Honoured to be asked again, (for about the 5th time) to judge NAFA’sShowfest and it was the best year yet.
Here’s me and the lovely Renee Lim
An excellent selection of 7 films from primarily Australia and one from Germany and Canada.
Having submitted my shrot film ‘Sidekick’ to Showfest unsuccesfully, I wasnt so disappointed having seen the standard of the films last night!
Here’s my review of the films:
Family Values
– One family. One lesson to be learned. One twisted way to teach it.
Australia | DUR 7:00 | HD
WRI, DIR, ED Matthew Jenkin | PROD M. Jenkin & Oliver Leimbach | DOP Bradley J. Conomy and Max Seager | COMPOSER Johann Willenberg
CAST Oliver Leimbach, Ryan Johnson, Alan Lovell, Zoe Carides
Judge review: A cute sketch-style short comedy piece that whilst was nicely executed and had some strong performances from all four actors, was lacking in weight or originality. Felt I’d seen it before.
Moving Day
Moving into a palatial new home without any brothers or sisters, how else is a six-year-old to keep herself entertained?
Australia | DUR 9:00 | RED 4K
WRI, PROD Matthew Graham | DIR Jason Wingrove | DOP Tom Gleeson | ED Richard Learoyd | COMPOSER Samantha Fonti
CAST Darcy Griffith, Kate Sherman
Judge review: Some serious time and effort went into this non-dialogue piece about a 6 year old moving to her new big house, and finding fairies at the bottom of the garden. This evoked loads of childhood memories of big English country gardens for me. It was exquisitely directed and shot with green screen, animation and after effects adding layers to the story. The Judges and the Audience winner on the night and well done to all involved.
Purple Flowers
Australia | DUR 9:37 | RED 4K
WRI, DIR Julian Ryan | PROD Drew Bailey | DOP Geoffrey Wharton ACS | PROD DESIGN Paul Finch | ED Marcus D’Arcy | COMPOSER Henrique Dib
CAST Penne Hackforth-Jones, Christian Byers, Airlie Dodds
Jack likes Jill. Jill likes Jack. Two kids learning about life, love, and death on a sunny afternoon. All this and chocolate biscuits!
Judge review: My favourite of the night though I can see why Moving Day would win. Brought back lots of teenage memories (ha, thats another story) and was wonderfully acted by the two teens.
Rumbleseat
Canada & USA | DUR 5:50 | Animation
CREATED BY Michael Roberts | EXEC PROD Catherine Tait | BACKGROUND PAINTING Stewart Jones | MUSIC The Sadies
A man wakes to find himself riding in the back of a demonic hot-rod driven by a group of mysterious ghouls who force him to examine the events that led him to this strange and unfamiliar world.
Judge review: Big big fan of The Gorillaz, and this homaged the graphic animation style of Jamie Hewitt immensely. Wonderfully crafted, the dark subject matter was beautiful in it’s implementation, with a stirring soundtrack and an engaging script. Animation ain’t my bag so it lost marks for that.
Sophie’s Luck
Australia | DUR 6:53 | H.264
WRI Katie May Johnson | PROD K.M. Johnson, John Marsh | DIR, ED J. Marsh | DOP Andrew McLeod | COMPOSER Naomi Jones
CAST Katie May Johnson, Scott Timmins
Anxious about going on a first date, Sophie tries to calm her nerves by engaging with the stranger sitting next to her. Sensing he’s as heartbroken as she is, Sophie reaches out to the man, but in the end it is he who leaves the lasting impression.
Judge review: Another sketch style short. the ‘female-on-a-date’ story seemed cliche’d, and the male’s ethnic background suggested some terrible fate was impending so that when the reveal came it wasn’t really a surprise. But nicely executed bar the poor audio, and Scott Timmins was excellent in his portrayal.
Spoilt Broth
Germany & UK | DUR 4:52 | ARRI ALEXA
WRI Toby Roberts & Kate Aidley | PROD Moritz Wessendorff | DIR T. Roberts | DOP Derek Suter BSC | PROD DESIGN Jan Mixsa | ED John von Ascheraden | COMPOSERS Chris Allard & Jules Jackson
CAST Oliver Korittke, Gary Whelan, Megan Gay
A naïve, desperate man’s attempt to rob a post office sets him on a collision course with a tough, armed and ruthless criminal.
Judge review: Mildly humorous, it lost points for an interminably long opening credits, that then repeated itself in the closing credits, utilising a soundtrack that was jarring against the film itself. But amusing concept and a strong performance from Megan Gay.
Wonder Boy
Australia | DUR 15:00 | RED 4K
WRI, DIR Corrie Chen | PROD Anna Kojevnikov | DOP Michael Latham | PROD DESIGN Christina Remnant | ED Malgorzata “Maz” Swierczak | COMPOSER Jamie Messenger
CAST Zohar Hoang, Morgan Baker, Sophia Shen, Evonne Fletcher
Ten-year-old Clancy is stuck between a life he doesn’t know and a life he wants to belong to. Some problems are universal.
Judge review: Never work with kids huh!? Well the performances from the kids actors in this years Showfest were great. Wonder Boy was engaging and unique but didn’t quite pull off the tension or dramatic high that I felt it could have gone to. An effort worthy of its second place from the judges.
