La Grande Bellezza (Courtesy of Balinale)

The Bali International Film Festival, also known as Balinale, is back, promising more treats for movie-lovers.

The weeklong festival will take place at Cinema XXI Beachwalk Kuta in Bali from Oct.12 to 18.

It will screen a total of 59 films, 23 of which will be screened for the first time in Asia. Three movies will have their world premieres at the event, and two are international premieres.

'We had 37 films last year, and this year we have 59. The festival features indie movies, fiction, documentaries, short and feature length films in the line-up,' festival director and co-founder Deborah Gabinetti said at a press conference recently.

From The Weekender

Success isn’t at the top of the corporate ladder anymore

My generation watched our parents give everything to a company. We decided to give it to ourselves instead. But it's more complicated than that.

Read on The Weekender

Manto Acuífero (The Well) from Mexico by 2010 Caméra d'Or-winning director Michael Rowe will open the festival with its Asian premiere.

Other Asian firsts include Perjalanan from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom's Oney Anwar Chasing the Dream, Germany's Slow, Desert Haiku from the US and La Voix Des Steppes from Kazakhstan.

World premieres at the festival are David Dawkins' The Wedding Contract: A Balinese Love Story from the US, Volcanic Rock Breakers of Batur from Indonesia and Ideas Are That Great from Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, Obama Mama and Te Awa Tupua: Voices from the River are set for international premieres at Balinale.

The annual festival will also screen movies that have won or have been nominated for international awards, such as A Girl at My Door ' a South Korean drama film directed by July Jung, which was nominated in this year's Un Certain Regard at Cannes; 2014 Oscar winner La Grande Bellezza and BAFTA nominee The Book Thief.

Indonesian films feature prominently at the festival. Eight local films will be featured at Balinale, some of which have been screened in local cinemas, such as 12 Menit Kemenangan untuk Selamanya (12 Minutes for Forever), Bajaj Bajuri The Movie and Slank Nggak Ada Matinya (Slank Never Dies).  

In addition, movies about the diversity of Indonesia will also feature at the festival, including Volcanic Rock Breakers of Batur and Coronation of the 49th Sultans of Ternate.

'We want to show the diversity of Indonesia through this festival,' Gabinetti said.

Festivalgoers will also get a sneak preview of the upcoming Garuda Superhero.

'The film is still in the post-production phase, so we can only screen it for around 30 minutes,' said the movie's director, X-Jo.

Sidi Saleh's film Maryam, which won the Best Short Film Award at the recent Venice International Film Festival, will be screened on the closing night.

'The official release of Maryam in Asia will take place at Balinale,' Sidi said.

This year, the festival is themed 'Focus on Women' to acknowledge the enormous creative contribution women make in all aspects of the film industry.

 'There are many women who are involved in this industry, not only as actresses or directors, but also scriptwriters, cinematographers and production crewmembers,' Gabinetti said.

Influential women in the film industry, including Jill Gwen Braginets of Fox Searchlight Pictures, which produced 12 Years A Slave and Slumdog Millionaire, and Donna Smith, the first woman to be in charge of physical production for Universal Pictures, will share their perspectives in seminars held as part of the festival.

Many filmmakers whose films are to be screened at Balinale will also attend the festival, allowing the audience to learn a little more about the behind-the-scenes process.

Movies screened at the festival will compete in four categories, namely best feature film, best documentary, best short film and best overall.

'It's a people's choice award. After watching the films, people will vote for their favorites,' Gabinetti said.

Sidi said, 'It's going to be a good match, a head-to-head contest with other great filmmakers from many countries.'

Popular

Outsourcing reform: Protection with two-tier responsibility

Currency under pressure: Has de-dollarization begun?

The wrong remedy: Evaluating university study program closures