First BBFF2018 Selection: Dying To Live
A DOCUMENTARY made by the director of Frackman is one of the first works selected for the 12th Byron Bay International Film Festival in October.Richard Todd’s explosive anti-CSG film had its world premiere at the 2015 festival and he returns this year with another revelatory work, Dying to Live, which follows the personal challenges of four people who are connected to the world of organ and tissue transplants.Todd said “I am absolutely over the moon to get a second chance to screen at BBFF. Being an ex Byron Shire resident, this would have to be one of my favourite film festivals in the world. Dying to Live is another roller coaster ride but unlike Frackman bring a big box of tissues with you this time”.Internationally, Australia is a leader in transplant research and innovation, yet has one of the lower donor-participation rates in the developed world.“We're living in a very complex time where there are no simple solutions for the sociopolitical issues affecting us all,” says BBFF director J’aimee Skippon-Volke. “Many people live in a very black and white world and BBFF and the films we screen provides an opportunity to start colourful conversations.“Dying to Live is not just a moving and challenging film - it's an important film to be screening and sharing.”
Festival organisers are in in the last stages of programming and have a pool of outstanding films to choose from to create BBFF2018's Official Selection of 200 or so works.“We have international filmmakers and creatives confirming their attendance and the festival provides a wonderful annual opportunity for our local filmmakers to meet their Australian and international peers - and for the audiences to meet the talent behind some of the world's very best independent films,” J’aimee says.As well as on-screen magic, BBFF is globally recognised as a pioneering festival in the world of immersive Virtual Reality experiences, she says.“We've represented Australia's VR community at the last two Cannes Film Festivals through a special presentation of some of Australia’s very best VR films and we're looking forward to augmenting our outstanding film program with the very latest and best VR experiences.”