International award for Australian Catholics film reviewer
The work of Australian Catholics film reviewer Peter Malone was honoured at the recent International Catholic Film Critics Association (ICFCA) awards.
From the Australian Catholics website: Fr Peter took out the Honour for Outstanding Criticism (ICFCA member) section. Other nominees included John Mulderig, Catholic News Service’s associate director for media reviews and Joseph McAleer, a CNS freelance movie critic.
‘It was an honour and a pleasure to be named for the award,’ Fr Peter said.
Fr Peter sees himself less as a film critic or academic, and more as a mediator between films and the readers of his reviews.
‘I highlight what is interesting and finding ways of alerting to aspects which may cause difficulties in viewing.’
He said a couple of years ago, American Catholic reviewer Michael Augsberger set up an association of Catholic reviewers, which included a site for reviews and other features from a Catholic perspective. Fr Peter, along with fellow Australian reviewers Peter Sheehan, Callum Ryan and Richard Leonard, became part of the association.
The value of such an association these days was contact and communication, and an opportunity for sharing views, as well as maintaining an international perspective, Fr Peter said.
‘It’s always interesting to discover different emphases on the Catholic perspective, from explicit affirmation to more ecumenical, interfaith and intercultural dialogue,’ Fr Peter said.
A prolific reviewer (few movies escape his scrutiny as you will see from the Australian Catholics Film Reviews website), Fr Peter prefers movies that involve human drama, though he is ‘partial to murder mysteries’.
And his favourite film? 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The ICFCA named Coda Best Picture and awarded Belfast the Human and Gospel Values Award. For more information on the winners of the 2021 Catholic Film Critics Awards, see the association website.
