NASHEN MOODLEY, FESTIVAL DIRECTOR / SFF 2012

Our interview with the Sydney Film Festival's newest director, Nashen Moodley, reveals a determined man driven to share his love of world cinema with Sydney audiences.

Most can recall that skip-a-beat moment in the job interview where your prospective employer puts your knowledge of their organisation on the spot with the question, “What are the greatest challenges you might face in this job?” For Nashen Moodley, it seems his good fortune at being named the Sydney Film Festival’s newest director began before he even took the job. “Um, I don’t think they asked me that question!” he says with a laugh.

Not that the state of the international film festival circuit offers Moodley too many surprises at this stage of his career. The experience that the debonair 35 year-old South African has amassed – Head of Programming for 11 years at the Durban International Film Festival and Director of Asia/Africa Programs for 6 years at the Dubai International Film Festival, to name just two of his high-profile credentials – ensures the unfurling of his fresh perspective on one of the Asia Pacific region’s key cultural events will be fascinating to watch.

“I think the challenge of all films festival is how to stay relevant, [defining] what makes film festivals important,” he tells SCREEN-SPACE in the week prior to the launch of the 59^th edition of the SFF. “Sydney is in a great place in terms of attendance, but it is now about making this communal experience more impactful, more powerful than it has been in the past.”

He will draw upon the respected status of the SFF internationally to help achieve this aim. “We’ll be bringing more international guests to the Festival and creating more opportunities for international filmmakers to interact with the local Australian industry, so that synergies emerge from that contact,” he explains. “These are the important factors, not only for the visiting filmmakers and the local industry, but also the audiences. That’s what makes a festival a festival. Not just a series of screenings but a discussion about film, about creating an environment where cinema takes centre- stage.”

It is this balancing of the Festival’s key strengths in the eyes of the world film sector and ensuring local audiences are satiated over the 11 days of the Festival that is the professional tightrope Moodley walks. “I don’t think the two can be separated, or prioritise one over the other,” Moodley states. “In order to get the films we need for the Festival, we need to have strong relationships with overseas sales agents and producers and the local film distributors. But, at the same time, once we secure those films, we need people to watch them and to have a pleasant viewing experience.”

He understands that his professional future is linked inexorably to both the long- and short-term success of his SFF tenure. He openly admits that the Opening and Closing Night films – the hipster-cool Sydney-set dramedy, Not Suitable for Children, starring Ryan Kwanten (pictured, left) and the droll American indy, Safety Not Guaranteed (cast pictured, below), respectively – skew younger, clearly signalling a strategic consideration to attract new patrons.

“We need to secure a future audience for the festival. All festivals need to do that,” Moodley admits. “But with those two films, I also think they are really great films and will make for great Opening and Closing night celebrations. Both are also from first-time feature filmmakers, which is very exciting for me, introducing new talents to audiences. Both these films tick a lot of boxes.”

The vast knowledge of the Asian and African film industries Moodley’s experience affords him has also influenced the 2012 programme. A sidebar in honour of Japanese studio Nikkatsu’s centenary, a 5 film Focus on India strand and rarely-glimpsed films from Senegal (La Pirogue; Today), Cambodia (Golden Slumbers) and Qatar (The Virgin Copts and Me) undeniably reflect the Festival Director’s influence. But he wants it made clear that those films are screening because they meet the high standard he sets for all Festival entrants. “Those films are not included so that I can tick off some international quota,” he states, bluntly. “[This role] is about bringing the best of international cinema to the Sydney Film Festival, and the best of international cinema includes film from Africa and Asia. It is not a great agenda of mine to increase Asian or African film at the Festival, it is just that I believe the Festival should have a broad geographical representation. I believe the programme is fairly evenly balanced.” (below, the Festival Director previews the full programme)

When asked what he would like analysts to say about his first year in the Festival Director’s chair, Moodley says, “It’s not so much what someone might say but what they do during the Festival.” He understands the importance of the Sydney Film Festival to both the Harbour City’s filmgoers and the state economy. “If all the cinemas are full, all day every day, that would make me extremely happy.” But Nashen Moodley also wants to engage the intellects of a population that proudly embraces its arts culture. “I want people to find the selection really interesting and challenging. If they see 20 or 30 films, I don’t expect them to love every film. I want them to hate some as well. That’s what happens at film festivals; that’s what I enjoy about film festivals. If that happens in the end then I’ll be very, very happy.”