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Unhappy feet set to walk

Date: 20/03/2008
Words: 377
Source: SMH
Publication: Sydney Morning Herald
Section: News and Features
Page: 16
IT IS anybody's guess how much taxpayers have subsidised Australian movies since the revival of the local industry in 1970s. No doubt the figure is hundreds of millions of dollars. And for what? A few very good Australian movies, many that were indifferent, and some so bad they could never be shown. But no matter how bad the film, investors still got government support. What the public received is not so clear. Certainly not a viable local film industry. Now another few hundred million dollars of taxpayers' money is to be spent on a new parcel of incentives. The most costly will be the producer offset which will refund filmmakers 40 per cent of their local production costs. The industry is already fighting over the money. The concern is that big-budget productions from overseas, masquerading as local projects, will come here and gobble up all the money, leaving insufficient funds for lower-budget local movies.

Caught in the argument is the Australian director George Miller and his planned movie Justice League Mortal, about a team of American superheroes. Miller wants to shoot it here. However, he fears the $216 million production will have to go overseas because it will not qualify for the producer offset. It just will not be Australian enough for the Australian Film Finance Corporation. The best Miller can hope for is the 15 per cent location offset, and, with the Australian dollar at 92 US cents, that won't be enough to swing it.

But hang on. Not Australian enough? This is George Miller, Australia's most successful director-producer, and one who has continued to work in Australia over many decades. His credits include Happy Feet, Babe and the Mad Max movies. His planned movie may speak with an American accent, but it would be made in Australia by Australians. Isn't that Australian enough?

Australia's return from all the decades of subsiding local movie-making includes the international success of many Australian directors, actors and cinematographers. When an acclaimed director brings home a big movie project, the Australian Film Finance Corporation should welcome it with open arms, not wave it away because it fails to meet some narrow notion of what counts as Australian. George Miller's longstanding commitment to Australia should be held up as a model for others to follow.

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The gunfire around us makes it hard to hear. But the human voice is different from other sounds. It can be heard over noises that bury everything else. Even when it's not shouting. Even when it's just a whisper. Even the lowest whisper can be heard over armies. When it's telling the truth. The Interpreter