Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin have been named patrons of the 2019 Brisbane International Film Festival
Hot on the heels of the announcement Baz Luhrmann will make his next film in Queensland, the acclaimed filmmaker and his wife Catherine Martin have been announced as patrons of a major Brisbane festival
Confidential
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ACCLAIMED filmmaker Baz Luhrmann and his Academy Award-winning costume designer wife Catherine Martin are investing in Queensland’s film industry, being named patrons of this year’s Brisbane International Film Festival.
With Luhrmann set to make his next film, an untitled Elvis Presley project starring Tom Hanks and Austin Butler, on the Gold Coast, it is understood he expressed interest about increasing his involvement in the local film industry in Queensland which led to the patronage.
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BIFF 2019, presented by The Gallery of Modern Art, will open on October 3 at QAGOMA with the Queensland premiere of Judy & Punch and will run for 11 days until October 13.
The festival will include a selection of Luhrmann and Martin’s films, such as Strictly Ballroom (1992) and Moulin Rouge! (2001), while Luhrmann has also hand-picked some of his favourite films to screen, including Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979), Federico Fellini’s classic 8½ (1963) and Sergei Bondarchuk’s recently restored seven-hour epic War and Peace (1966).
“Together this creative Australian couple have brought to the world a spectacle of opulence and lavish melodrama seldom seen in Australian cinema. With their extensive international presence, we are honoured to have their patronage for the Festival this year,’ QAGOMA director Chris Saines said.
Luhrmann and Martin follow acclaimed director Bruce Beresford, who was patron of the 2018 event.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk added: ‘We’re particularly excited that BIFF 2019 is receiving the support of Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, the powerhouse creative duo whose untitled Elvis project will soon begin filming on the Gold Coast, and which is expected to employ 900 Queenslanders and inject more than $105 million into the local economy.”
Other highlights will include Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory, The Souvenir, and Jim Jarmusch’s star-studded zombie outing The Dead Don’t Die.
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