The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT10) Catalogue

Cinema The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 178 Production still from Acute Misfortune 2018 / Director: Thomas M Wright / Digital, colour, stereo, 91 minutes, Australia, English / Image courtesy: Arenamedia Production still from The Plastic House 2019 / Director: Allison Chhorn / Digital, colour, stereo, 46 minutes, Australia, Khmer (English subtitles) / Image courtesy: Allison Chhorn (opposite) Production still from Buoyancy 2019 / Director: Rodd Rathjen / Digital, colour, stereo, 93 minutes, Australia, Khmer/Thai (English subtitles) / Image courtesy: Umbrella Entertainment Production still from Strange Colours 2017 / Director: Alena Lodkina / Digital, colour, stereo, 85 minutes, Australia, English / Image courtesy: Bonsai Films Australian Next Wave Australia’s cinematic legacy is at a crossroads. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated many of the changes that have been brewing for years: viewing options for audiences are so diffuse as to be seemingly boundless, streaming services are encroaching on film festivals’ traditional role as the launching pad for independent productions, and theatrical windows for films are shrinking or disappearing entirely. While the prospect of making a film is now more accessible than ever due to inexpensive digital equipment, when and how it will be viewable by audiences is an increasingly uncertain prospect — most pointedly for filmmakers without an established public profile. ‘Australian Next Wave’ presents a selection of Australian debut feature films and documentaries made since 2017, exploring some of the emerging voices enriching our national cinema with their artistic daring. Despite the structural hurdles that exist for the production and distribution of Australian films, thoughtful and inventive filmmakers continue to emerge each year, often with films stitched together from multiple funding sources. This program is an opportunity to reflect on works by artists who are at the vanguard of local independent filmmaking. The films themselves are diverse in tone and content. They range from ramshackle comedies and unflinching portraits of suburbia’s dark underbelly to period dramas re-examining our nation’s unspoken histories. They present locations as disparate as the sands of Christmas Island (Gabrielle Brady’s hybrid-documentary Island of the Hungry Ghosts 2018), the garish opulence of Sydney harbour mansions (James Vaughan’s droll satire Friends and Strangers 2021), and the harsh deserts of Central Australia (Dylan River’s incisive racing study Finke: There and Back 2018). APT10 Cinema