Adelaide’s film industry witnessed an extraordinary feat this year as the first annual Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) became its most successful edition to date. The event outperformed the previous year, boasting a 13% rise in box office sales from 2022 and a remarkable 78% surge from the last pre-pandemic event held in 2018.
This leap in success follows the Malinauskas Government delivering on its promise of transforming the state’s premier film festival into an annual event with an additional $4 million investment. Half of this amount was allocated to ensure the festival’s annual occurrence, while the remaining $2 million was invested in the Adelaide Film Festival’s Investment Fund to aid the creation of South Australian films.
‘The first annual Adelaide Film Festival was its biggest on record, smashing last year’s box office sales’, says Andrea Michaels, State Minister for the Arts. ‘The 2023 Adelaide Film Festival has been an incredible celebration of cinema with South Australian films firmly in the spotlight, and I congratulate Mat Kesting and his team on a fantastic record-breaking event.’
This year’s AFF spotlighted South Australian talent with two standout films bookending the event. The festival was inaugurated with Kitty Green’s ‘The Royal Hotel’, a project executed in South Australia and helmed by the Academy Award-winning company See-Saw Film. On the closing night, audiences were treated to ‘My Name’s Ben Folds – I play piano’, a film directed by Scott Hicks with the support of the Adelaide Film Festival’s Investment Fund.
The festival, which ran from October 18 to 29, showcased an expansive catalogue of over 130 films hailing from 43 countries. Among these, 27 world premieres and 38 Australian premieres were unveiled, illustrating the festival’s global reach and influence.
South Australia’s contribution and potential in the realm of film and television is evident. The region is rapidly gaining momentum and credibility for its outstanding productions, catching the eye of major international projects.
Adelaide Film Festival CEO Mat Kesting said, “2023, our first year as an annual Festival, has been an incredible celebration of cinema talent from South Australia, the Asia Pacific region and around the world. I’m incredibly proud of the work of the AFF team in creating a Festival that has been so warmly embraced by audiences and one that nurtures screen culture and builds new audiences for the cinema arts.’
With such an exceptional year behind them, the Adelaide Film Festival is poised to be a key event for film enthusiasts, filmmakers, and industry professionals in the years to come.
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