‘Out of Range’. (Photo: Alexander Lloyd)
The projects produced under SBS’s Short-Form Content Initiative will premiere on SBS on Demand in September as part of the broadcaster’s inaugural Short Film Festival.
Run in partnership with Film Victoria, Screen Queensland, Screen Tasmania, Screenwest and the South Australian Film Corporation, the Short-Form Content Initiative sought to back projects from emerging creatives from backgrounds currently underrepresented in the screen industry.
The festival will showcase 14 films – four scripted and 10 unscripted – that feature Australian creatives from underrepresented societies, including those from multicultural, Indigenous and LGBTIQ+ communities, and those living with disabilities.
SBS director of TV and online content Marshall Heald said: “Our Short-Form Content Initiative announced last year was a promise from SBS to encourage and celebrate emerging local talent, and we’re thrilled that the initiative has culminated into the SBS Short Film Festival for SBS On Demand. These films represent Australia’s diversity and will give a platform to creatives from communities that are underrepresented in the screen sector. We’re delighted to see this festival launch in September.”
Screening on September 13 will be John Harvey’s Out of Range, starring Aaron Pedersen; Johanis Lyons-Reid and Lorcan Hopper’s The Loop; Kirsty Martinsen’s Limited Surrender; Rachel Anderson and Mary Duong’s Bananas; and Michael O’Neill and Dylan Hesp’s The Small Town Drifter.
On September 14: Miley Tunnecliffe’s Molly and Cara; Nicole Miller’s Deafinition, Madeleine Dyer’s Monsters of Many Worlds, and Eliya Cohen’s Sidelines.
And on September 15: Mason Fleming’s Tribunal, Fatima Mawa’s Amar, Callan Murray and Nurdewi Djamal’s Lost Daylight and Lillian Paterson and Hawanatu Bangura’s Lives in Action.
More details below:
Out of Range
Max lives in Melbourne and is trying to pursue his dreams as an actor. When he’s visited by his estranged 12 year old son Levi from Queensland, Max is keen to impress him by taking him on a fishing trip. When the car breaks down on a quiet road, they find themselves out of range, with no mobile reception, sitting in the dingy high and dry. But being stranded and out of range may just be what they need to feel more connected. Writer & Director: John Harvey
Producer: Lydia Fairhall
Production: Brown Cabs
Featuring: Aaron Pederson, Araluen Lee Baxter
The Loop
The Loop is an absurd journey into disability, authorship and representation. First-time television director Lorcan Hopper twists the world of soap operas to share his experience of disability. But with a documentary team filming Lorcan’s every move, can the cast and crew match the intensity and professionalism he demands?
Writers & Directors: Johanis Lyons-Reid and Lorcan Hopper
Producers: Carl Kuddell and Jen Lyons-Reid
Production: Tallstoreez Productionz | Change Media
Featuring: Lorcan Hopper, Kaila Pole, Keava Hopper, Sam Bateman, Sandra Hopper
Limited Surrender
Limited Surrender is a testament to the power of creativity. Artist Kirsty Martinsen addresses how her creative energy and force have kept going despite confronting an ever-deteriorating body from Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Reflecting on her diagnosis and artistic journey, her story unfolds at the same time as the creation of a bold new artwork.
Writer & Director: Kirsty Martinsen
Producer: Bettina Hamilton
Production: Black Cat White Rabbit
Narrator: Kirsty Martinsen
Bananas
Presenters Rachel Anderson and Mary Duong explore their identities through their interactions with the cultural landscapes that they have grown up with. The series spurns from each woman’s individual perspectives as a biracial Filipino-Australian from Hervey Bay and a queer Vietnamese-Australian from Brisbane. With humour, curiosity, and heart, Rachel and Mary showcase who they are, where they come from, and where they are going with respect to intersections of race, gender, and cultural identity against the backdrop of the Asian food that they grew up with.
Creators & Writers: Rachel Anderson, Mary Duong
Director: Rachel Anderson
Producer: Mary Duong
Featuring: Rachel Anderson, Mary Duong, Thuy Nguyen, Rita Anderson
The Small Town Drifter
15 years after a horrific accident almost took his life, Taylor Forward heads to Japan to realise his dream of competing in the high speed motorsport of drifting. Out of his depth in the birthplace of drift, Taylor will do whatever he can to prove to himself and his small town of Penguin that where you come from doesn’t have to define who you are or what you can achieve.
Producers and Directors: Michael O’Neill and Dylan Hesp
Production: Blur Films
Featuring: Taylor Forward
Molly and Cara
An odd couple comedy series about a bigoted pensioner and an Aboriginal student who are forced to live together after being matched through a government affordable living scheme. With no other options, these two antagonistic housemates desperately need this to work.
Director: Miley Tunnecliffe
Written by: Miley Tunnecliffe, Jub Clerc and Andrea Fernandez
Producer: Emilia Jolakoska
Featuring: Lynette Curran, Rarriwuy Hick and Hayley McElhinney
Deafinition
With honesty, humour and heart, Deafinition presents the first-hand narrative of Paul and his experiences being deaf. From the physical day-to-day, social interactions, the intricacies of communication and language, the frustrations and challenges we see it all unfold through the inner world of Paul.
Director: Nicole Miller
Producer & Writer: Christine Williams
Production: 57 Films
Consulting (Script/Directing): Paul Vagnarelli
Featuring: Paul Vagnarelli
Monsters of Many Worlds
Three women share scary stories of monsters from their cultural backgrounds; stories that they continue to share here in Australia. Despite these monsters originating from very different worlds, they share distinct similarities and are just as scary as each other.
Co-Writer, Co-Producer & Director: Madeleine Dyer
Co-Writer & Producer: Daniel Mulvihill
Production Company: MAD DAN Productions
Presenters: Jenny Pryor, Yu Su Qian, Nimitha Aithal
Sidelines
Best mates, Shaun and Zac, fulfil a lifelong dream to form their own cricket team. After overcoming financial and social hurdles to get the The Derwent Scorpions established, they struggle to field a full team or win games. Determined to turn the team’s fortunes around, Shaun and Zac recruit new teammates from Hobart’s migrant community, and unlikely friendships begin to form.
Director: Eliya Cohen
Producers: Paul Moran, Alicia Rackett
Writer: Mark Thomson
Production Company: Electric Yak
Featuring: Shaun Williams, Zac Wilcox, Abid Latif, Usama Kiramat
Tribunal
In the face of an antagonistic tribunal, a harried interpreter must go beyond her boundaries to determine the fate of an asylum seeker. The film was inspired by a series of news stories that follow homosexual asylum-seeking refugees that have been deemed “not gay enough” by an Australian Tribunal. In one notorious case, a young man was rejected after he failed questions about Madonna and Greco-roman wrestling.
Writer: AB Morrison
Director: Mason Fleming
Producer: Hannah Ngo
Lead Cast: Shideh Faramand, Mansoor Noor, Oliver Wenn, Chris Isaacs, Hamed Sami, Caleb Macauley, Rhianna Abu Lashin
Amar
Amar follows a 28-year-old Muslim woman with Down syndrome who secretly plans the wedding of her dreams, without a groom. Living with her mother, grandmother and sister, Amar’s family struggles with unwanted community prejudice, discrimination and marginalisation. Amar is the story of a young woman determined to be celebrated, respected and embraced by her community.
Director & Writer: Fatima Mawas
Producers: Ade Djajamihardja, Leanne Tonkes
Production: A2K Media, Sense & Centsability
Lead Cast: Kate Barakis, Donia Salem, Emily Seif, Odette Kassab, Shea MacDonough, Michael Buxton, Abdullah Bakhsh
Lost Daylight
Isobel (Dawn) Daylight was taken from her family at age 12 and put to work at a prestigious girls’ school, All Hallows, in Brisbane. Dawn did not receive any pay, nor did she receive any of the educational benefits that accompany attending schooling. Her sisters Carol and Margaret also suffered similar fates. Here she tells her story for the first time.
Directors and Producers: Callan Murray & Nurdewi Djamal
Production Company: BIMA Vision
Narrator: Isobel (Dawn) Daylight
Lives in Action
A group of neurodiverse filmmakers explore the experience of living with a disability through interviews with six Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. How do different cultures grapple with disability? What are the barriers these individuals confront day to day in Australian society? These interviews defy expectations, challenge stereotypes and provide insight into how culture can provide a sense of belonging.
Executive Producer: Genevieve Clay-Smith
Directors: Lillian Paterson & Hawanatu Bangura
Producers: Chloe Lawrence-Hartcher & Genevieve Clay-Smith
Production Company: Bus Stop Films Featuring: Julie Duong, Sangeetha Punnia-Moorthy, Abrahim Darouiche, Amrita Ramjas, Reuben Vuong, Miranda Chau, Jubran Botany, Catherine and Chris Yousif
Flavour Swap
What happens when passionate home cooks from our migrant and refugee community share their favourite flavours with Tasmania’s top restaurant chefs? Professional chefs and home cooks will meet, share stories and cook for each other. Vince Trim, Executive Chef at Mona, is matched up with Liberian refugees Judy and Victoria. While Oskar Rossi and Federica Andrisani from Hobart Italian bistro Fico get a crash course in Indian cuisine from Muslim mother and aspiring chef Sumaiya. Come and join us for food, art and joy in Tasmania.
Producer, Director and Writer: Ella Kennedy
Producer: Catherine Pettman
Featuring: Vince Trim, Oskar Rossi, Federica Andrisani, Judy Cole, Victoria Zinnah, Sumaiya Jawedan