This Saturday will see the launch of the inaugural Mocs and Docs 2804 Film Fest at the Age of Fishes Museum.
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It is a short film festival for documentaries and mockumentaries involving STEM based themes.
Chief organiser of the festival, Peter Stacey, said he was excited to see how the films’ directors had incorporated the inaugural signature item "Fossil".
“The signature item is a fossil, because of the Age of Fishes Museum,” he said.
“It’s interesting how our three age groups, primary school, high school and the adult section, looked at that signature item. It was quirky to see where people fit “fossil” in.
“The younger categories looked at physical fossils or an old person, where as the older categories looked at it in terms of fossil fuels, climate change, things like that,” he said.
Mr Stacey said while the festival had drawn international interest with a number of overseas entries, the focus was to support the Country Education Foundation of Canowindra.
“We’ve got international movies, some having come from Russia, Norway and America, all really good ones to,” he said.
“But the bottom line is it’s for the country education fund with the ultimate goal to give kids the best start in terms of education.”
“It doesn’t have to be for university, it could be a young shearer might need a new set of shears, it might be someone who needs a resume done, someone who just wants to have a nice suit and tie for an interview or someone who wants to become a butcher and needs a set of knifes.
“It’s across the board for any trade, we need to cover all the kids, and not let them slip through the gap. We also try to identify kids who might be a bit scared of doing the online application,” he said.
The awards and prizes on offer are:
- Best Documentary (Over 18 years of Age) - 8 minutes in length - $1,000 AUD
- Best Mockumentary (Over 18 Years of Age) - 8 minutes in length - $1,000 AUD
- Best Documentary Junior (12 - 17 years and under) - 4 minutes in length - $500 AUD
- Best Mockumentary Junior (12 - 17 years and under) - 4 minutes in length - $500 AUD
- Best Documentary (0-11 years of Age) - 2 minutes in length - $250 AUD
- Best Mockumentary (0-11 years of Age) - 2 minutes in length - $250 AUD
There will also be a special Shearer’s Award for best the best film on the night selected by local shearers.
The Country Education Foundation of Canowindra will also be announcing the successful grant applicants for this year.
Mr Stacey thanked all those who had supported the festival; Newcrest Mining Cadia Valley Operations, Cabonne Council, the Age of Fishes Museum, Windowrie Wines and the Royal Hotel.
He encouraged the whole community to come along and support the evening.
“You’ve got to start somewhere and I thought out here under the stars, it would be a really nice night with the community,” he said.
“One of our film buffs came to me and said ‘what you are doing is great, don’t get discouraged in your first year. Tropfest started in it’s first year with only nine films.
“We’ll also put it to the audience on the night to come up with next year’s signature item and once the 13th is finished, we’re open for entries again,” he said.
Canowindra Mocs and Docs 2804 film festival will be held at the Age of Fishes Museum from 6:30pm to 9:30pm. Movies will start at approximately 7:30pm.
The cost is a gold coin donation on entry, there will be a sausage sizzle and movie snacks available on the night.
