Short film Franswa Sharl has won the IF Media Award for Most Popular Film at this year’s Flickerfest festival.
The film was the highest rated short film of the festival and, along with all the other Australian short films that screened at Flickerfest, is now eligible for the 2010 Inside Film Awards.
Written and directed by Hannah Hilliard and produced by Linda Micsko, Franswa Sharl portrays the relationship between Greg Loman, a 12 year old boy, and his father.
On a family holiday to Fiji, father and son have different ideas about where Greg should focus his talents. When his creative pursuits fail to amuse his father Greg goes to bizarre lengths to win him over.
The film premiered at Flickerfest 2010 and is still screening as part of the Best of Australian Shorts on the nationwide Flickerfest tour. Franswa Sharl has also been selected for this year’s Berlinale International Film Festival.
Hilliard’s first film Blame won several awards on the film festival circuit and was subsequently sold to SBS Television. Her twenty-minute drama Search, made whilst she was studying at AFTRS, premiered at the Sydney Film Festival and screened at Creteil Women Director’s Festival, Paris.
In 2008 Flickerfest premiered Hilliard’s 35mm drama Mockingbird which then went on to screen in competition at the St Tropez Film Festival, St Kilda Film Festival and was nominated for an Atom Award.
Wanting to explore directing opportunities in television Hilliard undertook an attachment on The Secret Life of Us. In the past year she has directed sixteen episodes of hit Channel 10 series Neighbours. She has also directed documentaries.