BBFF2024 Winners
The award-winners across all categories in the 2024 Byron Bay International Film Festival were announced last night, bringing the festival’s “enormously successful” 18th year to a close.
Festival director J’aimee Skippon-Volke said the judges faced their usual challenges, selecting the Best Of from an exceptionally high-quality range of films from Australia and the world.
The decisions were made a little easier by the fact that BBFF advocates for and supports independent filmmakers, Ms Skippon-Volke said, meaning the field of potential award winners is narrowed somewhat by the exclusion of films submitted to the festival through a mainstream distributor.
“A core principle of the Byron Bay International Film Festival’s mission is to encourage and enable independent filmmakers, whether emerging or established,” she said. “An award from BBFF is designed to give a boost to their professional career.”
The winners of the 2024 festival are:
BEST FILM and BEST SURF FILM
The Life & Death of Westerly Windina
This documentary succeeded in two categories, Ms Skippon-Volke said. “Not only is it a sensitive and humane story of a complex and extraordinary person but also an intriguing record of a uniquely gifted athlete. Peter Drouyn was a remarkable surfer, bringing an unprecedented aesthetic quality to the sport. And he was a very interesting human being, hyper-masculine, extroverted and ambitious in his early years, before transitioning into a shy and vulnerable woman.
The Life & Death … documents both all of these facets of his life. It is intelligent, serious, and respectful, as well as a courageous examination of what is often an unseen and shunned phenomenon. So much more than ‘just’ a surf film - the fact that it played to packed houses despite how challenging the story is for the more traditional surf community is testament to its value and significance.”
BEST DRAMATIC FEATURE
Backstage
“A brave entry from the Middle East, where the inclusion of at times erotic avant-garde dance, same sex attraction, drug use and bohemian values were integral to the storyline, Backstage is also brave in its artistic ambition – with a prolonged and passionate dance scene and a semi-mystical odyssey through a magical forest, where matters of memory, identity and the creative responsibility are teased out and questioned. It is artful, in the best sense of the word,” Ms Skippon-Volke said.
BEST DOCUMENTARY and BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Porcelain War
“A documentary that not only has great significance as an examination of a desperate contemporary issue, but also successfully compares and contrasts two extremes: the mindless destructiveness and brutality of war and the finely considered, meaningful pursuit of a creative ideal, represented by that most delicate of artworks, porcelain. The protagonists are inspiring, both as artists sticking to their work while under bombardment, and as armed defenders of their country, and the filming under dangerous conditions is remarkable: there is war footage, exquisite moments of peace and domesticity, and for good measure some beautiful animation to bringing both the art and the horrific true-life story to life.”
Nominees for Best Documentary: Art & Life: The Jim Phillips Story, Blak Douglas, The Most Australian Band Ever, Life & Death of Westerly Windina, Porcelain War, Unlikely Allies.
BEST ENVIRONMENTAL FILM
Fungi: Web of Life
“This study of some of the world’s fungi – including species found in Byron Shire – contains exquisite footage of this extraordinary form of life – and reveals not only their beauty and wonder, but also their importance in all of nature, and their significance as an ecological force to combat the mountains of plastic waste that are overwhelming us. It has enthusiastic boffins, tremendous visual appeal, mind-boggling detail, a mesmerising soundtrack and an inspirational message of hope – and all from the loveable voice of Bjork, something of a woodland nymph herself."
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
The Most Australian Band Ever
Battling racist aggro from the skinheads and resistance from a conservative rock press, the Hard-Ons achieved considerable success on the Australian music scene in the 1980s, and even showed UK bands a thing or two about punk attitude and musical chops. Their anarchic couldn’t give a flying fig approach to their music is brilliantly captured in The Most Australian Band Ever, directed by Jonathan J Sequeira, Ms Skippon-Volke said. “The film is an homage to this fantastic band, and successful as a rock doco but it’s also something much more. As the title ironically suggests, it speaks to both Australia’s multi-culturalism, and to its prejudices.”
BEST BYRON FILM
Fragments of a Half Life
Byron Bay filmmaker Johnny Abegg called upon his mother’s memories and his own grief to create a cinematic elegy for his dad, a troubled man and a distant father who was ill for two decades before he died. “The film is a moving and meditative expression of loss for what could not be – an intimate connection,” Ms Skippon-Volke said. “The use of the mum’s voice over – speaking directly to her son – is a clever and effective device, and adds an objective yet personal dimension to the story. And the symbolic use of the ocean, nature, and an evocative soundtrack take the film to the next level, to explore grief as a universal experience.”
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Hantu – Dyan Tai
Choreographer Shaun Parker shows why he is so respected in the dance world in his direction of this visual expression of an electronic anthem that explores queer liberation and its antithesis through the imagery of Hantu, or “ghost”. The video treatment of this experimental pop single, which incorporates Malaysian and Indonesian soundscapes and throat singing, calls upon Dyan Tai’s multicultural heritage and powerful physical street-dancer performances to produce a thrilling and imaginative work, Ms Skippon-Volke said.
BEST SHORT FILM
Loser
Californian Colleen McGuinness’s short film about a thoughtful young woman stalled by grief and low self-esteem has wit, compelling drama and psychological truth, while also serving as a commentary on contemporary American society, Ms Skippon-Volke said. “It is also a modern day fable – in which the hero, after facing a life-threatening challenge, endures and is strengthened by it.”
Nominees: Cold Water, Basri & Salma in a Never-Ending Comedy, Loser, The Letter, Superdupermegagigasingle, Camping in Paradise.
YOUNG AUSTRALIAN FILMMAKER OF THE YEAR
The Receptionist
“This tale of everyday harassment and isolation faced by a young woman in the workplace and at home is well-paced and subtle, with understated use of horror-film tropes to create a sinister atmosphere. Rachael Porthouse’s film is successful on all levels – visually, dramatically, and socially, including a protagonist’s turning the tables on her predator that is very satisfying,” Ms Skippon-Volke said.
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Just Beneath the Surface
“A beautiful, profound and moving film from Jimmy John Thaiday set on the island of Erub in the Torres Strait,” Ms Skippon-Volke said. “It brings awareness to the destructive environmental issue of ‘ghost nets’, the discarded commercial fishing nets abandoned in the world’s oceans and killing their inhabitants, but does so in a non-dogmatic, even poetic way. It is primarily a work of art – seductive and entrancing, a depiction of the wonders of the ocean that makes us see it anew, and fall in love with it all over again.”
ANIMATION
Trinket
“Unique and witty, Trinket conjures up a whole mysterious world with a story line that demands our attention, and a central character who it is impossible not to love, with a wildly imaginative artistry.”
BEST XR Experience
Oto’s Planet
“Beginning with playful whimsy, 'Oto’s Planet' seamlessly transitions into a darker narrative, offering an immersive experience that is both engaging and innovative. Its superb technical execution invites users to interact in ways that feel entirely fresh and impactful. This experience captivates the imagination, demonstrating the true potential of XR technology to transform our perceptions of narrative and play,"
Honourable Mention - Soul Paint
BEST SCREENPLAY
Riverwalk
Riverwalk tells the story of two young runaway brothers forced to survive on the mean streets of Los Angeles. Written by Robin Scovill and Lea Endres of Detroit, Michigan, the screenplay was described by Alex Mankiewicz – one of three Competition judges – as “apocalyptic in the vein of The Road, with strong yet archetypal characters traversing a believable familiar yet odd world”. The script, the first from Scovill and Endres, is “emotionally engaging”, Ms Mankiewicz said. “It is eminently makeable with a limited natural setting. Overall, it successfully manages to craft a two-hour journey with just two protagonists. Not easy.”
