ABC to celebrate student films with 'Grad Season'

‘Foal’ from AFTRS grad Vanessa Gazy.

ABC Arts has put together Grad Season, a showcase of original short film projects from recently graduated Aussie film school students.

Featuring 28 films from nine film schools across Australia, the showcase will stream on iview from February 20. Selected works will also be broadcast on ABC2.

“Many of these young filmmakers are the future lifeblood of our industry and we are keen to encourage an ongoing connection between emerging filmmakers and the ABC,” said head of ABC Arts Mandy Chang.

The season includes a variety of documentary, drama, comedy and animation films.

Participating schools, and shorts, include:

AFTRS: A Boy Called Su, Foal, The Kangaroo Guy

Griffith University: Alienation, Gokanosho, Pond Scum

Swinburne University: The Man Who Caught a Mermaid, The Promise, The Summer of ABC Burns

La Trobe University: Samara – Lady Trample, Naz

QUT: Oddbots, Same as it Ever Was

Bond University: Ultramarine, Off Track, Anchor

VCA: Boxer, Good Grief, Play Dead, Young Love

Macquarie University: Being Jasper, The 5 to 9

UTS: Pirlo, Nineteen, Stan Franklin, Dream Reel, Wildwood, Tay Man

5 Comments

Natalie says:

February 3, 2017 at 5:38 am

Notably missing any film schools out of Western Australia, including the WA Screen Academy which is connected to the elite Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). What a shame for a national broadcaster!

Jesse says:

February 3, 2017 at 6:00 am

A West Australian presence would have been smart/nice, considering the number of film schools currently operating. Not to mention the WA Screen Academy and the quality of filmmakers and actors (from WAAPA) who have been associated with their productions over the last decade.

Ben says:

February 3, 2017 at 7:21 am

Shame that such a great initiative has excluded any film schools East of The Great Dividing Range? They clearly have an odd interpretation of what ‘across Australia’ means?

Arwen Gunter says:

February 3, 2017 at 8:40 am

Very disappointed to see that Western Australia has been completely ignored. The ABC is meant to represent the whole of Australia. Given the quality of many of the films to come out of the west, and the number of notable industry professional who got their start in film schools in the west, the ABC has definitely missed a trick here.

John Rapsey says:

February 6, 2017 at 1:42 am

Apparently ABC Arts idea of “across the county” extends as far west as Footscray.The other 3/4s of the continent have not seceded…yet. Film Schools in South Australia and Western Australia have been totally ignored. In Western Australia, that includes the WA Screen Academy, Curtin University Film and Television, Murdoch University, North Metropolitan TAFE Graduate Diploma in Screen and Media, Notre Dame University, University of Western Australia have all featured in the WA Screen Awards and films, short documentaries an animation have been selected, nominated and awarded in national and international festivals.
I call upon Mandy Chang to tell the public who proposed the showcase, were the schools featured invited to participate and what the criterion for selection were. Were any films from South Australian or Western Australian screen programs considered or viewed? Who, specifically, curated the program?
This is a considerable blow to the outstanding graduates in the State (WA) that I know, and I believe they are owed a detailed explanation…and a showcase of their own. The ABC’s mandate is a national one. It has failed.
John Rapsey
Founder and former Director of the WA Screen Academy