Diverse range of titles for Australian Music Week Film Festival: from Aussie Spice Girls to the scenes of India

This year’s Australian Music Week Film Festival offers a wide range of six feature films and accompanying shorts from around the world.

The festival will be staged on November 10 and 11 at the GU Film House in Cronulla, Sydney, after the AMW industry conference between November 7 and 9.

The six are:

ARADA, a Turkish production set in a record store in the turbulent 1990s political unrest, which follows an Istanbul punk rocker who tracks down a cruise ticket to California on the night of his birthday gig.

Rockumentary: Evolution of Indian Rock took seven years to make, drawing in 30 acts on how the western rock scene has evolved from the 1930s, and how Aussie bands like Karnivool influenced the scene through their frequent tours.

Slave to the Grind, a Canadian production making its Australian premiere, looks at the grindcore scene, initially fuelled by the leftist politics of punk rock and traces why the music has become even more intense than ever.

Burkinabe Rising: The Art of Resistance in Burkina Faso looks at creative non-violent resistance in the small, landlocked country in West Africa, Burkina Faso, home to a vibrant community of artists and engaged citizens.

Through art, music and film they bring about political change and carry on the revolutionary spirit of former President Thomas Sankara, who was killed in a coup d’etat in 1987.

Now Sound: Melbourne’s Listening, about the buoyant music scene and various tribes in the southern city’s north, makes its NSW premiere.

It features interviews and performances from bands like Saskwatch, Bedroom Suck, Divide & Dissolve, Jen Cloher, RVG, Courtney Barnett and labels like Chapter Music.

Lost in France is actually a look at Glasgow’s music scene, revisiting a chaotic trip to France in the mid-1990s, which helped define and cement the careers of indie rock band The Delgados, who established the cult record label Chemikal Underground.

The label paved the way for acts like Mogwai, Arab Strap and Franz Ferdinand, who all feature in the film.

Each feature film will be accompanied by a short film, with films from India, Australia and the UK represented.

Of the Australian shorts, there’s Wannabe, a hilarious mockumentary about a Spice Girls cover band who are getting set to reform. Busking for Change, an insightful look at three buskers living in Sydney, and Elska: Heart + Harp, a short documentary about Gold Coast artist and harpist Elska, who is one of the Australian Music Week’s performing artists.

The Australian Music Week Film Festival is curated by Larry Heath, founder of the National Live Music Awards and website The AU Review.