Homegrown Shorts
Post-film Panel Discussion with the Filmmakers
Wednesday 4 May | 7:00PM
ACMI
This event has now ended. Tickets no longer available.
Panel Discussion with the Filmmakers
Join us for a post-film panel to hear from the filmmakers.
Screening Info
Screening Location: ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne | Plan your visit to ACMI
Accessibility:
Supported By
From Established Filmmakers
The Ninth Tower
Kauthar Abdulalim / Australia / 2021 / 14 min / Drama
Teenager Hassan, a carer for his ill mother, is pushed to the brink when the state government suddenly imposes a hard lockdown at the nine towers in Flemington and North Melbourne housing estates.
Blind Body
Allison Chhorn / Australia / 2020 / 14 min / Documentary
As abstract shapes come into focus, dim memories surface. With Blind Body, Allison Chhorn offers an impressionistic portrait of her grandmother Kim Nay, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge. Partially blind, Kim spends her days in a mostly sonic and textural world, in which the sound of rain, the voices of Khmer radio, and distant birdsong summon the sensations of a lost homeland.
Wurundjeri Baggarrook
Rochelle (Rocky) Humphrey / Australia / 2021 / 16 min / Documentary / Australian Premiere
The last Coming of Age ceremony held by the Wurundjeri people took place at Coranderrk, 185 years ago; from that point all cultural ceremony and practice was forbidden. A group of Wurundjeri women, descendants of the families who went through the last recorded Wurundjeri ceremony are determined to be a 'living culture', reviving ceremonial practice. Wurundjeri Baggarrook is not only documenting this history in the making, but leading insight into the complexities of contemporary Aboriginal identity. A significant untold story is ready to be revealed, whilst the rest of Australia is getting up to speed with the nations real history; these brave Wurundjeri women know how to build a strong and proud community.
From the HRAFF Emerging Filmmakers Fund
How To Build A Forest
Jenn Tran / Australia / 2022 / 6 min / Narrative
Over a century after all humans have left Earth, a scientist returns on a mission to understand how her colony might build its first forest. She reflects on the nature of her task and the complexity of the ecology she seeks to replicate, centering her perspective from Agnes Denes' land artwork 'A Forest For Australia' (1998). What begins as a scientific mission becomes a meditation on place, memory, loss and the weight of progress.
I Am Not A Virus
Jacqueline Dixon / Australia / 2022 / 9 min / Documentary
A short-film exploring identity in the face of crisis, discussing pandemic related racism and presenting a heartfelt counter-narrative from three young Asian Australians with strong ties to their community; Elle Shimada, a Japanese violinist, Ngoc Tran, business owner of Shop Bao Ngoc, and Cr Anthony Tran, Australia’s youngest mayor.
Facade
Alice Gilbert / Australia / 2022 / 5 min / Claymation
A claymation that explores the theme of identity. FACADE follows the central character from a quirky cocktail party into an abstract world of imagery, as they shed their layers to reveal different parts of themselves. As each layer is revealed, the film considers the overarching question: who are we at our core?
Panel Discussion with the Filmmakers
Rochelle (Rocky) Humphrey
Rochelle (Rocky) Humphrey made a documentary series in conflict conditions East Timor during 2006. She has sold onto SBS and NITV, some titles include Urban Dreaming, Wurundjeri Baggarrook (SBS) and Lady Lash, the later supported by Film Victoria. Her documentaries available on Apple TV, all regions outside of Australia. Rocky has won several awards and selections at Film Festivals, Setting Sun Festival (2021) and official selection at Maoriland Film Festival. She has worked with Wurundjeri Tribal Council on filming cultural business. Rocky was board member of Women in Film and TV for 2 years, participated in producer lab ‘Filmonomics’ and ‘Stories that Work’ program, and ‘Untapped’ by Australians in Film. She is on Film Victoria’s Key Talent register. Rocky has a masters, International Relations specialisation in Human Rights and International law, Fine Arts degree (installation film and sound), Post grad in Arts Management and speaks Tetun.
Kauthar Abdulalim
Kauthar Abdulalim is an Australian-Muslim filmmaker with East-African and South-Asian heritage. She is the winner of the BMW Short Film Competition at the 2018 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne and a graduate of Cinespace Inc.’s Story Lab initiative. Kauthar was awarded a one year ‘Social Change on Screen’ Writer’s Fellowship by Cinespace Inc. and the Australian government in 2019, and has received Screen Australia development funding for her comedy web-series, ‘Salma’s Season’. Kauthar has worked on feature documentary productions with the ABC & SBS in the capacities of an Impact Producer and Production Manager. She has founded her own independent production company, Blacksand Pictures, where she is developing an exciting slate of projects with both new and experienced creators. Her most recent online series ‘#MATCHED’ has been funded for production for season two by Screen Australia, Film Victoria and TikTok. Kauthar has a degree in Islamic Studies, is pursuing her Masters in Arts Management and continues to work as an Impact Producer in social justice filmmaking.
Alice Gilbert
YouTube | Instagram: @alice_gilbo
