“I don’t think I’d want to ever go much bigger than 370,” laughs Carey in MIFF HQ, looking over the Lindt Café in Collins St as she thumbs through the 2015 program. “We had to say no to a lot of good stuff. We could have gone much bigger if we wanted to. It’s constantly a push/pull thing. We want to show everything, but we can’t. We’re still limited, whether it be by venues, days, audiences.”
There’s a highly energised undertone in Carey’s voice and it’s impossible not to be swept up by her enthusiasm. For the past year Carey and her programming team have been scouring the globe for the most evocative and enthralling stories told on the big screen.
“In September, when the Toronto International Film Festival starts, is the beginning of our cycle,” she says. “We work on a 12-month cycle, from September to August. We watch films at festivals, read reviews, talk to film-makers, watch as much as we can and slowly begin to start plotting things. As we get closer and closer to July we start noticing things within the programming. We notice patterns. For example, this year we have the Witness to the Fact – True Crime on Film program strand, as we noticed there were a lot of really strong true crime documentaries out there.”
Another new program strand within the 2015 program is Psychedelic! which features a mind-melting selection of films that audiences rarely get to see on the big screen, including Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1973 epic The Holy Mountain, George Dunning’s 1968 animated look into The Beatles’ world Yellow Submarine, and Bert Deling’s 1973 Dalmas, whichdelves deep into LSD, murder and Melbourne.
“The whole point of the Psychedelic! strand is to put to the forefront that cinema can be so visually intense,” Carey says. “It’s not always just about a story. It’s important to feel that, like the way that we experience music.”
This year MIFF are asking audiences to ‘Watch How You Feel’, an exploration of the power that film has to conjure a broad range of emotions. “Something that all film does, no matter the genre, is make you feel something,” explains Carey. “Well, all good film should make you feel something. We want audiences to take notice of what they’re feeling, whether it be anger, happiness, sadness or what have you.”
Carey, who was a programmer under the previous Artistic Director Richard Moore since 2007, and has attended for many years further, has seen the festival transform and evolve in many ways, shapes and forms. “I think the overall program each year is a reflection of the director at the time,” she says. “I’ve seen them under the James Hewison years, the Richard Moore years and now my years. It’s always a reflection of the director’s tastes, knowledge and contacts. I also feel like the audiences are changing. I feel like they’re getting younger, or maybe I’m just more attuned to that. I’m seeing a lot more younger people at the festival. Maybe that’s because of the films, or that’s influencing the films.”
As with almost any form of art, contemporary film is also a reflection upon society. It studies political climates, civil trends and various other ways that the world is being culturally shaped. “I think there have been certain waves that have come and gone,” says Carey. “When I was first coming to MIFF there was a massively strong Southeast Asian focus. We try to keep that there, but I feel like perhaps that’s not as hugely strong as it used to be. There was a time when there were a lot of documentaries about architecture but we don’t seem to come across as much of that anymore. Now I’m seeing more culinary documentaries, more crime documentaries, more experimental features and more mid-length features become more apparent and present in festivals around the world.”
It would take days to explore the entire 2015 program. Literally. From the carefully selected global selection in International Panorama, the food-focused Culinary Cinema, the celebration of old cinema Masters and Restorations, or the ten large-scale works that’ll be projected in vertical cinemascope in Vertical Cinema, the program is an eclectic extravaganza highlighting Melbourne’s love of film in all its forms. It’s not all about the big screen, however. Critics Campus will help foster the film critics of the future, Premiere Fund will continue to support independent filmmakers, the volunteer program that MIFF couldn’t survive without will give hundreds the chance to make contacts and gain experience within the industry, and singles may even meet a cinephile counterpart in the speed-dating series Meet Me At MIFF.
As we reach the final page of the program Carey reiterates the role that MIFF plays in cultivating Melbourne’s film culture. “We have so many responsibilities to Melbourne, but one of the key ones is to bring cinema to this city that people wouldn’t otherwise get to see, or maybe not even about,” she says. “It’s about exposing Melbourne to the latest, greatest, interesting, bizarre or whacked-out film that’s out there.”
(Some of) Michelle Carey’s Picks of the Festival:
OK. It wouldn’t be fair to ask an Artistic Director to talk about every film in the program that they love, but here are a just few of Carey’s personal highlights.
Arabian Nights
“This will be really special. It’s a three-part film that goes for over six hours from Portugal.”
Karrabing Film Collective Shorts
“The Karrabing Film Collective are from up north and almost no one has heard of them. Their films are so interesting and so it the way they make them. It’s not just one person – they all come together to share stories.”
Gayby Baby
“This one has proven to be so popular – it’s a terrific story to tell.”
Mountains May Depart
“This is a Chinese film that was actually partly filmed in Perth. We had the director Jia Zhangke as a festival guest in the past.”
A German Youth
“This is one of my favourites. It’s a beautifully put together documentary of ’60s counter-culture in Germany and France, particularly the Baader-Meinhof Gang. I think it has a lot of resonance today, and the grey are of what we view as a terrorist and just someone speaking their mine.”
BY TYSON WRAY
