The Dungog Film Festival (May 28 to May 31) is one of innumerable annual festivals spread across the Australian film landscape, but, argues Dungog director Allanah Zitserman, the weekend-long event offers enough unique incentives to carve its own niche. In Film Australia caught up with Zitserman via email.

What separates the Dungog Film Festival from other film festivals in Australia? What are you guys doing differently?

Dungog Film Festival is a celebration of Australian films and filmmakers, showcasing over 150 films over four days. It presents shorts, documentaries and feature films in a non-competitive environment. Plus it has a unique education program that includes master classes, in-depth industry seminars and technical workshops and these are for all ages including schools students from rural communities.

The live script program, In The Raw, gives scriptwriters an opportunity to trial their work with a live audience, who get to experience a rehearsal process and are able to contribute their opinions of characters and storylines.

Dungog claims to provide the country’s comprehensive overview of Australian feature, documentary and short film productions over the past year. Is that right?

Yes, Dungog is the largest annual film festival of Australian film in the world. It presents an array of features, documentaries and short films. As well as Stone Bros., seven other films will have their world premiere in Dungog this year: The Sculptor, The Identity Project, Storage, Bad Bush, Girl Clock, Hobby Farm and The Dinner Party.

Documentaries include the Australian premiere of The Boot Cake, about an Indian town that is home to the world’s largest population of Charlie Chaplin (‘The Tramp’) impersonators. Back to Bourke, a sensitive depiction of an employed indigenous family and their attachment to their land in the Murray River Basin has its world premiere.

This year, 105 remarkable short films demonstrate the talents and vision of both experienced and relatively new filmmakers. The festival also includes some of the best offerings of Tropfest, providing them with a new rural audience.

Filmmakers express the view that Dungog is special because it lets them attend the festival screenings of their films in a friendly and relaxed location where professional views can be shared without the pressures of competition. They also get the rare privilege of seeing their films with a genuine audience, which makes a contribution to bridging the gap between the filmmaker and the viewer.

The festival offers a varied assortment of events, including readings, a cinematography class and of course plenty of screenings. What is your target demographic?

Dungog aims these events for film aficionados, general audiences and industry professionals. By holding the event in a small country town, the festival is providing cultural opportunities that are not usually available in this area.

What sort of turnout are you hoping for?

We are hoping to increase our turnout by 20% from last year, which was 9000 admissions. The festival has grown quickly since its inception in 2007 and now is a major event on the Events NSW Calendar.

What are your personal highlights from the program? What are you most excited about screening?

I’m most excited by the richness and diversity of Australian films that are showcased throughout the four days. I love this festival. I love the happiness it brings to young and old and ages in between, and to country and city folks. I love to see it making an impact on the Australian industry. I love that it attracts so many fantastic talented people who feel as passionate about our culture, our stories and our dreams as I do.

In Film has never interviewed a festival director who’s been able to identify a single favourite film amongst all the others that are screening. Will you be the first? If so, what is it?

My favourite film is… every single film selected for Dungog.

Part of the festival incorporates script readings from actors such as Bruce Spence. Can you tell us more about that?

In The Raw aims to assist writers/filmmakers improve their scripts. It is a chance for writers to “road test” their scripts prior to production.

Three scripts are in the program this year: Coming of Age, a comedy by Jonathan Worsley; Strangerland, a mystery thriller by Fiona Seres, and Sister Sister, a compelling tender-hearted drama by Dave Warner. Some of the actors who will read these scripts are John Derum, Bruce Spence, Susie Porter, Joan Sydney, Jeanie Drinan, Kat Stewart and Natasha Bassett.

Audiences really enjoy observing and contributing to the creative process at these readings.

Check out the Dungog Film Festival’s official website for more information.