Flickerfest General MW

Megan Weintraub

Flickerfest was an amazing short film festival that highlighted directors and producers in all types of cinema. There were many different genres shown on each showing, making it hard to decide which films stood out to me the most. I loved being able to see a wide variety of films, each with its one original plot. Some of the films wowed me with effects and story lines I’ve never seen before. One film that I thought was the most visually appealing was Della Mortika: Carousel of Shame, directed by Marisa Martin. This 17 minute film took us into the world of the carousel, filled with interesting animations and puppets. The story was of three sisters and their relationships to each other in this fantasy world. Beatrix was very envious of her older sister Abigail and chopped her hair off after she went on a date with the boy she liked. In the end, Beatrix apologized because she saw how badly it affected her sister. Each scene was so thoughtfully done that it made me glued to the screen in awe. It makes sense that they worked on this film for seven years because it has so many important details in each scene. This film was unlike any of the others I saw, making it really stick with me.

Another film that had me glued to the screen was Sleepwalking, a 20 minute film directed and written by Melissa Anastasi. This film told the story through the eyes of a young boy named Phoenix who is 12 years old. His mother suffers from terrible sleepwalking while his step father is very overbearing and religious with his views. The family lives on an isolated piece of land where the stepfather holds them mainly hostage. When Phoenix would be allowed into town for a short car ride, he would get a glimpse of the life he was missing. He and his mother attempted to escape the life they were forced into, but were unsuccessful, as the stepfather eventually found them. The mother told the boy that she would get him away from the abuse and isolation, but she wasn’t strong enough herself to do so. In the end they went back to living under the step fathers overbearing rule, even though they did not choose to. The story was very emotional, as you could see the sorrow the mother and the boy had in their eyes. This story was very impactful, even though it only lasted for a short period of time.

Overall Flickerfest was one of my highlights in Sydney. Being able to see the talent and visions these Australian film makers had on a big screen was such a great experience to connect back to this course.

mweintraub

More Posts