The Chicken, the Fish and the King Crab

Sat 4th April 3:30pm

Meet the chefs that participated in the Bocuse d'Or and find out everything about this deliciously challenging cooking competition that sets the scene for The Chicken, the Fish and the King Crab.

Joseph Vargetto

Joseph Vargetto, is a leading Victorian chef and part owner of the award winning Oyster Little Bourke Brasserie and Bar.

Joseph has been awarded and recognised by the Age Good Food Guide and he represented Australia in France at the prestigious Bocuse D’Or. He often travels overseas presenting his beautiful food and menus, at events such as the World Gourmet Summit in Singapore, as part of the Sheraton Hotel’s ‘Tower Opening’ celebrations in Saigon, at the ‘World Food’ promotion at Walt Disney World in Florida and as the featured chef at China World Hotel Beijing, hosting the prestigious ‘Australian Food & Wine Experience’.

Joseph was trained in part by the ‘3 Michelin star’ Italian chef Gaultiero Marchesi, in Melbourne under the equally exalted Philippe Mouchel of Paul Bocuse Restaurant fame and also by the award winning restaurateur Jeremy Strode.

While he headed up the kitchens of some of Melbourne’s better know dining rooms, Joseph was named by Antonio Carluccio as Australia’s leading risotto chef. He then went on to create his own Brasserie and Bar - Oyster Little Bourke.

Oyster Little Bourke is an elegant Euro style venue, featuring a marble edged ‘Front Bar’ with a large ‘Oyster well’, an alfresco area for casual drinks and a stylish dining room where Joseph’s menu comes to life and has the hallmark of a world class offering.

Joseph has been described as ‘walking the line between urban Melbourne chic and Italian oomph with ease…’.

Javier Fésser Shorts Program

Sunday 5th April 2:30pm

Meet Javier Fesser as he discusses his award winning short films and his recent film Camino which has just swept the Goya awards, picking up 6 major awards. Read more

La Vida Loca

Monday 6th April 6:45pm

RMIT lecturer and El Salvadorian, Dr Glenda Mejía chairs this session about this fascinating documentary, La Vida Loca.

Glenda Mejía

Glenda Mejía arrived in Australia from El Salvador in 1992. She completed a Bachelor in Social Psychology at the University of Queensland and a Masters Degree focusing on the Relationship between Identity and Language in adolescents and the second generation of Spanish speakers. She holds a PhD in Cinema Studies having completed a thesis on the "Representation of Women in Revolutionary Cuban Cinema". Glenda worked as a lecturer at UQ and moved to Melbourne two years ago, where she currently works as a lecturer in the School of Global Studies, Social Science & Planning RMIT University.

Lucho Riquelme

Lucho Riquelme, Latin American Activist in solidarity with grassroots organisations and struggles against Neoliberalism. He joined the resistance against the Chilean Dictatorship, (his country of origin), as a teenager. He arrived to Australia as a political refugee in 1986. Since then he continues his struggles and commitment for a better society. He returned to Chile in 1992, believing that democracy was in place there, but unfortunately that wasn't the case, so he decided to unite his struggle with many Chileans that were fighting for a real democracy and justice. In 1995 he was again forced to leave the country and returned to Australia. Since 1995 he has been creating awareness of the struggles of Latin American people.
Lucho Riquelme is the Co-founder of the Chilean Popular and Indigenous Network and LASNET (Latin American Solidarity Network), an independent and inclusive group of people working in solidarity with Latin American grassroots movements and its struggles. LASNET is not aligned to any specific political party, rather it is committed to social change based on justice, popular democracy and dignity.

Blacklisted / My Prison Yard

Saturday 11th April 6:30pm / Sunday 12th April 4:30pm

Come and meet the beautiful and delightful Verónica Echegui, highly touted as the next great Spanish actress to take the world by storm. Her performances in two films we are screening in this year's Festival exhibit the great range and sensistivity of this wonderful actress that saw her win the Shooting Star Award at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival. Veronica will be present at the screenings for each of her films Blacklisted and My Prison Yard.  My Prison Yard is proudly presented by El Patio Spanish Language School.

Meet Juan Taratuto

After the Opening Night Screening of the delightful comedy
A Boyfriend for my Wife, director Juan Taratuto will be at the festival to meet with Festival Audiences.

Meet Gabriel Medina

After the Closing Night Screening of the off beat comedy
The Paranoids, director Gabriel Medina will be at the festival to meet with Festival Audiences.