Short Films
SAMANTHA STEWART, AGED FOURTEEN
Samantha Stewart is a fourteen year old average student that causes no trouble.
Sister Bernadette scratches away the biology lesson. Samantha is doubled over at her desk. Struggling to hold the pain, Samantha falls to the floor. A gush of water creates a puddle on the floor.
Her unknown pregnancy was hidden by her plumpish frame and a baggy cardigan. With such an abhorrent sin the school and church take the appropriate action. Students spread the indecent gossip. Mr and Mrs Stewart are deeply shocked unable to grasp what has happened.
Samantha Stewart, aged fourteen, is a shame to the family, a sinner and a slut.
“Filmed in black and white, the 10 minute short is brilliantly stylised and beautifully shot, and the absence of any music gives it a barren spookiness.” (Perth Weekly)
Milan International Film Festival, 2001
Commended at DENDY Awards, Fiction under 15mins, 2001
Winner Best Drama and Best Editing at WA Screen Awards, 2000
Commonwealth Film Festival (Manchester), 2002
International Festival to feminine direction (Italy), 2002
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HMAS UNICORN
In the summer of 1964 three unusual incidents took place on Lake Grace. The first two were totally unexplainable. The third and most disturbing provided one clue . . .
This film is based on the journal of sixteen-year-old Gwendolin Howard.
“(HMAS Unicorn) has been directed confidently by Elissa Down, who brings a gentle lyricism to the hallucinatory, almost surreal story.” (West Australian)
Theatrical release at Perth International Arts Festival with Cannes Palme D’or Winner The Son’s Room, 2001
Women on Women International Cinema and national tour, 2001
Screened on the ABC on “Short Fuse”, 2001
Top 20 Finalist for Nescafe Awards, 2001
Nominated Best Directing at WA Screen Awards, 2002
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pink pyjamas
All Deborah wants for her thirteenth birthday is a pair of pink pyjamas.
It’s 1964 in rural Australia. Her parents just scrape by and her beloved brother has run off. Her best friend seems to be growing up fast than her, and her mum is now stopping her from hanging out boys.
Just before her birthday, tragedy strikes and the town mourns but Deborah is oblivious, desperately hanging onto the dream of pink pyjamas for her birthday.
Starring Gemma Ward in her first on screen role.
“(Pink Pyjamas) is a beautifully crafted story, filmed with loving attention to detail (that) manages to cross over purely adolescent issues and touch on universal themes of longing and regret” (Inside Film)
San Francisco Independent Film Festival, 2002
Honourable mention Best Acting, WA Screen Awards, 2002
Canberra Short Film Festival, 2002
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THE BATHERS
1912. Four pairs of laced black boots trudge along the sand. Three women and a young child finally arrive at their destination - the beach - for a nice civilised picnic by the sea. It is hot. Heavy linen, corsets and petticoats scratch at their skin. The waves tickle the shore. They don’t wear, or even own bathing costumes. It is not proper attire for ladies. But it is so hot. And no one is around. The ocean beckons. A button is undone...
“(The Bathers) succeeds in communicating the character’s spontaneous rebellion against the tradition that society imposes on them and shows how a return toward nature is necessary to feel one’s old self again…” (Locarno Youth Jury)
Winner Grand Prix Split International Festival of New Film, 2003
Winner Best Fiction Montecatini International Short Film Festival, 2003
Special Mention Youth Jury – Locarno International Film Festival , 2002
Honourable Mention Best Film – WA Screen Awards, 2002
Selected for WA component of Flickerfest tour, 2004
Theatrical release at Perth International Arts Festival, 2003
St Kilda Film Festival, 2003
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HER OUTBACK
“Now up and down the sidling brown
The great black crows are flyin’,
And down below the spur, I know,
Another milker’s dyin’;”
And so begins the poem written by Henry Lawson in 1899, which poignantly describes the life of a woman, total drained from her life on a homestead.
“(Her Outback) offers a lyrical portrait of life in the Australian bush as seen from a women’s perspective” (Brisbane International Film Festival)
Winner - State ACS Award (Gold) for Cinematography in a short documentary, 2003
Winner Best Director and Best Cinematography - Kaleidoscope Short Film Festival
Tampere International Film Festival (Finland), 2003
Selected Opening Night Brief Encounters – Bristol International Short Film Festival, 2003
Nominated Best Documentary, WA Screen Awards, 2003
Screened nationally on “Outback Upfront” ABC, 2003
Shorts Film Festival - Adelaide Fringe, 2003
St Kilda Film Festival, 2003
Revelation Film Festival, 2003
Brisbane International Film Festival, 2003
Zebra Poetry Awards (Germany), 2004
Women on Women Film Festival and National Tour, 2004/2005
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THE CHERRY ORCHARD
An orphan boy arrives to live and work with a reclusive horticulturist on her cherry orchard farm. When the horticulturist falls pregnant under puzzling circumstances the mystery isn’t solved until years later.
“(The Cherry Orchard) … is a visually stunning film (that) provides a child’s eye view on the mystery of birth while moving seamlessly forward to give a sensitive portrait of old age and rebirth” (Ben Rice – author of Pobby and Dingan)
POV film based on the short story by Ben Rice.
Cinema release Hoyts and Cinema Nova, 2003
Broadcasted on NBC Universal Europe and Asia, 2008
“Get Your Shorts On” programme - Jackson Hole Film Festival, 2005
St Kilda Film Festival, 2004
Shorts Showcase Revelation Film Festival, 2004
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SUMMER ANGST
It’s the start of the summer holidays and Felicity is fifteen, braless and boyfriendless. Will God answer her insistent prayers and change all that?
The film debuted in front of a crowd of 108,000 people in Sydney for the popular Tropfest short film festival.
Top 16 Finalist for Tropfest. Winner Best Actress, 2004
Finalist Comedy Channel Film Festival, 2004
St Kilda Film Festival, 2004
London Australian Film Festival (UK), 2004
Rosemount Australian Film and Style Festival (USA), 2005
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LADYBIRDS
“When I was little I believed that ladybirds turned into ladies, tigersnakes turned into tigers, dragonflies turned into dragons…”
Ladybirds is a charming and poignant story about a young girl reminiscing about her childhood. She looks back on babies popping out of belly buttons, eating the Easter Bunny for lunch and the little man who lived in the fridge.
Broadcasted on NBC Universal Europe and Asia, 2008
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