Australian Ambassador Rod Smith with filmmaker Elissa Down

“The Black Balloon,” winner of several awards including the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival Crystal Bear, leads the lineup of the 7th Australian Film Festival, which runs until Nov. 8 at the Greenbelt 3 Cinema in Makati City before moving to Cebu City on Nov. 9 to 14.

Australian Ambassador Rod Smith, in his speech at the film fest’s opening on Nov. 4, compared ‘’The Black Balloon” to “Australia,” Baz Luhrman’s epic movie starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman that the embassy premiered in Manila last January.

“[‘The Black Balloon’] is very different in scale, subject matter and, I suspect, in budget,” he said. “But it’s no less enjoyable or less impressive. In fact, it won more awards than ‘Australia.’”

Ambassador Smith lauded the cultural aspect that underscored the film’s creativity and technical skills. The film festival, after all, is intended to give Filipino moviegoers “an opportunity to experience some Australian filmmaking excellence,” he said.

“We also hope to give an insight into Australian popular culture, society and insight on how we deal with some of the issues that confront our society,” he added.

He acknowledged the presence of Filipino director Tikoy Aguiluz who, he said, has been a great supporter of the film festival, before introducing the night’s guest of honor: “The Black Balloon” director Elissa Down who flew in from Los Angeles, California to personally present her film and give separate talks to film students in the University of the Philippines and Mowelfund. 

“Thank you for coming tonight,” she began. “I’m very excited to be here because this is the first screening of the film in the Philippines. I hope you like it.”

“The film is very personal to me,” she intoned. “It was inspired from my family. I have three brothers, two of which have autism so growing up was really crazy. But it’s a film that’s gonna make you laugh, cry and feel an inside account of what it like to grow up inside the walls of a family that has a member with special needs.

“It’s a film that celebrates unconditional love of family. There are so many families out there with so much different situations and the things that keep them together are their love and their sense of humor. And that’s what the film shows.”

Before the film fest’s opening ceremony, Down talked to Manila Bulletin Entertainment Online about winning numerous awards for her first feature film, “The Black Balloon.”

“I feel very, very blessed. I only hope that it does well and gets it to festivals and stuff, and to win the prize is just, you know, you’ll have a happy dance, really,” the bubbly director said.

She shared that she’s now working on four new projects, with the first titled “Savage Garden” going into principal photography next year in her home country.

Down commended the support that the Australian government gives to new filmmakers like her especially when she was still doing short films.

“That’s the way you gain your experience,” she pointed out. “You make like 10 short films and yeah that’s where I was able to get that support, and have that confidence to make movies that have budgets of a few million dollars.”