Tasmanian Breath of Fresh Air Festival 2021 releases director's picks

The Tasmanian Breath of Fresh Air Film Festival will appear on the big screen at Village Cinemas in Launceston from April 30 to May 2.

The festival is offering 20 films from as far away as Spain and Bhutan, to as close to home as New Zealand.

Festival director Owen Tilbury said the director's picks were films that were both excellent and that would not normally appear in a cinema.

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The picks this year cross several different genres.

Vita and Virginia is a roaring 20s film that explores the true story about the love affair between author Vita Sackville-West and literary icon Virginia Woolf.

Rosemary's Way follows Rosemary Kariuki - a refugee from tribal wars and domestic violence in Africa, and Local Hero Australian of the Year 2021 - as she works with migrant communities.

Spread Your Wings is a French drama which follows a disconnected son of divorced parents, as his dad flies with him - accompanied by a flock of geese - to the Artic Circle in a hang glider.

Hillary: Ocean to Sky uncovers what Edmund Hillary - the first person along with Tenzing Norgay to climb Mount Everest in 1953 - believed was his ultimate conquest.

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom follows the story of Ugyen who has been given a teaching job at Lunana, in Bhutan, but yearns for the bright lights of the capital city, Thimphu.

Meet the Wallers is a world premiere of an Australian film that aims to make audiences realise what reality television really is. The film is the result of 17 years of occasional filming of an ordinary, realistic, changing, and often struggling family.

However, the films are not the only thing the festival director is proud of.

This year marks a first for festivals of this kind.

"BOFA 2021 will run for over a month both in-cinema locally and online with a national audience. This makes it the longest duration film festival in Australia, and one of very few to run two forms of festival," Mr Tilbury said.

"It's definitely a deep breath of fresh air, and even better, it's conceived and built in Tasmania."

The festival will run in Launceston from April 30 to May 2, online from May 3-30, and in Hobart from May 28-30. For more information visit breath-of-fresh-air.com.au.