Australia’s very own Academy-accredited and BAFTA-recognised short film festival, Flickerfest, is returning to Bondi to celebrate its 25th year.
More than 100 shorts will be screened under the stars this summer before the festival hits the road across Australia. Festival director Bronwyn Kidd talks to us about what we can expect at the 2016 event, as well as some of the stories we can look forward to.
“It is a big decision-making process, but at the end of the day we’re really looking for interesting, creative stories that aren’t stereotypes and with different worldviews,” Kidd explains. “We want to find stuff that really stands out, which does happen when you have that many entries and get it down to about 110, which are the ones that people will get the opportunity to enjoy at Flickerfest this year.”
With 25 years under its belt, Flickerfest is now bigger than ever. Not only do emerging Australian filmmakers clamber to have their shorts screened, there is also an abundance of entries from the international filmmaking community. The festival boasts supporters such as Baz Luhrmann and Cate Blanchett. It’s a long way from Flickerfest’s humble beginnings in the Inner West.
“It started way back in 1991 in the grounds of Balmain High School,” says Kidd. “I think there were eight short films that screened and it grew from there, really. It had a few screenings in the Paddington Town Hall and then it moved to Bondi, which has been home now for a very long time.
“And of course the festival will celebrate 25 years in 2016, which is a very exciting landmark. So it started with a few Australian and international shorts and has now grown dramatically to the point now where we have over 2,300 entries and 52 touring venues. Short film really has grown and been embraced by our audiences across that period.”
When it comes to the shorts themselves, audiences can expect some incredibly beautiful and diverse entries, both from Australia and overseas.
“There’s a wonderful documentary called Let’s Dance: Bowie Down Under, which is all about the making of that music clip and his work with the indigenous dancers. There’s some really great footage in there that’s never been seen before.
“We also have some fantastic indigenous films – a comedy called Nan And A Whole Lot Of Trouble by Dena Curtis; Karroyul by Kelrick Martin, which is a beautiful film about loss and connection to country and family. There’s going to be an animation by Adam Elliot, whose Harvie Krumpet won an Oscar. This will be his follow-up, Ernie Biscuit, and it’s an hilarious and really beautiful claymation. Internationally, we have a film from the UK called Oh-Be-Joyful, by Susan Jacobson, about a grandmother and granddaughter and a pretty funny day out they have together.”
Short film seems to have exploded in popularity over the last decade in particular, which Kidd attributes to several different factors.
“I certainly think the accessibility to technology has been important, so we’re seeing more and more people making shorts. It’s easier now that you don’t have to get your hands on a 35mm camera and go through a really expensive editing process. The digital revolution has certainly increased the amount of short films being made. But I hope that our audiences have grown with Flickerfest, because people know that when they come along they’re going to see a highly curated program full of some incredible independent short films.”
It also seems that short filmmakers are able to enjoy a far greater sense of artistic integrity, as well as express themselves in a way that is rare in features or anything that’s touched by the mainstream studios.
Kidd agrees: “The wonderful thing about short films, of course, is that they’re not dictated by the box office or commercialism – they are truly passionate, independent creations that people are making out of love and a desire to tell a particular story.”
Another important advantage to short films, which will be made abundantly clear during the festival, is their ability to reflect contemporary issues in a more timely manner. Due to their shorter run times and tighter budget constraints, they offer a sense of immediacy when it comes to burgeoning social and political issues.
“With feature films it can take up to seven years to get a project funded,” Kidd explains. “You may have to go out there and find a lot of backers and you often end up not entirely making the film that you want to make because there are financial constraints and a lot of people have an input. Whereas with short film, you can grab a camera, you can tell a story about a burning issue, you can often raise the money from a crowdfunding campaign, which is a big way in which short films are made now. And of course there’s that immediacy, which I think is what makes the films really fresh and contemporary.
The Australian film industry itself has been taking off dramatically over the past two decades, and festivals such as Flickerfest prove that Australian cinema is being taken seriously internationally.
“Absolutely,” says Kidd. “I think there’s a real passion for cinema in this country for both making and seeing films. We’re certainly seeing audiences really coming out to support independent cinema, which has been great. We get international guests who come out, including a group from China this year, which is very exciting.”
Flickerfest 2016 takes over Bondi Pavilion from Friday January 8 – Sunday January 17.
