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Australian Film Festival - Kine Kangguru 2004 (21-27 Jan 2004)

In cooperation with PPHUI, the Australian Embassy held a festival of contemporary Australian films from 21-27 January 2004. Following up on the success of the Australian Film Festival in October 2001, and to meet popular demand, the Embassy decided to stage another festival to give Indonesian audiences a further opportunity to see some Australian films which had not previously been given cinema release in Indonesia.

The films were selected by the Australian Film Commission, in collaboration with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, for their excellence and international appeal. They were part of a touring festival, which is also being shown in Malaysia, China, Russia, Canada, Jordan, Kenya, Hungary and Romania after Jakarta. All the films in the festival have won a number of Australian and international awards and feature acclaimed actors, writers and directors. Nine films were shown in the festival, together with a special session of short films and a discussion about Australian cinema aimed at film-makers, film enthusiasts and film students.

Sinopsis of films in Kine Kangguru 2004
THE BANK
THE BANK is a gripping tale of power, corruption and revenge set in the world of high finance. Jim Doyle (David Wenham) is a maths genius searching for a formula that can predict future stock market crashes. Simon O'Reilly (Anthony LaPaglia) is the CEO of Centabank who lures Jim to work for his bank, so that it can benefit from any future stock market collapse. But who is Jim Doyle really and why has he suddenly emerged from academia to run the biggest banking scam in decades? At the projected time of the biggest stock market crash ever, Jim takes Centabank's and Simon's future into his own hands. The Cast includes David Wenham, Anthony LaPaglia, Sibylla Budd

THE DISH

Based on a true story, THE DISH follows the emotions, drama and laughter behind the Apollo XI mission to the moon in 1969 and the extraordinary role Australia played. NASA originally intended southern hemisphere radio telescopes to be used as 'back-up' to the main receiver in America, but a last-minute flight schedule change meant the telescope in Australia would be in position to receive the famous images of man's first steps on the moon. Then just hours before the crucial moment, disaster strikes at the radio telescope, affectionally known as "the Dish", and the team of scientists realise they have temporarily lost contact with the Apollo XI spaceship. Add to that a freak storm with possible life-threatening circumstances and you have an exciting, emotional and very funny story, showing how the team worked together to bring the world the first famous pictures of man walking on the moon. The Cast includes Sam Neill, Kevin Harrington, Tom Long, Patrick Warburton, Genevieve Mooy.

LANTANA

A woman disappears. Four marriages are drawn into a tangled web of love, deceit, sex and death. Not all of them survive. LANTANA is a psychological thriller about love. It's about the mistakes we make, the consequences we suffer, and the attempts we make to fix things up.

Detective Leon Zat (Anthony LaPaglia) moves through a dark labyrinth of human relationships on his journey to solve the mystery of the woman's disappearance. He strips away layer after layer to reveal the tender and dark underbelly of this perplexing obsession between men and women called love. Each layer causes him to reflect back on his own marriage, on what he has lost and what he must get back. Cast includes Anthony LaPaglia, Geoffrey Rush, Barbara Hershey, Kerry Armstrong, Rachael Blake, Vince Colosimo, Russell Dykstra, Leah Purcell, Daniela Farinacci, Peter Phelps and Glen Robbins.

LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI

With three generations of strong willed women, life is never dull around the Alibrandi household. Inter-generational conflict, the sometimes uneasy adaptation of cultural traditions to new environments, changing boundaries for women, love, maturity and self identity are all explored through Josie (Pia Miranda), Christina (Greta Scacchi) and Nonna Katia's (Elena Cotta) volatile and complex relationships. Josie's world is split between her home and family in Inner Western Sydney and her school, a prestigious private Catholic girls' school in the Eastern Suburbs.

Josie's desire to be a part of the privileged world of middle class Australia is at odds with her chaotic, unconventional home life - and with her own strong and individualistic spirit. Her confusion is heightened by her first experiences of love, in which she finds herself torn between a handsome, high achieving private school boy and the scruffy, non conformist. And then she suddenly has to negotiate a relationship with a third man - Michael Andretti (Anthony LaPaglia), the father who she has never met.
Cast includes Greta Scacchi, Anthony La Paglia, Pia Miranda

LOVE SERENADE

Set in the Australian country town of Sunray, LOVE SERENADE is the story of Vicki-Ann (Rebecca Frith) and Dimity (Miranda Otto) Hurley, aged 26 and 21 respectively, who are both beset by the notion that somehow the world is passing them by. Vicki-Ann in particular feels sharply the lamentable lack of decent boyfriend material in town. Dimity has apparently given up completely and shifted attention to her chief interest in life, fish. So when Ken Sherry (George Shevtsov) - mid 40's, thrice-divorced, ex Drivetime King of Brisbane Radio - arrives in Sunray to take over the tiny radio station, the sisters respond by abandoning all sibling loyalty and launching into a stormy battle for his affections.

A black comedy with a steamy soundtrack of 70's classics, LOVE SERENADE is the story of the one who didn't quite get away.
Cast includes Miranda Otto, Rebecca Frith, George Shevtsov.

THE MAGIC PUDDING

Based on the classic Australian children's story by Norman Lindsay, THE MAGIC PUDDING is a unique animated feature about Albert (John Cleese), a magic pudding who can turn himself into just about anything and who never runs out, who is being pursued by a gang of pudding thieves on behalf of the giant wombat called Buncle (Jack Thompson), who will stop at nothing to get his greedy paws on the one thing he wants more than life itself. Albert!
Cast includes John Cleese, Geoffrey Rush, Sam Neill, Jack Thompson, Hugo Weaving, John Laws, Toni Collette

THE MAN WHO SUED GOD

When lightning strikes and sinks Steve Myers (Billy Connolly)' fishing boat (and home), the insurance company declares it an Act of God and, refuses to pay. No man can prevail against the might of the multinational. Angry and hungover, Steve, a former lawyer, sees no way but to sue the other party - God.
Cast includes Judy Davis, Billy Connolly, Wendy Hughes, Colin Friels, John Howard

SIAM SUNSET

Perry's perfect life creating colours for an English paint company has become one of constant misfortune. In desperation, he travels to one of the most desolate parts of Australia, on what turns out to be one of the world's worst bus tours, where he hopes to find a special colour called Siam Sunset that will somehow bring about his salvation from the natural disasters which mysteriously torment him.
Cast includes Linus Roache, Danielle Cormack, Ian Bliss, Roy Billing, Alan Brough, Rebecca Hobbs

YOLNGU BOY

Caught in a collision between the brave new world of rap and football and the oldest living culture on earth, Lorrpu, Botj and Milika are three aboriginal teenagers who once shared a childhood dream of becoming great hunters together. However, things change, dreams become harder to attain. Botj is "walking on the wild side" a lost soul in search of a place. When Botj goes too far and finds himself on the wrong side of black and white law, Lorrpu must weigh up his own future against saving the future of his friend. He persuades the boys to trek to Darwin to argue Botj's case with Dawu, a tribal leader. Leaving behind their kinship and community, the boys journey through the unforgiving wilderness of North East Arnhem Land to Darwin. To survive, Lorrpu, Milika and Botj must draw on a combination of the ancient bush knowledge they were taught as boys, Botj's unique street instinct, and most importantly, on the bonds of their friendship.
Cast includes Nathan Daniels, Sean Mununggurr, Sebastian Pilakui