Clio win and Top 100 for Curious director Ash Bolland

Curious director Ash Bolland's Burn - Never Extinguish has been selected to screen at the 2012 St Kilda Film Festival as part of a showcase of top Australian shorts. Its inclusion opens new territory for branded content in the film world.

Shot in Buenos Aires, the film was written and directed by Bolland for Coca-Cola Europe via Publicis Milan and features professional European skateboarders Rune Glifberg, Jonas Skroder, Hugo Maillard and Dany Hamard. ?

Curious executive producer Pete Grasse said they had worked hard to depict the story in an authentic way.

“Having a film like Burn recognised by St Kilda Film Festival proves you can produce creative campaigns for a major brand like Coca-Cola without losing any credibility amongst film audiences,” he said.

The film also picked up a Bronze Clio for Direction.

St Kilda Film Festival director Paul Harris said the inclusion of Burn was indicative of the trend towards the acceptance of branded content.

“The viral campaigns which are now a part of our visual culture can't pass muster to savvier audiences who are rightly suspicious about blatant product plugging but are open to new forms of visual storytelling,” he said. “It is a self-contained high-energy short film, which tells an exhilarating narrative conceived in a visually arresting, highly creative style. I liked its global reach with a New Zealand-born director, a trans-Tasman production company, an Italian co-partner and a group of professional European skateboarders gliding through the streets of Buenos Aires.”