Early announcements from the Melbourne International Film Festival have confirmed that the 2011 event will include the Dardenne brothers' Cannes crowd pleaser, The Kid With A Bike (pictured), and the Australian premiere of Kriv Stenders' tale of a charismatic kelpie, Red Dog.
Other confirmations include Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture, which tells of a 20-something graduate who returns home to New York to contemplate her future; Hungarian Bela Tarr's (Werkmeister Harmonies) Berlin Silver Bear-winner, The Turin Horse, and UK comedy stalwart Richard Ayoade's directorial debut, the coming-of-age story Submarine. Stenders' film will screen as MIFF's closing night film.
MIFF's documentary programming includes local stories such as: Triangle Wars, the story of a ferocious battle playing out in seaside St Kilda, between outraged residents, local government and a powerful development consortium; and Melbourne filmmaker Genevieve Bailey's I Am Eleven, an exploration into the lives and thoughts of 15 children – rich and poor, privileged and outcast, to gain insight into what unites us, and what sets us apart.
The full program will be launched on Tuesday 5 July. The 2011 Melbourne International Film Festival will run from 21 July – 7 August.
