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The 65th annual Melbourne International Film Festival is set to open with the world premiere of “The Death and Life of Otto Bloom”.
Starring Xavier Samuel, Matilda Brown and Rachel Ward, The Death and Life of Otto Bloom chronicles the life and great love of Bloom (Samuel), an extraordinary man who experiences time in reverse – passing backwards through the years while remembering the future.
This year the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) celebrates its 65th edition and with a blockbuster program to be revealed on 5 July, the festival is delighted to be opening on Thursday 28 July with the world premiere of the MIFF Premiere Fund supported debut feature by Melbourne filmmaker Cris Jones.
“We knew as soon as we saw The Death and Life of Otto Bloom that it was the perfect way to launch our 65th edition of MIFF. Not only does it signal the arrival of an exciting new filmmaking talent in Cris Jones, it speaks to so many of the themes that will run throughout the entire program this year”, said MIFF Artistic Director Michelle Carey. “Congratulations to Cris, Melanie, Alicia, Mish and the rest of the Melbourne filmmaking team.”
Writer and director Cris Jones has long been on MIFF’s radar. He is a 2004 alumnus of the MIFF Accelerator emerging director workshop which he participated in with his VCA graduate film Excursion for which he won the MIFF Shorts Award for Best Emerging Australian Filmmaker.
Cris said of the announcement: “To have Otto Bloom premiering on MIFF’s Opening Night is such an honour and a joy. For me, MIFF is more than a celebration of film. It is a family and a home. The festival has played an enormous role in my journey as a filmmaker, and without the support of the Premiere Fund, this film would not exist. I’m so grateful to Michelle Carey and the festival team for giving our film the best possible start in life, and look forward to celebrating the work of our wonderful cast and crew at such an amazing event.”
The Death and Life of Otto Bloom is produced by Melanie Coombs (producer of the Oscar winner Harvie Krumpet, MIFF ‘03), Alicia Brown and Mish Armstrong for the production company Optimism.
“Optimism is a rather ambitious thing to aspire to, but Alicia Brown, Mish Armstrong and I are ambitious, as is our writer/director Cris Jones and this film about Life, Death, Time and Love. We are so delighted that Artistic Director Michelle Carey and the whole MIFF team have recognised the magic of Otto Bloom. To have the world premiere at MIFF on the Opening Night is a dream come true for all of us”, said producer Melanie Coombs.
For the first time MIFF has partnered with Grey Goose to curate a luxury experience for the glittering opening night celebration at Hamer Hall.
