For the first time in a decade, Australian films have featured at six of the world's premiere international film festivals this year. The head of Screen Australia, Ruth Harley, says Australian filmmakers and their films are becoming more popular every year, thanks in part to the Federal Government's producer offset tax incentive. The head of the Australian Film Critics Association, Peter Krausz, says the success is also the result of hard work, and increased international experience.
PETER CAVE: For the first time in just over a decade, several Australian films have made it into six premier international film festivals.
"Red Dog", a film set in the Australian outback has been the most popular film both at home and abroad.
Critics say Australia's success this year is due to the filmmakers choosing scripts with a broader international appeal.
Jessica Tapp reports.
JESSICA TAPP: It's the audience every film-maker dreams of - the A-list film festivals are held every year in Berlin, Toronto, Cannes, Venice and Korea.
This year, Australia has films screening at all of them.
The head of Screen Australia, Ruth Harley, says Australian filmmakers and their films are becoming more popular every year.
RUTH HARLEY: I think one of the things that's helped is that Australia has got a buzz around it and I think that's because we've had a number of films over the last two or three years attracting significant international notice.
JESSICA TAPP: Ruth Harley says financial incentives like the producer offset, which offers a 40 per cent tax rebate to producers, has helped.
RUTH HARLEY: I do think the producer offset has been really influential and not just because of you know of getting very large films made here, like the Great Gatsby and Happy Feet and things like that, but because there are films, you know we've got bigger scale films coming out of the domestic industry.
JESSICA TAPP: The head of the Australian Film Critics Association, Peter Krausz, says it's not just about the money.
He says the success is the result of hard work and increased international experience.
PETER KRAUSZ: It shows the amount of work that has gone into the writing of Australian films over the last few years and also of making films that tap into a broader audience so they've become more successful.
JESSICA TAPP: Peter Krausz says being selected for an A-list screening will itself provide a huge boost to the Australian film industry.
PETER KRAUSZ: It doesn't matter so much which film festival a film is screened at - to be selected and to be part of a film festival already gives a film a lot of kudos and a lot of marketing potential but also demonstrates that there is a broader audience out there that would be interested in that film but certainly Toronto, Cannes, Venice, Berlin are some of the top festivals.
JESSICA TAPP: Peter Krausz says this year's result is part of an ongoing trend in the Australian film industry. He expects the success to continue.
PETER KRAUSZ: So really in Australia, we're punching above our weight in many respects with the percentage of films that are achieving some sort of success and I think you'll find that with films like the Animal Kingdom, Red Dog, The Hunter and so on, that these are films that have been very well written and very carefully produced but also with the idea in mind that there is a very large audience potential out there and that they will appeal to people overseas because of the ideas and the universality of some of their themes.
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