Into the Shadows on DVD!!

Ronin Films is proud to announce the DVD release of
INTO THE SHADOWS
A film by Andrew Scarano [Rated M, 90 mins]

Now available with 73 minutes of Extras

“A hard hitting and eloquent documentary ... that deserves to be taken seriously” - Andrew Urban, www.urbancinefile.com.au
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INTO THE SHADOWS (Rated M, 90 minutes) journeys behind the big screen to meet the filmmakers, distributors and exhibitors who bring Australian films to us, the audience. Away from the bright lights, the red carpets and the paparazzi, an awful truth is discovered. The cinema was once a place where Australian culture thrived: audiences were educated, entertained and inspired by Australian stories, characters and landscapes. But now, alarmingly, out of the $945.4 million spent at the Australian box-office in 2008, only $35.5 million (3.8%) was spent on Australian films. Australian films are clearly not connecting with the cinema-going audience. Why?
INTO THE SHADOWS begins by tracing the history of Australian cinema, from the initial production boom in 1910-12, declining steadily to the barren post-war years. The film investigates the regeneration of the domestic production industry in the 1960s, championed by a dedicated few. Bruce Beresford, Anthony Buckley, Phillip Adams and Alan Finney recount what the atmosphere was like in the 1960s and 1970s, while distributors and exhibitors and the elite of the film industry including Bruce Beresford, Brendan Cowell, Phillip Adams and Rolf De Heer, reveal how important the independent art-house cinemas were in contributing to the re-birth of the industry.

The closure of many of these independent art-house cinemas in recent years, exacerbates the difficulties that producers have in reaching cinema screens on a fair and equitable basis. These difficulties parallel the growing number of Australian films remaining unreleased. But all is not lost. A new generation of Australian filmmakers have emerged and continue to push at the boundaries of the cinema trade, exploring new ways of connecting to the ever elusive audience.

To order a DVD please go to www.roninfilms.com.au

Opening the 2009 Melbourne Underground Film Festival

Its Official! Into the Shadows will opening the 2009 Melbourne Underground Film Festival!

Here is how the organisers of the festival summed up the documentary. Hope to see you there.

Into the Shadows
dir. Andrew Scarano / AUS

For ten years MUFF has been championing independent and
underground filmmaking and highlighting the appalling state
of the Australian film industry. This year, we are proud to
screen Andrew Scarano and Phil Hignett’s feature documentary
(fresh from last year’s MUFF Academy), which follows these
exact issues with precision and integrity. The film tracks the
development of Australian film from its inception, through
the glory years of the 1970s to the travesty of today, and
emphasizes the need for a rebirth of independent cinema
and for new and revolutionary ways of screening films.

Featuring exclusive must-see interviews from Andrew Denton,
George Miller, Rolf De Heer, Scott Hicks, Bruce Beresford,
representatives from Disney, Sony, Madman and scores of
independent Aussie cinemas and festivals, and many many
more (including MUFF’s own Richard Wolstencroft!) as well
as amazing footage of landmark events such as the closure
of independent cinema Electric Shadows in 2006. You won’t
believe how much you’ll learn from this film. It’ll open your
eyes, move you, enrage you, and force you into action. Into
the Shadows is not only a fantastic film, it’s an important one
- for anyone who identifies with MUFF’s ideology, who despairs
at the state of our nation’s film industry, who laments the
dominance of the multiplex over the independent theatre, and
asks – why? And more to the point – what can we do about it?
Q&A with filmmakers to follow.

VOTE FOR IF AWARDS

We had a very positive screening at Dungog Film Festival!

The audience that saw the film all seemed to have a reaction to it: wether they were frustrated by the state of the Australian film industry, impassioned to do something about Australian film culture or simply soaked in the film - even a few laughs along the way which was cool.

If you saw the film at Dungog then show your support by visiting theIF AWARDS website. Here you can register and vote for
INTO THE SHADOWS. The winner is decided by the overall score given not the amount of votes so if you liked the film get behind it and hopefully we can encourage more people to see it and begin discussing, debating the issues that come out of the documentary.

Cheers-
Andrew.

Encore Article

Into the Shadows is in Encore!

About a month ago Phil and I had a chat with Tracey from Encore Magazine (over the phone) and it led to this article being published about Into the Shadows. It’s our first picture in a film magazine and hopefully another step forward for the film. What do you guys think?