Flickerfest (Cultural)

After watching the short movies at Flickerfest, I noticed cultural differences between US and Australian films. Many of the Australian short films displayed common themes such as mateship and distant parenting. In the film An Act of Love, the intimate connection between identical twin sisters May and June is shown. Their lives revolve around doing the same activities and wearing the same outfits, but their relationship is tested when one attempts to step beyond their shared identity by cutting her hair. In the end, the other sister who feels as though she cannot be her own person without her sister, cuts her hair too, as an act of love and display of mateship. This film shows the struggles of being an identical twin, yet the undeniable love between two sisters and best friends struggling to find themselves. Another aspect of this film that stood out to me was how distant the mother was from these young girls. The mother seemed to have more important priorities than worrying about her daughters and recognizing their internal struggles. She acts uninterested when she’s in the car with them and freely drops them off at an arcade unsure of when she will pick them up. I found it interesting that many of the films displayed detached parents, and it made me wonder if the laid-back nature of Australian culture was a result of the distant parenting styles. Whereas in America, parents often tend to be hands on compared to those of other countries.

Another film that displayed mateship that I thoroughly enjoyed was Yulubidyi – Until the End. This film was about a young Aboriginal man, Jarman, who is tasked with protecting his younger disabled brother from life in a harsh and remote community. His father, a harsh and ruthless man who was the chief of their tribe, wants Jarman to become the new leader and mocks any weakness in him. The father sees his disabled son as worthless and tries to end his life on multiple occasions. Despite his father’s disappointment, Jarman always puts his brother’s needs first and helps him to experience life despite his disability. This film displayed the unrelenting mateship between two brothers. In addition, I found this film interesting because it would be extremely rare for a father to mistreat and attempt to harm his disabled son in an American film. Usually in American movies, disabled children are heavily cared for by their parents and seen as a gift, further displaying the differences between the two cultures. In my opinion, I don’t think this film would be perceived well by an American audience. Overall, the Flickerfest was a great experience that broadened my knowledge of Australian culture and film.

lmckeever

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