BBFF 2012 Official Selection: Sounds Like a Revolution
Sounds Like a Revolution is pro-active and an energizing documentary about a new generation of activist musicians who are living proof that music is an important and powerful tool in the ongoing struggle for social change. From the Dixie Chicks to Paris, Michael Franti and Anti-Flag, artists across the musical spectrum discuss their motivations and struggles in a post-9/11 environment when dissent was silenced and media outlets either ignored them or forced them into self-censorship before their material was released. Now with the decade gone, the Internet and Obama bring new hope…..
Including local star NATALIE PA’APA’A from BLUE KING BROWN
Click through for the trailer…
BBFF Official Selection: Day at the Pool
A Day at the Pool is a documentary-style film that attempts to uncover the true origins of modern skateboarding. Interviews with Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, Jay Adams and the rest of the Dogtown Crew reveal that an anonymous local kid may have been largely responsible for the skateboarding revolution that lead to their success in the late 70s.
BBFF 2012 Official Selection: Crazy Wisdom
Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, ‘the bad boy of Buddhism,’ shattered Westerners’ notions about how an enlightened teacher should behave, yet he is recognized as being the pivotal person to bring Buddhism to the west. Raised in the rigorous Tibetan monastic tradition, Trungpa fled his homeland during the Chinese Communist invasion of 1959. In Britain, seeing his monk’s robes blocked his students’ understanding of Buddhism, he renounced his monastic vows, eloped with a sixteen year-old and embraced western life.
BBFF 2012 Official Selection: Beauty Day
BEFORE THERE WAS JACKASS… THERE WAS RALPH ZAVADIL.
Adrenaline Junkies are going to love this crazy documentary.
“Everyone should have a friend like Ralph.”
His cable access television show, The Cap’n Video Show, ran from 1990 to 1995, spawning a small but loyal cult following. Each week Ralph performed a series of idiotic and occasionally dangerous stunts, challenging the sensibilities of his small Southern Ontario audience. With the advent of the internet and reality television still years away, his unique brand of gross-out stunt comedy was truly ahead of its time. All it took was a broken neck for him to get noticed.
Click through for the killer trailer…
BBFF2012 Official Selection: Decadence
BBFF2012 has received over 900 entries and after months of viewing we’re pleased to announce a highlight of the 2012 Festival. Our first Official Selection to be publically announced is Pria Viswalingam’s acclaimed documentary Decadence: The Decline of the Western World.
Decadence: The Decline of the Western World has been receiving rave reviews and is sure to be a winner with the BBFF Audience.
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The Byron International Documentary Prize
BBFF Festival Director J’aimee Skippon-Volke & Screenzone Managing Director Michael Weatherhead. Photo by Jensta
The inaugural Byron International Documentary Prize, a no-strings cash grant of $5000, has been announced by the Byron Bay International Film Festival (BBFF) and ScreenZone, a new venture created locally which brings together documentary makers and online retailing.
ScreenZone will be launched at the 2012 festival and has put up the funds for the prize.
BBFF Official Selection: Cultures of Resistance
Country of Origin: USA Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Burmese, Farsi, Hebrew, Vietnamese, Dari, Kinyarwanda with English Subtitles
Directed by Iara Lee, Cultures of Resistance is a chilling yet inspiring feature documentary. Armed with only music, art, song and dance, this film is all about the power of people united by their desire to heal the most impoverished, enslaved nations of the world.
BBFF Official Selection: Queen of the Sun – What are the bees telling us?
Country of Origin: USA
Without bees, Albert Einstein said, “man would only have four years of life left.”
In 1923, Rudolf Steiner, a scientist, philosopher & social innovator, predicted that in 80 to 100 years honeybees would collapse. His prediction has come true with Colony Collapse Disorder, where bees are disappearing in mass numbers from their hives with no clear single explanation. In an alarming inquiry into the insights behind Steiner’s prediction QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us? weaves an unusual and dramatic story of the heart-felt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world.
click through for trailer
BBFF Official Selection: First Love
Country of Origin: Australia
First Love is about love, friendship and following your dreams. This feature length surf film documents the lives of three passionate teenagers from Phillip Island and follows them to Hawaii – the first step on their journey to making surfing a career.
click through for trailer
BBFF Official Selection: Umoja – No Men Allowed
‘Umoja – No Men Allowed’ tells the amusing and life-changing story of a group of impoverished tribal Samburu women in Northern Kenya who reclaim their lives, turning age-old patriarchy on its head when they set up a women’s only village.
BBFF Official Selection: Wild Horse, Wild Ride
A handful of unforgettable characters set out on a 100-day quest to tame a totally wild mustang for a Texas competition in this stunning and poignant documentary.
BBFF first Satelitte Session of 2011 announced
The Byron Bay Film Festival team has announced an exciting partnership that would bring a select Byron Bay Film Festival series of sessions to be held at the Malfunction Surf Festival. The annual surf festival will be held in 2011 in Kingscliff 23-27 March.
