9 – 13 April, St. Petersburg - Dom Kino, 12 Karavannaya St

Screening schedule (in Russian)

The Australian Film Festival is organised by the Australian Embassy in Moscow, with the assistance of the Australian Film Commission. This major effort to raise awareness and appreciation of Australian film and culture is now launching its 6th year, and is proving to be increasingly popular with Russian audiences. Last year, in 2007, we were able for the first time to organise the Festival in both Moscow and St. Petersburg - at Khudozhestvenny Cinema in the very centre of Moscow, and Dom Kino in the centre of St. Petersburg. It was such a success that we are replicating and building upon it in 2008.

This year’s Festival program includes 10 Australian feature films and a selection of shorts. The features introduce various aspects of modern Australian society, including family values and child raising, in this 2008 Year of Family Values in Russia.

The feature films for 2008 Festival include the following:

Thank God He Met Lizzie, Comedy/romance. Director: Cherie Nowlan. Cast: Cate Blanchett, Richard Roxburgh, Frances O'Connor 

The Bank, Political thriller. Director: Robert Connolly. Cast: David Wenham, Anthony LaPaglia, Sibylla Budd

Chopper, Crime/biographical. Director: Andrew Dominik. Cast: Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, Dan Wyllie, Vince Colosimo, Kate Beahan, David Field, Bill Young, Kenny Graham

The Dish, Comedy. Director: Rob Sitch. Cast: Sam Neill, Kevin Harrington, Tom Long, Patrick Warburton, Genevieve Mooy

Doing Time For Patsy Cline, Crime adventure/comedy. Director: Chris Kennedy. Cast: Richard Roxburgh, Miranda Otto, Matt Day

Innocence, Psychological/comedy/romance. Director: Paul Cox. Cast: Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell, Julia Blake, Terry Norris, Robert Menzies, Chris Haywood, Marta Dusseldorp

Japanese Story, Relationship drama. Director: Sue Brooks. Cast: Toni Collette, Gotaro Tsunashima, Lynette Curran, Matthew Dyktynski, John Howard, Yukiko Tanaka, Kate Atkinson, Bill Young

Jindabyne, Drama. Director: Ray Lawrence. Cast: Laura Linney, Gabriel Byrne, Deborra-Lee Furness, John Howard, Chris Haywood

Kiss Or Kill, Romantic thriller. Director: Bill Bennett. Cast: Frances O'Connor, Matt Day

Look Both Ways, Drama/thriller. Director: Sarah Watt. Cast: William McInnes, Justine Clarke, Anthony Hayes, Lisa Flanagan, Andrew S. Gilbert, Daniela Farinacci, Sacha Horler, Maggie Dence, Edwin Hodgeman, Andreas Sobik 

The Film Festival will bring into focus the problems of modern Australian society, and provide an insight into life in Australia, through which the audience will be able to draw threads of similarity with life in modern Russia. Although Russia and Australia are geographically very far away from each other, we are still hold the same hopes and fears. The frame of reference may be different, but love, greed, hope, fear, romance, poverty – these are universal themes. We hope that Russian audiences will appreciate the creations of Australian filmmakers. 

• Tickets are available at Khudozhestvenny cinema in Moscow (tel. bookings: +7-495-291-02-47) and at Dom Kino in St. Petersburg (+7-812-314-56-14).

• For media accreditation, additional materials, and film publicity please contact:
• Ekaterina Kostina
  Public Diplomacy/Cultural Affairs Officer
  Australian Embassy
  Tel.: +7-495-232-32-54
  E-mail: ekaterina.kostina@dfat.gov.au

SPONSORS

The Embassy thanks our major sponsor BHP Billiton, without whose generous support this event would not have been possible

 The Embassy thanks our other sponsors:

Radio Sponsor
Australian Wine		Study English in Australia