Meet Mercury CX: 2021 Program Overview

Meet Mercury CX: 2021 Program Overview

Following a sold-out live launch of the Mercury CX 2021 program CEO Karena Slaninka and members of the team provide an overview of the initial programs for the year. 

This one-hour session covers the 2021 programs offered by Mercury CX including the new Springboard and Quicksilver initiatives and the new MCX Membership program.

Mercury Cinema debuts as Fringe Venue

Mercury Cinema debuts as Fringe Venue

The Mercury Cinema has been the long-time home of the South Australian Screen Awards, special events and iconic festivals including Flickerfest and OzAsia. As a venue for premieres and cast and crew screenings of independent and short-form screen projects, Mercury Cinema is known as a hub for screen culture.

In 2021, the historic Mercury Cinema brings the Adelaide Fringe back to the West End Arts Precinct.

Providing an alternative experience to the heat and hustle of the Garden and Gluttony, enjoy plush, comfortable seating, a great view from every seat, air-conditioning and an elegant new Lounge Bar serving quality South Australian wines plus plenty of parking and great dining options surrounding.

Read more in the Glam Adelaide feature article.

New program building community around the films of South Asia

New program building community around the films of South Asia

Adelaide’s Mercury Cinema launches a new South Asian Seniors’ Film Club on Thursday 11 February at 10.30am with a screening of the award-winning film Made in Bangladesh.

Directed by Rubaiyat Hossain, the first film in the six-week program tells an inspiring story about a group of women fighting for the rights of textile workers in a garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The free series of screening aims to build friendships and social connections for older South Australians, showcasing quality films from India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, along with guest speakers, music, information, cultural entertainment and refreshments.

CEO of Mercury CX, Ms Karena Slaninka, said, ‘Many older people in our community have been experiencing real social isolation due to Covid-19, and we became aware that many from the South Asian community were in this position. We are pleased to offer a relaxing space to enjoying quality South Asian films, cultural entertainments and speakers, and a chance to build friendships through meeting new people’.

The program includes a unique selection of feature films, shorts and documentaries sourced from across the region along with entertainment and refreshments at select screenings.

Bookings are essential each of the free screenings. All sessions commence at 10.30am. 

The South Asian Seniors’ Film Club has been supported by The Office of the Ageing WellThe Australian Centre for Social Innovation and City of Adelaide. 

 

The next wave of visionary SA filmmaking talent

The next wave of visionary SA filmmaking talent

A bold, ambitious and creative program, Film Lab: New Voices, will foster a new generation of South Australian filmmakers in a new initiative from the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) and Adelaide Film Festival in collaboration with Mercury CX.

With a direct focus on feature film, the program will give three South Australian creative teams industry mentoring across a 12-month period to develop a low-budget feature film script. One project will be selected to move into production and the final film will premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival 2022.

Minister for Innovation and Skills David Pisoni made the announcement at the Adelaide Film Festival Made in SA event, a showcase of South Australian short films.

“This wonderful new initiative has great local benefits as the project will be wholly produced and post-produced in South Australia, providing local jobs and upskilling opportunities for crew and emerging talent,” Minister Pisoni said.

“Importantly, this is a skills development program that will accelerate career pathways for outstanding, diverse, emerging talent in South Australia.

“This collaboration between the SAFC, Adelaide Film Festival and Mercury CX demonstrates the kind of streamlined approach that delivers the best outcomes for the entire sector.”

Hanlon Larsen Screen Fellowship inaugural winner 2020

Hanlon Larsen Screen Fellowship inaugural winner 2020

Filmmaker, designer and animator, Flinders University alumna Emma Hough Hobbs, has taken out the inaugural $35,000 Hanlon Larsen Screen Fellowship from a competitive field of 50 candidates.

Her project, ‘Film On Film‘ (Working title), is a 3-6 minute experimental doc-animation hybrid exploring the compelling charm of celluloid, which Emma says aims to showcase “how to spot when a film has been shot with the good stuff”.

“It will be shot on Kodak stock and the animation will then be captured frame by frame on Kodak film itself, allowing the audience to realise and appreciate the feeling celluloid can lend to a film,” she explains.

While locally collaborative, the project taps into the worldwide fascination with the capturing of light.

Launched in April 2020, funds an experimental film project with production and in-kind support of $35,000 in partnership with Flinders University and Mercury CX.

The completed project will screen as part of the Adelaide Film Festival.

The screen fellowship has been established by SA Film Corporation chairman Peter Hanlon, in honour of his friend, collaborator and industry luminary, the late Flinders University screen production lecturer Cole Larsen.