Winton’s Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival celebrates 11 years of promoting Aussie cinema

In just a decade a small town in Outback Queensland has become a booming hub for Australian cinema, with punters from across the country flocking to get involved this week.

Film buffs gather at Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival (Photo: Tourism and Events Queensland)

The outback’s biggest film festival is well under way, celebrating more than ten years of showcasing Australian movies.

The Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival is now on in the state’s west at Winton, making the small outback town in western Queensland a hub for movie lovers.

In its tenth year, the festival focuses on showcasing Australian talent in the cinema realm and playing the best the homegrown film industry has to offer.

Festival director Dr Greg Dolgopolov has been involved since the festival’s inception and said the festival has only grown stronger, with punters travelling from across Australia to attend year after year.

Winton already has a long history with the art of the motion picture, with films like The Proposition, Goldstone and Mystery Road being shot there, making the small rural town somewhat of an ‘Outback Hollywood’.

It was the premiere of Mystery Road, filmed in the town, which debuted at the Winton Royal Theatre which spurred the idea for the festival, Dr Dolgopolov said.

“It really is in the middle of nowhere, but it made sense to show exclusively Australian films right here in the Outback,” he said.

“Winton is tiny, it has about 600 people in its population, it’s almost like having five million people turn up to the Brisbane Film Festival, the biggest problem is accommodation.”

Dr Dolgopolov said the festival benefited from the pandemic, with a focus on local state tourism seeing a boom in “Outback tourism”.

“With the town booked out our only limitation is accommodation, we have loyal fans who travel from Sydney and Brisbane and buy season tickets and try to see all the films,” he said.

Greg Dolgopolov and Pete Lewis at the Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival in 2021 (Photo: File)

“Last year we had about three people who saw 90 per cent of all the films which is pretty incredible, because that’s about 50 films.”

It’s not just festival goers enjoying Winton’s movie magic. The festival invites film students to come to the town to shoot short films, which are then played at the festival on closing night.

“The locals are engaged and incredibly generous, they offer up their houses, cars, wardrobes and even guns as props for the student films, and that kind of engagement is so acute,” Dr Dolgopolov said.

“There’s not a lot of young people in Winton, so it’s good the locals can see young kids doing things.”

The festival is a great chance for Dr Dolgopolov to choose quirky and unseen independent Australian films, which ordinarily wouldn’t get any sort of release.

Winton Royal Open Air Theatre. (Photo: file)

“I think last year there were 150 films made in Australia, obviously they’re not all big, but I think audiences like to see these indie films with other people, which is hard to do,” he said.

“I talked to some people walking out of a film like this who thought it was fantastic and knew they wouldn’t see it anywhere else because it wouldn’t get a screening besides this festival.”

There’s also a lot to see and do as well, from live comedy to breakfast with the stars panels, with Winton is shaping up to be a film buff’s paradise.

“These stories have to be told. They’re told with enormous heart and passion, and there is an audience for them, it might not be enormous, but they’re committed,” he said.

You can check out the full program here.

The Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival runs until June 29.

Originally published as Winton’s Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival celebrates 11 years of promoting Aussie cinema