Interview with Antenna Festival Director David Rokach

Addy Fong spoke to Antenna director David Rokach about this year’s festival:

I’ve always wondered about this but how did the festival’s name of Antenna originate? Is there a story behind it?

You know, the story behind the name ‘Antenna’ isn’t something out of the ordinary, but it’s quite personal to me. We were brainstorming a bunch of names for the festival, nothing really sticking, and then one day, I was listening to a band. One of their tracks was called ‘Antenna’, and something about it just clicked. It wasn’t just the word; it was the feeling it evoked – like capturing signals, ideas, stories from all around, much like what we wanted our festival to do. So, in a way, it was a moment of inspiration that just felt right.

The longevity of running film festivals is always a challenge, so congratulations on having the festival reach its 12th edition. Antenna’s specialisation in Documentary clearly fulfils a niche for documentary loving audiences throughout Sydney. I was wondering if you’ve had interactions with other documentary festivals that run interstate or internationally?

Absolutely, from the get-go, it was super important for us to make Sydney a hotspot for the international doc community. We’ve been in touch with many other doc festivals and had programmers from prestigious festivals like Hot Docs, Sheffield, IDFA, Dok Leipzig come over as special guests. And it’s not just them – we’ve got documentary programmers from very prestigious festivals like Berlin and Tribeca.

I’m interested in learning about Antenna’s partnership with your co-presenting partners, made up mostly of other film festivals that run in Sydney throughout the year. Could you speak about the importance of cross festival collaboration within the Sydney film festival scene?

You know, the cool thing about festivals is they happen seasonally, giving us this unique chance to work with passionate people like us, who in other industries might be seen as competitors. Most film festivals in Sydney are running on a shoestring budget, so collaborating is super important. It’s not just about marketing and reach but also about creating a really diverse and lively film scene in the city. 

Let’s talk about the rescheduling Antenna from October to its new date of February this year. I’ve read that you spoke about this change being a response to the introduction of SXSW Sydney. What are the challenges you’re face with this change so far, I noticed that with this also came with a venue change – are you expecting a different type of audience this year coming to the festival?

The biggest challenge? Honestly – adjusting to a new workflow. Usually, summer for us was more about holidays, but now it’s the peak time for us. In terms of programming, the main challenge is that many Australian titles aim for cinema releases before the end of the year, which means we can’t screen them at Antenna. But, you know, as the cliche says, every challenge brings opportunities. This change has also opened new opportunities. We’re now in a great position to secure films that premiered at big festivals like Venice, TIFF, Locarno and IDFA. So, while it’s a bit of a juggle getting used to the new dates, it’s also pretty exciting.

There are two competitions that are running during the festival – a feature competition and a shorts competition. Firstly, from my understanding of narrative filmmaking often shorts are created as proof of concept for longer features – is this the same for the documentary form? I was wondering if you’re ever had any documentary filmmakers throughout your years running Antenna showcase a short during the festival to then come back and screen a feature?

Yeah…you know thinking of shorts as stepping stones for features isn’t quite fair , I think. I personally see them as 2 different art forms but, answering your question, yeah, we’ve seen this at Antenna. Take Matthew Walker’s “Heart of the Queen”, for example. It started as a short film that premiered and won best short at Antenna and then got Screen Australia funding to make into the feature called “I am Wanita. – which didn’t just win Best Film at Sydney Film Festival but also had its international premiere at the Hot Docs.  And speaking of short filmmakers who later premiere feature films at Antenna, there are just too many to mention.

Documentary is all about shifting perspective or perception, introducing audiences to new ways of seeing the world through the eyes of filmmakers and storytellers. Do you think that there is a need for filmmakers to be impartial and have a sort of unbiased neutrality or Documentary allows for that bias, because its form blurs between factual news and personal commentary?

As you said, Documentary, like any art form, is a medium used to reflect and ask questions about the world around us, and ultimately about us ourselves. The filmmaker’s responsibility then is not simply to record and present a ‘true story.’ Their responsibility is to show us how they see that story. It’s this voice that makes a film poignant, challenging, or revelatory, and that gives a film its significance.

What’s the general makeup in the festival program this year? How many films are Australian, international, is there a particular country that stood out to the programming team? Does this vary year to year or is there a quota the festival needs to meet?

This year at Antenna, we’re showing a total of 53 documentaries – that’s 15 shorts and 38 features. I just had a look through our program, and it’s super diverse. We’ve got films from all over the place: Sweden, Japan, Denmark, Argentina, Spain, you name it. There’s France, Chile, Lebanon, Ukraine, India, the USA, Panama, Italy, Taiwan, China, Iran, and Palestine. It’s hard to say one country really stands out because we’ve got such a mix. 

Let’s talk about documentary as a genre and then the sub-genres within it. Is there a particular type of documentary you’re interested in or drawn to? What I love about the form of documentary is gone are the days of the traditional talking head and b-roll cutaways, a few compelling ones I’ve seen feel highly stylised and creatively told – you’ve got animation, re-enactments, musicals, stories told through VR, amongst other things. Has there been a new emergence of a particular sub-genre of documentary you’ve noticed throughout the years or that has gained popularity amongst audiences?

Absolutely, I agree. After years of being marginalised, documentaries now take centre stage at some of the world’s leading film festivals, and documentary filmmakers are finally recognised as artists. Now, about sub-genres, it’s a bit tricky for me to label them because things like animation, re-enactments, musicals, VR – I see these more as tools or techniques rather than separate sub-genres. Our main role at Antenna is to showcase just how endless the possibilities are in documentary cinema. So maybe what I’m saying is, there could be endless sub-genres? In any case, the landscape’s always evolving, and that’s what makes it so exciting.

The challenge of programming for a festival is choosing films that will predictably do well with audiences vs programming films that challenge or introduce audiences to new ways of perceiving the documentary form. Has there been any films throughout your years of directing the festival you’ve been surprised by with the audience’s reception?

Oh absolutely. For instance, experimental films sometimes do way better for us than say music documentaries. A great example is “Cameraperson” by Kirsten Johnson. It’s a very experimental film and it totally blew us away cause it didn’t just sell out once – it sold out twice! It’s moments like that which remind you how audiences can be way more open to avant-garde, unconventional films than you might expect.

Finally, do you have any recommendations for films to watch in this year’s program?

Absolutely, there are definitely a few standouts in this year’s program that I’d highly recommend. Firstly, don’t miss The Gullspång Miracle – it’s our opening night film and is an exceptional piece that mixes so many genres together with many twists and is very funny. If you’re into more experimental works, Samara will be a One of the most immersive experiences you’ll ever have in a cinema. We are taken into a sensory journey of reincarnation. An experience you will never forget. For anyone who loves music, you’ve got to check out In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, Alex Gibney’s new 3.5 hours definitive documentary In Restless about the legendary musician. 

Interview by Addy Fong.

Antenna runs from 9th – 19th of Feb. Info here.