Fans of world cinema will be treated like royalty after Palace Cinemas was announced as the new home for the Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival (BAPFF), the pre-eminent film festival of the Asia Pacific region.
BAPFF will now show exclusively at Palace Centro in James Street, Fortitude Valley, and Palace Barracks in the city and cinephiles are invited to enjoy a stylish, premium movie experience that is unique to Palace.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said that Palace Cinemas would host more than 80 films from 23 November until 4 December in this year’s celebration of regional cinema, with many sessions hosted by international filmmakers and special guests.
“BAPFF screens our region’s best films, many of which are featured at the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards and staged during the BAPFF opening weekend in November,” Cr Quirk said.
“The festival celebrates Brisbane’s close connections with the Asia Pacific and is a reflection of the many nationalities that call Brisbane home.
“Whether it’s an Australian animation, Iranian drama, or Chinese action film, I encourage you to see the rich and diverse cinema on offer.”
APSA BAPFF Chairman Michael Hawkins said he was thrilled to announce the home for the festival.
“Palace audiences love and seek out world cinema,” he said.
“Having one central hub for the festival will allow us to reach our patrons in their local cinema and create an atmosphere and experience deserving of Brisbane’s largest film festival.
“This year is shaping up to be our best yet with BAPFF programmers securing fresh new titles from leading international festivals like Venice, Toronto International Film Festival, and Locarno.”
With design and structural refurbishment undertaken at both Palace Barracks and Palace Centro, the latter of which will increase from the current four to seven well-appointed auditoria, Palace Cinemas’ CEO Benjamin Zeccola is confident that their distinct offering will make the perfect pairing for the prestigious international film festival.
“Palace Cinemas is the home of the international film festival in Australia, delivering the best of contemporary cinema from Italy, Spain, and France, among other countries, throughout the year. It exciting to now be showing the finest films from our very own cultural backyard, in the Asia Pacific region.” Mr. Zeccola said.
“Screen Queensland is the proud founding sponsor of BAPFF and we actively support screen culture being put at arm’s reach to our local community,” said Screen Queensland Chair Linda Apelt.
“Our collaboration with Brisbane Marketing creates many opportunities and this year we look forward to holding screen industry events as part of the program.
“BAPFF can create economic benefits by linking filmmakers from the Asia Pacific region to our Queensland practitioners, as well as stimulate cultural tourism. The festival also provides social benefits by opening up dialogue and allowing greater insight into cultures that co-exist in our city.”
Tickets for BAPFF are expected to be available in October.
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