The future of one of the region’s best-loved festivals is under threat, despite recording 15,000 attendances last year alone.
Sunshine Coast Film Festival is a unique regional event, with screenings all this month in Caloundra, Maroochydore, Nambour and Noosa cinemas.
Each year, hundreds of cinema-goers pack out each venue and many screenings are sold-out events.
The festival is “great films, great value, all done on a shoestring, all on the Sunny Coast”, founder Murray Power enthuses.
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But the “shoestring” is getting thinner and could pose dire consequences in the future.
Sunshine Coast Council provides sponsorship through the Arts and Heritage Levy and Major Grants, and the State Government funding is through Screen Queensland. But funding levels have declined in recent years, despite rising costs.
Corporate sponsorship is virtually non-existent, apart from the screening partners, long-time supporter Henzells Agency and WDCi/RIO Education.
“It’s our third festival and it’s growing in popularity, despite its pitiful funding levels, which are actually challenging its future,” Mr Power said.
“We used to get twice the funding five years ago to run just the Caloundra Film Festival. Now the expectation is that we run a region-wide film festival for half of what we used to get back in 2019.
“In real terms, the decline in funding is stark.
“Running around trying to get corporate sponsorships is exhausting, dispiriting and generally unrewarding. The big players all have the causes they support, and sport and humanitarian charities soak up most of that.
“Ticket sales are remarkably resilient, given that repeat sales for arts festivals have been in decline due to COVID and the surging cost of living.
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“Our festival is very good value for film lovers, though: three films for $39 if you buy a pass and that’s super cheap. We’re like ‘Super Cheap Autos’, except it’s for high-quality, foreign-language film, documentaries and special events.
“We’re the only festival in Australia that survives on box office. It’s a miracle of community support.”
Sunshine Coast Council has outlined its funding in recent years for the film festival and the reason why some financial support has disappeared.
Film festival funding to date
- 2023 Creative Industries Investment Program (CIIP): Sunshine Coast Film Festival (2023, 2024, 2025) – $17,500 per year, totalling $52,500 over three years (the only application funded from the levy)
- August 2022 Major Grant: 2023 Better World Film And Design Festival – $10,000
- March 2022 Major Grant: 2022 Sunshine Coast Film Festival – $15,000
- March 2021 Major Grant: 2021 Sunshine Coast Film Festival – $15,000
Previously, former divisional councillor Tim Dwyer supported Caloundra Film Festival through his discretionary funding program.
- 2018 Caloundra Film Festival: $32,500
- 2017 Caloundra Film Festival: $25,000
- 2016 Caloundra Film Festival: $25,000
- 2015 Caloundra Film Festival: $20,000
- 2014 Caloundra Film Festival: $15,000
But legislative changes have since impacted the councillor discretionary funding program, including reduced budgets (from about $100,000 per councillor down to $20,000-$25,000 per councillor).
The council spokesperson said CIIP funding was dependent on a few factors, including the number of new applications received and the outcomes of the project.
“However, the CIIP program was designed as a partnership to enable the strategic development of projects to move towards a more sustainable model and higher-level funding opportunities. As such, CIIP also offers a free strategic development program to the film festival and other CIIP participants,” they said.
Mr Power said the Sunshine Coast Film Festival was competing against other similar events from Gympie to Byron Bay that attracted hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding and sponsorship, “and we just want a level playing field”.
“I understand that the Sunshine Coast Council has many mouths to feed and the Sunshine Coast Film Festival is just one of them,” he said.
“But if the expectation is that we, as a region, are going to have a film industry that’s vibrant and has a part to play in the overall activities in the southeast corner, then the film festival has to be a proper representation of where we’re at.”
As for this year’s cinematic offerings, Mr Power said French comedy The Crime Is Mine from Francois Ozon – with three screenings – was the runaway winner for pure entertainment.
Set in 1930s Paris, Madeleine, a young and talentless actress, is accused of murdering a famous producer. Acquitted on the grounds of self-defence at her trial, she enjoys a new life of fame and success until another actress appears and claims the crime.
“It’s also good filmmaking. Great director, cast and set-up,” Mr Power said.
“Overall, the French films are all excellent, as is the German feature Afire.
“Let the River Flow, from Norway, is also very moving and the closing night film Bromley: Light After Dark, about artist David Bromley, is sensational.”
Mr Bromley, director Sean McDonald and producer Clare Plueckhahn are all attending for this Queensland premiere on October 25 (7pm, Nambour) and will participate in a Q&A with the audience.
Young Sunshine Coast filmmaker Kenny Waterson, who describes himself as a video content creator and storyteller, has finalised his second short documentary film called Unsung Heroes.
Based around three volunteers at a Coast football club, Unsung Heroes was partly funded through the Sunshine Coast Council’s RADF initiative.
The documentary will be shown alongside others produced locally and across the state at the Short Film Night, part of the festival on October 16 (from 7pm at Caloundra).
Mr Waterson’s 15-minute debut documentary, Pure Imagination, was shown at last year’s festival and followed local character Brad Houston as he tried to launch his dream business, Flicks4Good and make an impact in the world.
“(Waterson) is a good filmmaker with a strong eye, a good feel for story and a solid future ahead of him,” Mr Power said.
“We have Kenny’s film and lots of local productions on show at our short film night.
“The local filmmaking scene has undergone a resurgence with the incubator effect the Sunny Coast Showdown is having.
“We’re screening Slow Dating from that. It’s the directorial debut of Adam Szudrich who has many writing credits to his name and has come up with a good concept here.”
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