Film Festivals - reflections on our wider society

The Sydney Film Festival for 2009 concluded on Sunday 14 June, after a relatively modest run this year - shortened by a week to reduce costs. There are now dozens of film festivals across the World with the most famous being Cannes and Sundance but several others such as Berlin, Venice, Toronto, Tribeca and Moscow are also well known and patronised. Film Festivals, particularly for alternate, art-house cinema often are reflections on societal trends, attitudes and current historical events. In many respects due to their non-block buster nature and limited expectations on commercial returns, this genre of film making can address topics which audiences may find difficult to accept - family dysfunctionalism, political issues, relationships, illnesses and even death are familiar themes. By using the medium of moving image, film conveys messages and provides stories with dimensional structure which other forms of communication do so with less success. The Sydney Film Festival in 2009 was no different with a selection of art-house films across the spectrum of features, documentaries, animation and docu-dramas. This year, films of interest included the black comedy '500 Days of Summer', 'Bronson', 'In the Loop', 'Louise-Michel' and five hours of Steven Soderbergh's view of the life of revolutionary, Che Guevara - screened in two parts.