A film edited by ‘maine local Bergen O’Brien is poised to premiere as part of Australia’s acclaimed Melbourne International Film Festival that’s expanding to eight regional centres – including Castlemaine.
Prolific film and TV series editor, Castlemaine-based O’Brien spent last year in lockdown editing the documentary film Hating Peter Tatchell, which stars Stephen Fry and Ian McKellen, along with international human rights activist Peter Tatchell as himself.
Speaking to the Express in recent days O’Brien said the eye-opening doco has just been released internationally on Netflix but will make it’s Australia premiere debut in Melbourne at the Melbourne International Film Festival happening August 5-22
Hating Peter Tatchell is directed by Christopher Amos and tells the profound life story of controversial human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell whose provocative acts of civil disobedience rocked the establishment, revolutionised attitudes to homosexuality and exposed tyrants in the fight for equality.
“He’s an amazing Australian that we probably don’t know much about,” O’Brien said.
“It’s a great story of one of the world’s leading activists for gay rights… a curious man who has been such a pest to government and the Church, and any of the traditional institutions that have stood in the way of gay rights and human rights,” the film editor said.
“It was a tricky film to edit and it was edited here (in Castlemaine) during lockdown last year.”
One of the film’s executive producers is Elton John who numbers among Tatchell’s personal friends.
MIFF organisers said this year, the festival’s 69th, marked a first as it would be expanded from the state’s metro capital to eight regional centres including Geelong, Bendigo and Castlemaine where screenings – to be announced – were being scheduled for the town’s Theatre Royal.
Building on the success of MIFF’s 2020 online-only festival, this year’s program will be presented as a hybrid across both cinema and digital and is anticipated to reach the festival’s largest audiences to date.
Streaming will also be available via the festival’s new digital platform, MIFF Play.
