(L-R) Fiona Percival, Allison Chhorn and Madeleine Parry (Latter photo by Sarah Enticknap).
Fiona Percival, Allison Chhorn and Madeleine Parry will share in $30,000 funding to develop screen projects as part of the South Australian Film Corporation’s (SAFC) 2020 Lottie Lyell Award.
Animator and entrepreneur Percival received the major award of $20,000 for dont f with me, a darkly comic animated series spun-off from her stop motion short of the same name.
The plot follows four best friends as they navigate the beauty and perils of teenage life. Punky, Goldy, Wicca and Bit$h are partying and loving like there’s no tomorrow – because to them, there may not be one – as they spiral into conflict with family, authority and each other.
Percival, whose credits include the animated short Top Dog, and Cathy Beitz are writing the screenplay. Beitz and Julie Byrne will produce.
Writer, director and producer Parry (Netflix’s Nanette, ABC’s Maddie Parry) was awarded $5,000 for feature film Year 1, the story of ageing immigrant grandmother Evthoxia, who finds herself in her granddaughter’s school on grandparents’ day as a new world of learning is opened to her.
However Evthoxia’s family struggle to understand her unexpected behaviour, so for her it will take courage to break old habits. Louise Gough is the script editor.
Filmmaker and multi-disciplinary artist Chhorn (The Plastic House) gets $5,000 to help complete After Years, a documentary which follows Cambodian families in Australia, the US and Cambodia, examining the inter-generational trauma as survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime. The producer is Chris Luscri with Anastasia Comelli as co-producer.
SAFC CEO Kate Croser said: “The SAFC is pleased to support three such distinctive and original projects which celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation that screen pioneer Lottie Lyell is so well known for.
“Fiona Percival’s suite of projects demonstrates a clear vision of her audience and innovation in creating screen works which directly speak to them, and represent their world in a completely original way.
“Allison Chhorn and Madeleine Parry are talented filmmakers known for their incredibly thoughtful approach to their subjects, producing work which is moving, enlightening and compelling.”
The submissions were judged by First Nations director and writer Catriona McKenzie and South Australian producer Peta Astbury (The Heights, The Marriage of Figaro), in consultation with SAFC staff.
The inaugural Lottie Lyell Award was presented to Shalom Almond to develop the multi-faceted, multi-platform project Through Prisoner Eyes.