho Chi Minh City. Free tickets to all screenings are available at the cinemas where the films are shown and the Australian Embassy in Hanoi from November 6 and the Australian Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City.

(Source: Nhan Dan)