Cirrus@Austlit

'Borrowed, remixed, archival, or appropriated images and sounds that are used to build found footage montages have the potential to create counter narratives that disrupt the illusion of a dominant, homogenous sense of identity proposed by films representative of a nation. The creative process of researching, accessing, watching, selecting, cutting, and copying images from original sources have historically challenged the definitions and limitations of piracy. However, this approach to filmmaking can also be seen as one that is necessarily oppositional and defiant, one that reveals the illusion implicit in national cinema and speaks back to those forces that regulate the circulation of images and sounds under the guise of protecting intellectual property rights. This can be seen acutely in a tendency in post-celluloid filmmaking, particularly in films that draw from the archive with the aim of creatively revising film history and its deep connection to the national imaginary.' (Introduction)

'Seventy years ago, in January, 1952, The Australian Council of Film Societies presented a program of international films in Olinda, on the outskirts of Melbourne. The following year this event became known as the Melbourne Film Festival. What was initiated in those early days was a festival that was dedicated to screening films that might not otherwise have been seen in Australia. What has emerged, 70 years later, is an international festival with multiple programming strands, initiatives designed to support emerging careers of local filmmakers and an international festival with global influence and an enduring history. MIFF is the largest and longest surviving film festival in the southern hemisphere. Whilst it curates programs of latest releases, it also anticipates, perhaps even influences, the future of film culture.'(Introduction)