Flickerfest returns for its 32nd year, and features some of the most entertaining, inspiring, and award-winning premieres.
The festival is set to tour to Riverside Theatres Parramatta, and Campbelltown Arts Centre for the first time, showcasing the Best Of Australian Shorts and Best Of International Shorts programmes from the recent Bondi competition.
The Best Of Australian Shorts programme, screening in Parramatta and in Campbelltown – shines a spotlight on the incredible short film talent that exists in the emerging arts industry, with a host of nine Australian stories honouring our unique identity.
“The Flickerfest 2023 tour has been an incredible celebration of local filmmakers in many regions both nationally, and alongside award-winning shorts from across the country, and the world!” Festival Director Bronwyn Kidd says.
“It’s always exciting to introduce our shorts and filmmakers to new audiences, particularly when there is a local connection.”
Audiences can expect to see 'Too Many Ethnics' and 'Butter: A Love Story' – works from Western Sydney filmmakers, and both fresh from their Flickerfest Bondi premieres.
Multiple AACTA, AWGIE, Logie and SPA Award-nominated director, writer, producer, and actor, Vonne Patiag’s ‘Too Many Ethnics’ is a fun, comedic tale about identity politics that audiences will relate to. Three best friends are pushed to their limits as they endure trials of racism, love, and friendship in the long line to get into an exclusive nightclub.
Meanwhile ‘Butter: A Love Story’ is a delightful comedy, and film about love, obsession, and finding purpose no matter the cost. At its heart, this work is a tender love story between a lonely woman, and the greatest food of all – butter! Director Anita Lee, who grew up in North Rocks, is an AFTRS graduate (Directing) with a love of stylised story worlds, and poetic visual imagery.
'Butter: A Love Story'
“This will be our eighth year touring to Parramatta, and our first time touring to Bankstown and Campbelltown!” Bronwyn Kidd continues. “It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to extend our reach across Western Sydney and make Flickerfest accessible to a wider audience, especially those who are passionate about short films.”
Also screening in Parramatta is an incredible collection of global stories. What better way to travel the world, than from the comfort of a cinema chair, with the Best of International Shorts programme?
Among a host of international highlights enjoying their premieres is the powerful Danish drama ‘IVALU’, which takes audiences on a thrilling journey through the vast Greenlandic landscape, and the delightful Canadian animation (based on a true story) ‘The Flying Sailor’, by a power-duo of women directors – both films were nominated for the 2023 Oscars.
“We hope that existing Western Sydney filmmakers – or those wanting to tell their own stories on the screen – are encouraged by seeing their peers on the big screen, and feel further motivation to enter their own works to Flickerfest in the future,” Bronwyn muses.
Flickerfest 2023 will be hosting a cavalcade of highlights across the May weekend, at Riverside Theatres and the Campbelltown Arts Centre. Be sure to check out ‘Katele’ (Mudskipper), a Torres Strait cultural drama of insight about a woman longing for home – to Kenthurst filmmaker, Blythe Ashton’s ‘Married at First Fleet’, which follows an 18th century couple in Australia’s early colonies who match according to common interests and lack of disease – to the delightful animated comedy from Lachlan Pendragon, ‘An Ostrich Told Me The World is Fake And I Think I Believe It’.
Flickerfest hits Riverside Theatres Parramatta on 20 May and Campbelltown Arts Centre 21 May.
