Press release from Myrtle Street Pictures
The short film Parrot by Sydney-based filmmakers Emma McKenna and Craig Foster will have its world premiere this April at the 2012 Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne. In addition, the filmmakers have been invited to give a short talk and Q&A following the screening at the annual convention, which will also host internationally acclaimed intellectuals and entertainers such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Ben Elton.
Completed in 2011 Parrot is an Australian production featuring the talents of AFTRS graduates such as Joel Froome (Director of Photography), Kavi Jarrot (Production Designer), Daniel Rossi (Sound Recordist and Sound Mixer) and Emma McKenna (Writer, Producer and Editor). The story centres around an atheist protagonist, hiding his true self from his own strictly Catholic family until a tragedy forces him to confront his parents about his faith. It is a sincere investigation of the process of grief and the impact religion can have on familial relationships.
“Parrot is totally believable and an absolutely credible story that will ring true with parents and their children,” says David Nicholls, President of the Atheist Foundation of Australia. “I was overcome with very mixed emotions of sadness about a situation beyond the control of any of those portrayed. It showed immense pain that no individual could be blamed for and it left an overriding feeling that this was a deep and disturbing problem created by religion.”
The Atheist Foundation of Australia is the organising body for the second annual Global Atheist Convention starting on the 13th of April 2012.
The screening at the Convention will bring what the filmmakers hope to be global attention to this short film. “It is an immensely exciting, unique and humbling opportunity, as a filmmaker, to be invited to screen and talk amongst some of the world’s most brilliant and potent academics and philosophers”, says Director Craig Foster. “It is the best thing we could have hoped for. What excited us about this film was treading down the relatively unexplored path of atheism in drama and in doing that we knew that atheists were going to be among our toughest critics. So we’re very pleased to see that they seem to like it.”
The short film was partially funded by online donations from the atheist community and the Atheist Foundation of Australia as well as contributions from family and friends. A Q&A with the filmmakers will take place after the screening.
To read more about Parrot you can visit the official website at www.parrotshortfilm.com. For tickets and information about the Global Atheist Convention please visit www.atheistconvention.org.au.