Short films used to be considered the ‘test’ works film-makers made as a sort of career apprenticeship, or because they couldn’t afford to make a feature. Today short films are seen to offer a genuine innovative alternative to the often bland and predictable mass marketed cinema. For film makers, the medium of short film offers a creative freedom that is simply not possible in the restrictive artistically compromised environments often associated with high budget feature films. The days when short films weren’t really regarded as a stand alone art-form are long gone, and it’s due largely to pioneering festivals like the St Kilda Film Festival.
Now in its 26th year the St Kilda Film Festival showcases the top 100 Australian short films, as well as a very carefully curated selection of International films and special film screenings. For Paul Harris, who has been the Festival Director since 1999, this year is just that bit more special as it marks his tenth year in the role.
Harris says that his biggest challenge each year is choosing the films in the program. It’s no easy task. Continual developments in digital technologies have made the medium of film-making more accessible than ever. In the past five years alone the number of entries to the festival has risen from around 300 films to 600 individual entries. It means that more people than ever can tell a story, and give us all the chance to see the emerging stars of the industry. It also means that there are a hell of a lot more duds to sift through.
“To be very honest, the process is really quite clinical… it has to be,” explains Harris, “We have so many entries, and we’re not just going to screen any short film we get. Our focus is quality not quantity. And when you’ve sat through as many films as myself and the judges, you figure out quite quickly what quality is and what simply doesn’t make the grade.”
Harris’ great eye for quality is evident when you look at how many directors and filmmakers from the festival have gone on to achieve substantial careers in the mainstream. The emerging talent highlighted over the last five years of the Festival’s programs reads like a current film industry who’s who. Achievements are also celebrated in the festival, often in the form of retrospectives.
One aspect of the festival is clearly unpredictable each year – the festival theme.
“We never know which direction the festival is going to take each year until we’re right in the thick of the selection process. As we start watching the films we start to get a sense of the kinds of concerns and styles that appear to be echoed in the entries. That largely helps us determine the festival theme.
“What you see is a snapshot of what’s going on in film-making around the country, and what issues, topics and characters are capturing the imagination of artists working with film. The festival is a pretty good reflection of the industry,” says Harris.
SoundKilda, one of the newest and most exciting additions to the festival program, is a selection of Australian music video clips that elevates the often ignored medium, and is another favourite of Harris’. The forums also come highly recommended.
“The forums can often be overlooked, but that’s a real shame because they are an invaluable opportunity for audiences and filmmakers alike to get a real insight into a film and the industry. Coma along, ask questions and find out first hand the deep dark secrets of a film, from those who actually made it.”
There are some fabulous queer offerings in this year’s festival. Here are our picks of the bunch:
SoundKilda
The Festival’s cult favourite is back in 2009, screening the best Australian music videos loud and large on the big screen. From the bizarre to the glamorous to the hilarious, SoundKilda has it all this year. Join host Alan Brough for this one night only event – see the clips, vote for your favourite and then join the crowd at the after party.
SoundKilda is on at the Palace George Cinemas, Thurs, 28 May 9pm.
Five Easy Pizzas screening and forum
Five self-contained comedy shorts by five different Melbourne-based directors. Featuring comic actors; Geoffrey Rush, Chris Haywood, Bunney Brooke, Rhys Muldoon and Kim Gyngell – individuals who attempt to grapple with stress and paranoia in the modern world.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers involved as they look back at a one-off creative experiment which may never be replicated.
Five Easy Pizzas is on at the Palace George Cinemas, Wednesday 27 May 8.30pm – 10pm.
Little Deaths screening and forum
Eleven emerging filmmakers team up to create a unique feature film told from the perspective of two lonely toll booth operators dreaming about the lives of their customers as they drive by. Each story explores sex, love and modern relationships. Writer Guila Sandler experiments with different forms of storytelling, from the purely visual to the dialogue driven, from internal monologue to mobile phone texts.
Each story is different in tone: magic realism, broad comedy, high drama.
Little Deaths is on at The Palace George Cinemas, Thursday 28 May 7.30 – 10.30pm.
Adam Elliot Retrospective
Academy Award winning director Adam Elliot is one of Australia’s most celebrated filmmakers. Uncle, Cousin, Brother and Harvie Krumpet have participated in over a staggering four hundred film festivals and have won almost eighty awards. Harvie won the Oscar for Best Animated Short in 2004 and the trilogy have each been shortlisted for Academy Award consideration. Come and see all four films as well as a teaser for Adam’s first feature length film – Mary and Max (www.maryandmax.com) which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and was released in Australia in April 2009.
Adam Elliot Retrospective is on at Dogs Bar, 54 Acland St, St Kilda, Sunday 31 May 12PM – 1.30PM.
Competition Session 4 featuring:
Undressing Vanessa
Vanessa Wagner (aka Tobin Saunders) is true blue, an Aussie larrikin with a razor sharp wit. But underneath the veneer, all is not what it seems! A deconstruction of drag identity Vanessa Wagner. Winner – Best Short Documentary – 2008 IF Awards; Winner – Best Tertiary Documentary – 2008 ATOM Awards. Directed by Matthew Pond.
On at The Palace George Cinemas, Friday, 29th May 6pm.
Competition Session 5 featuring:
The Lingering and the Stain
Conceived at the nexus of fantasy and flesh, the film follows the actual etching of poetry onto a woman’s skin by a mysterious blind tattooist. Miami Ink meets The Pillow Book: The Lingering and the Stain premiered to acclaim at the 2008 Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin. The tattoo is real! Directed by Roberto Jean Francois and Elena Knox.
On at the Palace George Cinemas, Friday, 29th May 9pm.
Competition Session 7 featuring:
Talk Derby To Me
Roller derby is a fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled sport for women who pride themselves in maintaining a cohesive, unified community in Adelaide. The Adelaide Roller Derby League is sustained by a diverse group of women who take to the track with valour and vitriol. Between bouts however, they maintain a unified community based on principles of female empowerment and resilient friendship. Directed by Aimee Knight.
Rope Burn
A sexy lesbian love triangle precariously set above the stage of a sexy trapeze circus. First international screening at prestigious Outfest: Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, USA, in 2008 and also at Queer Film festivals in Australia. Directed by Melvin J Montalban.
On at the Palace George Cinemas, Saturday, 30th May 12pm.
Competition Session 13 featuring:
Grind Girls
The all-female, bash-em-up sport of Roller Derby is having its Australian renaissance – and profoundly changing the lives of two young women. Explores the first tentative steps the Victorian Roller Derby league took in its early days. Screened at Canada’s Sport and Film Festival and was recipient of VCA awards for Best Original Script and Documentary, 2007.
Hugo
An enchanting short fantasy about human connection, ruthless ambition and entomology directed by Melbournite Nick Verso. Winner Grand Prize for Fantasy (Rhode Island International Film Festival), Best Short Film (AWGIEs), Gold Award For Cinematography (Australian Cinematographers Society Awards), Best Short Film Nominee (ATOM Awards).
Neon Skin
A young man finds a connection with his blind friend that is unexpectedly sensual. Grant Scicluna completed a director’s internship with Bruce Beresford on Mao’s Last Dancer, and his script Rabbit was nominated for an AWGIE award in 2008. This is his third collaboration with producer, Jannine Barnes (Fast Lane, Almost Ready).
On at The Palace George Cinemas, Sunday, 31st May 12pm.
The St Kilda Film Festival opens tonight, Tuesday 26th May 2009 at 7:30pm at the Palais Theatre, St Kilda.
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