Adelaide International AV Festival 2019

John Hodgson EFIAP/b, AV-AFIAP, FAPS, AV-FAPS, ESFIAP, Hon.FAPS Director - Adelaide International AV Festival 2019

The 14th Adelaide AV International took place from 28 – 31 March last. The event was organised by a committee chaired by John Hodgson, festival Director, other members being Judith Hodgson (Secretary), Adrian Kermode (Treasurer), Julie Kermode and Graham Phillips.

A record 149 sequences were submitted from 16 countries:

The jury was chaired by Bruce Burgess FPSNZ, from Auckland, New Zealand, until recently Chair of the Honours Board of the Photographic Society of New Zealand. The other members were Alia Naughton, AV-AAPS, CAPSB, SAPS, Chair of the APS AV Division, and Keith Seidel EFIAP, MAPS, SSAPS, a prominent Adelaide photographer and judge.

No preselection was used, and all sequences were assessed by the jury, judging commencing on the morning of Thursday 28 March, continuing on Friday 29 March and concluding mid-afternoon on Saturday 30 March. A Gala Presentation of the award-winning sequences was held on the afternoon of Sunday 31 March.

In contrast to previous festivals, there were no categories used for the allocation of awards, all sequences being judged in an Open category.

A sequence by Polish author Jacek Zaim, Kaddish, was awarded the FIAP Gold Medal for Top of Festival. Runner Up, and winner of the FIAP Silver Medal, was Brian Harvey, from England, with his sequence The Raven. The FIAP Bronze Medal went to Jan Burt, of Australia, for The Typewriter. Jan was also awarded the Sheil Dish, donated by Carol Packwood, for Best Australian Entry.

A pleasing aspect of the festival was the diversity of sequences entered, a diversity also reected across the awarded sequences. The increase in the number of sequences entered, while also pleasing, has brought us to the point at which, for future festivals, we may have to limit the number of sequences entered, or reduce the total playing time per entrant.

On the Wednesday evening prior to the commencement of judging, Bruce and Alia presented a workshop in which they deconstructed a number of their successful sequences. Those attending found the presentations of great interest.

At the Gala Presentation John announced that, after directing ve festivals, it was time for him to hand the reins to someone who could bring fresh energy and ideas to the role, and that the next festival would be directed by another member of the 2019 organising committee, Graham Phillips. Results can be found at: https://www.a-p-s.org.au/ index.php/exhibition/ adelaide-av-fest

Right: The Judges

Below: Gala Performance