Editor

Sydneysiders braved one of the coldest winters in many years to make the 2011 Sydney Film Festival another resounding success.

“Revenue targets were exceeded and total box office takings were higher than ever, despite reduced capacity due to renovations underway around the State Theatre, and having one day less in the Festival.” says CEO Leigh Small.

Sold-out sessions increased to 72 in 2011 from 63 last year, and percentage capacity attendance increased significantly, resulting in nearly half of all sessions being over 95% full.

Sydney Film Festival continues to be more accessible to more people. There was an increase in the number of people attending this year’s festival, due to a higher number of single ticket and flexipass sales.

The festival wrapped on Sunday 19 June with the Australian Premiere of Beginners, directed by Mike Mills and featuring Ewan McGregor (SFF’s 2010 guest for Ghost Writer), Christopher Plummer and Mélanie Laurent.

The 12 day film festival achieved over 110,000 attendances and encompassed 161 titles: 75 features, 39 documentaries, 34 short films, 13 retrospective titles, 10 World premieres and 86 Australian premieres, including 29 Australian productions and films from 42 countries in 47 languages.

This year the Sydney Film Festival introduced 27 new sponsors and six new venues, including expanded screenings at Events Cinemas George St, international television marathons at AFTRS, collaboration with Creative Sydney at MCA, talks at Grasshopper Bar, Town Hall and the Apple Store in George St and an outdoor screen in Martin Place.

About Sydney Film Festival

Sydney Film Festival screens feature films, documentaries, short films and animations across the city including the State Theatre, Event Cinemas George Street, Dendy Opera Quays and the Art Gallery of NSW. The festival is a major event on the New South Wales cultural calendar and is one of the world’s longest running film festivals. For more information visit http://www.sff.org.au

Sydney Film Festival is supported by the NSW Department of Trade and Investment, through Arts NSW and the Office of Trade, Business and Industry, the Federal Government through Screen Australia, and the City of Sydney. The festival’s Strategic partner is the NSW Government through Events NSW. The festival’s Official Competition sponsor is iShares.