Byron Bay Film Festival

Now in its fifth year, the Byron Bay Film Festival celebrates and supports the Byron Shire’s sizeable community of filmmakers over nine days of screenings and industry events, with a particular – though not exclusive – focus on short films and documentaries.

This year the festival will screen more than 150 films across 33 sessions, including a package of experimental shorts, and sessions programmed especially for students. Highlights include the opening night film BAS! Beyond the Red Light, a study of child trafficking by former Byron Shire resident Wendy Champagne; and closing night’s My Suicide, a dark romantic comedy about an isolated secondary school student who becomes the most popular boy in school when he announces his plan to film his suicide as a class assignment.

While the inaugural Byron Bay Film Festival in 2006 was almost entirely focused on screening local filmmakers’ work, Festival Director J’aimee Skippon-Volke says that the event rapidly expanded to include works by international filmmakers.

“It was initially a screening for the back-catalogue of the large number of filmmakers who live here in Byron Bay, and then in 2007 we went international, and basically it all expanded from that point on,” she tells Arts Hub.

Today the festival is well established as one of the region’s premiere cultural events, alongside the East Coast Blues and Roots Festival, the alternative music festival Splendour in the Grass, and the Byron Bay Writer’s Festival.

Key to the film festival’s success has been its mission to reflect the unique spirit of Byron
Bay on screen.

One of Australia’s most popular tourist destinations, Byron Bay has been populated by several successive waves of settlers, including surfers in the 1960s, hippies in the early ‘70s, and backpackers in the ‘80s and ‘90s; and has developed a reputation as an easy-going, environmentally-aware town. This is reflected in the festival’s program, which maintains a strong emphasis on social and environmental issues, human rights, diversity and multiculturalism, indigenous cultures, music, marine preservation, and surfing.

But while its mission to reflect Byron’s values is a consideration for Skippon-Volke when programming the festival, it’s not the only issue she must consider.

“We uphold Byron’s values, but that doesn’t mean we pigeonhole ourselves,” she says. “We do have films that have nothing to do with Byron whatsoever. That side of the program is about expanding people’s minds to other ways of life and living.”

The festival also hosts a range of free workshops covering such topics as copyright issues in a multi-platform age, the successful short film, and DIY distribution. While some of the workshops are clearly aimed at mid-career and established filmmakers, others, such as a panel entitled ‘Breaking into Surf Filmmaking’, are aimed at younger audiences.

“It’s about making things accessible to everyone, and definitely with the workshops we want to see young people and people who are really interested in getting into film – especially because we’re here regionally – having access to some top minds and basically having no real excuse not to come along.”

Several festival sessions are also programmed specifically with young people in mind, such as one session featuring a documentary about Byron Bay’s successful international export, the young hardcore band Parkway Drive.

“What appealed to me with this film was that – it’s already out on DVD and its gone platinum – I know that all the fans will have already seen it but it’s an extremely well-made documentary, and it’s a great opportunity for us to put youth issues, and youth culture, more to the point, out to an older audience,” Skippon-Volke says.

“I really do hope that we’ll encourage people who don’t normally come out to film festivals; because we’re programming such a flavour in there that they’ll be strongly attracted to the films, and actually experience what a film festival is all about. There are a lot of first-time film festival goers coming along to our festival.”