ABOUT US, The Darwin International Film Festival

ABOUT US

The Darwin Film Society

 
The Dar­win Film Soci­ety aims to enhance the diverse cul­tur­al expe­ri­ences of our com­mu­ni­ty by pro­vid­ing unique and alter­na­tive film expe­ri­ence to main­stream cin­e­ma in Darwin.
 
In 1964, a group of film buffs estab­lished the Dar­win Film Soci­ety in Australia’s trop­i­cal North. The orig­i­nal pur­pose for DFS was to screen a broad range of films that were not avail­able at oth­er Dar­win cinemas. 
 
As a not-for-prof­it, the sus­tain­abil­i­ty of DFS relies on the relent­less care of its board of vol­un­teers and its recog­ni­tion by the wider community. 
 
DFS’ main oper­a­tions are the Deckchair Cin­e­ma, Flix in the Wet, and more recent­ly launched the Dar­win Inter­na­tion­al Film Festival. 
 
Deckchair Cin­e­ma opened its gates in 1994 to car­ry out DFS mis­sion to the largest audi­ence and has been screen­ing a unique mix of Aus­tralian, fam­i­ly, for­eign, pop­u­lar and clas­sic films every dry sea­son ever since. The icon­ic out­door cin­e­ma is both a local sta­ple and a vis­i­tors’ must-do. Stand­ing along the Ara­fu­ra sea, ​“the Deckchair” offers stun­ning sun­set views to its patrons before it’s dark enough to turn to the big screen! 
 
Today the Dar­win Film Soci­ety counts 9 com­mit­tee mem­bers, employs 18 peo­ple (casu­al and per­ma­nent) and has an active and grow­ing mem­ber­ship base of more than 1,500 people.

The DIFF Team

John Schi­er / Management Committee
 
The progression of DIFF amazes me as I have been asso­ci­at­ed since Day 1. In this time we have to thank sev­er­al artis­tic direc­tors, sup­port from all the sev­en DFS man­agers, many vol­un­teers and many committee(d) peo­ple who have all con­tributed to make this fes­ti­val what it is today. I only dreamed we would have the sup­port Screen NT (NT Gov) sup­port of the indus­try and the many gen­er­ous spon­sors who have made this fes­ti­val one we can all be proud of.
 
James Park­er / DIFF Manager
It is a huge honour to manage the film festival. I've been involved with the Darwin  Film Society over the last eight years, and the 2023 edition will be the second festival that I've managed.  I'm incredibly proud of all of the work that the team have put in, with a great line up of films  and special events this year. A huge thanks to the Management Committee and the Programming Committee, your passion and hard work have built this festival into a highlight of the Darwin Dry Season.
 
 
Neil Lud­vigsen / Pro­gram­ming Committee
In 1968 two events made me take cin­e­ma seri­ous­ly. First­ly, I saw a Cather­ine Deneuve dou­ble of Belle de Jour and Repul­sion fol­lowed a cou­ple of weeks lat­er by a Japan­ese ret­ro­spec­tive of Kuro­sawa films among which were Sev­en Samu­rai, Throne of Blood and Rashomon. I nev­er again saw films as mere entertainment.
 
 
Caro Mac­don­ald / Pro­gram­ming Committee
Caro is a film­mak­er, visu­al artist and anthro­pol­o­gist work­ing out of Dar­win, with a deep and long-stand­ing love of cin­e­ma. As a DIFF pro­gram­mer Caro has a par­tic­u­lar pas­sion for the pletho­ra of tal­ent and films emerg­ing from the North­ern Aus­tralian and South­east Asian regions.
 
Liz Keith / Programming Committee
Since going to see ‘Mary Poppins’ as a preschooler and being dragged out sobbing when told that I couldn’t stay indefinitely, I have been passionate about both movies and cinema-going. As well as being on the Darwin Film Society management committee I am thrilled to be a member of the programming committee for DIFF, and love working with the team to bring intriguing films from around the globe to the big screen in Darwin. In my other life I have a background in law, social work and dispute resolution, and am also a writer with my first children’s book on the way. It is a delight and privilege to help choose films for DIFF, and I hope that audiences enjoy this program immensely. 
 
Markus Tumuls / Programming Committee
Bio Pending