COASTAL SURGE FEST LATEST REGIONAL LOVE-IN FOR NSW FILM TALENT

In a move that many locals feel is long overdue for an area so rich with artistic communities and creative entrepreneurs, the New South Wales’ Central Coast on Australia’s eastern seaboard will finally have its own film festival.

On June 29 at the historic Avoca Beach Theatre, the inaugural Coastal Surge Film Festival will highlight three mini-features made almost entirely by filmmaking talent from the region in front of and behind the camera and funded by local government arts grants.

The event is the brainchild of experienced producer Glenn Fraser who, with partner Amelia Foxton (both pictured, right), operate 9th Circle Entertainment from their Central Coast base. The pair acquired crucial funding through Central Coast Council, and the production of all three premieres on the night was financed by Creative Art Central - an annual commissioning program which offers funds for established and emerging creatives of diverse disciplines living in the region.

Fraser and Foxton also contribute one of the three films to have their world premiere at Coastal Surge. The program’s only fictional narrative, Mother Tongue is a horror-comedy about a childless couple who turn to the dark arts to conjure what biology and bureaucracy fail to provide.

Foxton wrote and stars in the darkly entertaining film (which does come with a content warning) alongside Chiara Gizzi and character actor Stephen Hunter, who played ‘Bombur’ in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy and who will take part in a Q&A following the session (the Monster Tongue cast; pictured, left). 

Also on the program is the documentary Music Central, the latest deeply humanistic work from veteran non-fiction storyteller Kaye Harrison (Crossing the Line, 2005; The Long Goodbye, 2010; The Sunnyboy, 2013; Sanctuary, 2019) and her team at Treehouse Media. A celebration of life through song, the film features Uncle Gavi Duncan, Ruby Archer, Patrick Brennan and the students and staff of Woy Woy Public School.

The third premiere at the festival is Bouddi Wild Swim (pictured, right), from award-winning documentarians Toni Houston and Sarah Beard. Capturing some of the region’s most beautiful beaches, including Avoca, Copacabana, McMasters, Umina, Terrigal and Killcare, the film chronicles the efforts of six swimmers to conquer 23 kilometres of open ocean currents along a coastline that includes vast expanses of the iconic Bouddi National Park. 

With red carpet photos, live music, filmmaker Q&As, drinks at the bar and informal gatherings with cast and crew following each screening, Coastal Surge could not have secured a more appropriate venue than the Avoca Beach Theatre, a Central Coast landmark since trading began in 1948.

The Coastal Surge Film Festival will be held June 29 from 5.00pm. Tickets and session details can be found at the venue’s website.

(Footnote: Screen-Space has strong ties to the region, with founder and editor Simon Foster launching the blog in 2012 from his home at McMasters Beach).