OFF is on...

With the Melbourne International Film Festival now but a strip of celluloid flapping around a brightly lit spool in an empty cinema, it’s time to start the Other Film Festival, Melbourne’s annual celebration of film by with and about people with a disability. The Festival runs from today until Sunday at the Melbourne Museum in Carlton Gardens, Carlton.

Dana Nance and Kyra Kimpton (courtesy Restless Dance Company)

This year’s program includes local and international films from countries as diverse as Russia, Poland, Iceland, Israel, Italy, South Korea, the UK and USA. You can have a look at trailers for movies on You Tube (click here) or on the official Other Film Festival website. As well as the movies themselves there will be appearances from festival guests, including:

• Deaf US stand-up comedian CJ Jones and filmmaker Hilari Scarl who will present their documentary See What I’m Saying
• Canadian director and cinematographer Rob Spence, who developed the Eyeborg (the world's first prosthetic eye-camera) after losing an eye in a teenage shooting accident
• Filmmaker Genevieve Clay (Be My Brother) who will participate in a panel with Australian actors with a disability on challenges they face
• Actor/director Clayton Jacobson
• Festival patron Adam Elliot (creator of Harvie Krumpet and Mary and Max)

Still from the film A Broken Puzzle

For those wanting to round off their evening’s film watching with a bit of post-movie dissection, there is The Other Club. Running from nearby Charcoal Lane in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy throughout the festival it offers a chance to unleash your inner film critic in the company of festival guests and filmmakers from around the world.

Full festival passes cost just $120 and tickets for single sessions are $12, which includes free entry to the Melbourne Museum. Tickets available by email at mmbookingsteam@museum.vic.gov.au

The Other Film Festival runs at the Melbourne Museum from Wednesday 25 August to Sunday 29 August 2010. Click here for a look at the full festival program or visit www.otherfilmfestival.com.