Granita and governance cited in grant dispute for Pellegrini’s documentary

Despite finding themselves in furious agreement about the significance of Pellegrini’s to the city and the value of a documentary about it, some councillors disagreed about approving a grant to its filmmakers at a recent council meeting.

A grant of $5000 to the makers of the documentary Pellegrini’s – A Melbourne Legacy broke an established council precedent and principles of good governance; a trio of Melbourne councillors have argued.

The payment from the council’s Discretionary Fund was approved after a majority of City of Melbourne councillors voted in favour of the motion eight to three at a council meeting on November 25.

The grant was proposed by Residents 3000 president Cr Rafael Camillo, who said the documentary would benefit Melbourne by promoting the city as a tourist destination around Australia and overseas.

Cr Camillo referred to the $5000 figure as a “modest contribution” to the film’s "brave" producers who had incurred significant costs, particularly for the rights to archival footage.

Cr Mark Scott, head of the Tourism and Events portfolio, who seconded the motion, described the documentary as “a passion project” that carried “enormous cultural weight”.

But Greens councillor Dr Olivia Ball spoke against the payment on the grounds that it had not been subject to a competitive, transparent process and would be unfair to those who had applied for grants.

It was especially unjustified, Cr Ball argued, given the producers were receiving in kind publicity support from the council estimated to be worth $30,000. She nevertheless wished the film well.

Also opposing the payment, despite heartily endorsing both Pellegrini's and the film, was independent Cr Andrew Rowse, who recalled being taken to the café by his grandfather as a reward for acing school tests.

“However, as everyone in this chamber knows, the only thing I like more than a watermelon granita from Pellegrini's is, of course, good governance,” he told the meeting, explaining that he believed the grant failed to meet criteria set down more than a decade ago for payments from the fund.

Nor had the motion been officially discussed with other councillors before being moved at the meeting, he said, proposing it be referred back to council staff for assessment.

Cr Davydd Griffiths also voted against the motion.

But Cr Owen Guest, the portfolio head for Finance, Governance and Risk, commended the fact the request had been made “in the open forum of council”, and voted in favour of it.

Frank Lotito, whose production company will receive the funds, was pleased to hear from CBD News that the grant had been approved.

“That will help,” he said.

“We put two years of our hearts and souls into the project and we’re never going to see a cent from it, regardless of how well people think it’s done at the box office.”

Mr Lotito said he had applied for arts grants from the council in the past, which was a very time-consuming process, and had never been successful.

The City of Melbourne was already listed in the film’s credits as a sponsor, he noted.