What do Cannes, on the famous French Riviera, and Portarlington have in common?

On face value, not much, one might argue.

But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll see the similarities emerge.

They’re both aesthetically charming towns that are popular holiday destinations located on spectacular bays.

And, before you guffaw, they both are home to wonderful film festivals.

OK, so the Cannes version has a slight head start on its antipodean associate, but the North Bellarine Film Festival is chasing hard.

“Why not?” enthused NBFF president Bill Lussier.

“We’re aiming for world domination and they had to start somewhere, didn’t they?”

All jokes aside, the local festival has won a lot of admirers as it approaches its tenth year, not to mention the horde of visitors it attracts to Portarlington.

And, as part of its push towards a permanent place in the state’s festival calendar, organisers were thrilled recently to learn of their success in being granted $2000 from the Portarlington Golf Club’s Community Contribution Fund.

Bill Lussier, Mary Micallef and Colin Pettigrew get into the spirit of the festival with the golf club’s Georgia Allison.

“A lot of people may not realise, and it’s surprising when you sit and analyse it, but it's actually really expensive to run a festival. Even though it's a short, you've got things like insurance, screening rights, venue hire and other things that quickly add up,” Bill said.

“And at the same time, we're building up an audience and still trying to keep our prices reasonable so that everybody who wants to come to the festival can come.

“So what that does is it leaves a gap between expenses and revenue, so while we're working in that direction to close that gap, the support that we get from the golf club actually helps us survive, so we’re really grateful.

“And not just of this grant, but through the Friday night raffles that you run. Those have been really helpful to us and others in the community, too.”

This year’s event, to run on November 13 and 14 at Parks Hall, will again feature a swag of popular features, headlined by a feature film yet to be finalised.

There’s an extensive series of Australian and international short films, plus the increasingly important awards ceremonies for emerging film-makers and documentary film-makers, plus a people’s choice award.

Last year also featured a prize for the best dressed guest on opening night, not unlike those world-revered Cannes-style ceremonies.

“It’s definitely trending in the right direction. Since we moved to Parks Hall (from the Potato Shed in previous years), it’s definitely had a more community feel to the festival. A lot of people now can walk to the event and it's just made it more accessible.

“And I think the standard of the films improves every year.

“It's something that needs to be nurtured. We know that people want to see good quality films in a in a cinematic environment in a way that isn't really fulfilled by Village and Reading.
“Those are all great places, but it’s the more social aspect of it that we bring to the opening night and the award ceremony and our promotion of Geelong region film-makers.”

Portarlington Golf Club chief executive Michael Phillips said the inspiration provided by film-makers and organisers alike was a key factor in offering the grant.

“It’s great to see the artistic side of the Bellarine flourish right here in town, so we’re very happy to support a festival that has a growing role on our town’s calendar.

The grant is part of a total of $12,500 to be distributed by the 2026 CCF, spread among seven successful applicants.

The total means that in the past six financial years, the Portarlington Golf Club has given charitable support directly to the community of more than $180,000.

In that time, the CCF component has become the biggest single source of community initiatives with more than $60,000 in such grants alone.

The CCF was established to support not-for-profit community or sporting organisations to make positive improvements that will, in turn, benefit the wider community.

This year, highlighting just how much the CCF means to these institutions, the club received a record 32 grant applications totalling in excess of $100,000.

“We really think these donations have become incredibly important within our community, as evidenced by the number of people asking for assistance,” Phillips said.

“So we’re delighted that so many projects will come to fruition as a result of the grants and, in particular, that so many of them will help fulfil a broader community need.”