CinéfestOZ boost for Western Australian festivals and tourism

The recent CinéfestOZ festival has been a major boost for event tourism in the South West of Western Australia.

Held from 21st to 24th August in the South West seaside centres of Busselton, Bunbury, Dunsborough and the Margaret River wine region, the festival drew more than 18,000 attendances.

Showcasing Australian and French films through a program of premiere film screenings, short film and documentary screenings and film industry events, CinéfestOz has grown from selling 1,900 tickets in its first year to 12,400 in 2013 and to greater numbers this year.

CinéfestOz Chief Executive Malinda Nixon estimates 10% to be film industry visitors, with the remaining 90% split evenly between locals and visitors from outside the Margaret River region.

Film director Robert Connolly thinks the enthusiasm shown by locals for CinéfestOz mirrors a trend in the way people consume culture.

Connolly told the Guardian Australia “the festivalification of the arts is really interesting.

"Films that might have got a boutique theatrical release are just playing the festival circuit to packed audiences and really obscure, tough cinema at a festival sells out. 

"But if it was in a theatrical release, people wouldn’t go ... so what the festival does is give the night out some other kind of value.”

Connolly added "to get people to go out, you need to make it an event. And how do you make it an event? You put it within a festival framework. People don’t just look at what’s on and think, ‘Oh, I’ll go and see that’ – we’re past that.”

Connolly also believes the rising popularity of events like CinéfestOz and Melbourne international film festival is indicative of modern cinemagoing culture in Australia.

Despite recent cuts to arts funding in the Federal budget, director Bruce Beresford, Chairman of the 2014 festival jury, also sees a rosy future for Australian film and CinéfestOz.

Beresford stated “festivals like this one which publicise Australian films and bring them to the public are crucial in keeping the whole thing going."

CinéfestOZ also boosted boost for Western Australian tourism according to Wyndham Vacation Resort’s & Spa Dunsborough’s General Manager Damien Keenan.

Keenan added “the festival is one of Australia’s most unique cultural events and highlights the Margaret River Region region as an exciting holiday destination.

“With the average length of stay averaging four nights, it’s clear that CinéfestOZ injects significant economic benefits to the region.”

Actor Joel Edgerton, one of a number of stars that attended the festival, was named CinéfestOZ Screen Legend for 2014.

The event is backed by the Western Australian Government's Royalties for Regions program through its ScreenWest agency.

For more information go to www.cinefestoz.com

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