Sydney Film Festival celebrates 60 years

The Sydney Film Festival (SFF) has celebrated its 60th anniversary with the launch of a free online publication.

The SFF’s Interactive Online Publication has created a living archive filled with memories and multimedia covering the festival’s history and future.

The groundbreaking initiative was launched by State Minister for the Arts George Souris on Wednesday.

“This new digital archive is not only a comprehensive anthology of SFF and the Australian film industry, but it is also a celebration of Sydney and NSW as the nation’s hub of film and creative industries,” he said.

Current SFF Director Nashen Moodley praised the initiative’s ability to provide “a thorough historical overview of the festival, which has challenged, delighted and entertained Sydneysiders for six decades”.

A spokesperson for the SFF claimed the archive came about due to the vast amount of material available since 1954.

“It was basically gold collecting dust,” said the spokesperson. “The SFF decided to create the living archive to grow as the festival does and continually add a page for each year.”

The Sydney Film Festival will run from the June 5-16 with a packed program of screenings and special events spread over more venues across Sydney than previous years. The full program will be announced on Wednesday May 8.

For more information, visit www.sff.org.au