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Antonio Gambale led the winners at Tuesday’s Screen Music Awards, picking up two prizes for his work on Netflix’s Unorthodox.

This year’s ceremony, jointly staged by Apra Amcos and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers, was virtual, hosted by Justine Clarke, Meyne Wyatt and Claudia Karvan.

Clarke used the opportunity to urge government to support the industry, in particular screen composers, in the wake of Covid-19.

“I implore all of you listening, and in particular the Federal Government, not to leave the Australian composers behind as you undertake industry reform.

“There remains a huge opportunity for the Australian Government to further invest in the creation and commissioning of Australian content, and in particular, our composers, to fully celebrate their skills and talent. There is now greater risk that our creatives, our composers, and our small businesses will be left behind in the fast-changing global landscape that is ahead of us.

Antony Partos at last year’s Screen Music Awards.

Antony Partos leads the nominees for the upcoming Screen Music Awards, staged by Apra Amcos and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (Agcs).

Partos, the Agcs president, is among 46 nominees across 12 categories, with 36 projects recognised across shorts, TV, advertising, features and soundtrack albums.

Given Covid, this year the awards will be held online, streaming via YouTube on December 1 from 7pm Aedt. Justine Clarke will preside over hosting duties.

Partos has earned two nods for his work on Operation Buffalo, including Best Television Theme and Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie. He’s also up for two more awards: Best Music for Documentary for Maralinga Tjarutja and Best Original Song Composed for the Screen for Total Control’s ‘Edge of Something’, with co-writers Missy Higgins and Matteo Zingales.

Melbourne screen composer and music producer Cornel Wilczek has scored three nominations, including...

First online edition will comprise four strands and 33 titles.

The Sydney Film Festival has revealed a pared-back selection for its first virtual edition after cancelling the physical event in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Australian festival was due to run June 3-14 but organisers took the decision in March to cancel the event due to the coronavirus pandemic, which imposed quarantine restrictions and cinema closures.

The new-look event will now run online from June 10-21 and includes seven narrative features, 13 documentaries and 13 shorts. The 33-strong programme is around 10% of the usual line-up, which comprises around 300 titles. Last year...

First online edition will comprise four strands and 33 titles.

The Sydney Film Festival has revealed a pared-back selection for its first virtual edition after cancelling the physical event in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Australian festival was due to run June 3-14 but organisers took the decision in March to cancel the event due to the coronavirus pandemic, which imposed quarantine restrictions and cinema closures.

The new-look event will now run online from June 10-21 and includes seven narrative features, 13 documentaries and 13 shorts. The 33-strong programme is around 10% of the usual line-up, which comprises around 300 titles. Last year...

The Sydney Film Festival has revealed a heavily Australian leaning selection as the backbone of its first virtual edition.

Organizers had planned a real-world festival for late June. But that was canceled in March due to the coronavirus outbreak, which caused cinemas to be closed and audiences confined to their home addresses.

More recently, the festival organizers saw that they could make use of some of their selection and preparatory work to come up with an online festival instead. Announced on May 3, the online edition will run June 10 – 21.

The full program, announced Wednesday, comprises 7 feature films, 13 documentaries, and 13 shorts, for a total of 33 titles. That compares with some 300 pieces of content in a normal Sff edition.

The lineup is organized in four programming strands: the Documentary Australia Foundation award for best Australian documentary; the Dendy Awards for Australian short films; Europe! Voices of Women in Film; Screenability, which includes three...

‘The Skin of Others’.

In moving elements of the Sydney Film Festival online, director Nashen Moodley was particularly keen to focus on Australian cinema and support the local industry.

The festival unveiled its virtual line-up today, consisting of four strands: The Documentary Australia Foundation (Daf) Award for Best Australian Documentary, including eight world premieres; The Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films; Europe! Voices of Women in Film, and Screenability, featuring three shorts from practitioners with disability.

Running from June 10 – 21, the full program consists of 33 films from 12 countries including 16 world premieres, with seven feature films, 13 documentaries, and 13 shorts. Every feature-length film will be presented with a Q&a from the filmmaker, and series of industry talks and panels will be announced in the coming weeks.

When the Sydney Film Festival was cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns in March – a move Moodley which describes as “extremely difficult” but necessary – around 50 per cent...