Check out the following Australian shorts vying for the Dendy Awards as part of the Sydney Film Festival 2020 On-Demand program.
AYAAN
Beautifully filmed, the opening scene alone is a desperate sight to behold. Finely written and directed with powerfully subtle performances, that fated meeting between two individuals from a shared world is the premise of this masterpiece of a drama.
MUKBANG
Giving new meaning to the concept of food porn in this era of social media craze. This layered dramedy examines how the youthful internet community explores the odd pleasures of binge-eating vis-a-vis other forms of online entertainment.
THE QUIET
Exploring our existence within the universe through the fusing of our metaphysical and personal journeys. This celestial animation of astronomy is a self-reflection on the disquieting impact of quietude within our very own individual space.
IDOL
What a single-handedly unnerving performance from start to end. This drama is one uninterrupted take in an up-close shot with emotions so restrained and yet so unfeigned. Quite telling of the culture of celebrity and manipulation in China.
GREVILLEA
An incarceration of faith is the theme of this Berlin Film Festival entry as an imprisoned Jewish youth resolves to get a tattoo to assimilate in prison. At the core of this evocative film of isolation is the sole human need to belong.
THE FALL
Filled with loss and sorrow, this is a dissection of the Middle East crisis within a meeting in Australia between two refugees: an Iraqi cleric and a Syrian woman who pleads to get a funeral prayer for her husband who committed suicide.
I WANT TO MAKE A FILM ABOUT WOMEN
The title says it all. A very airish look at the potential artistic achievements of Russian women in the 20s had it not been for Stalin’s repression. Using inventive recreation and background archival footage, this short doco is a playful choreography of women’s rights and the craft of creativity.
After the success of Ray Yeung’s last Hong Kong-based mature-age gay-themed film TWILIGHT’S KISS (or SUK SUK), together with previous Western-based gay Chinese love story films CUT SLEEVE BOYS and FRONT COVER, this auteur writer-director has ventured queer territory again with his Berlinale Teddy award-winner ALL SHALL BE WELL.
The film adaptation of the 2016 stage musical KATIPS, written and directed by filmmaker and lawyer Vincent Tañada, is both earnest and eye-opening. The film already has many achievements. It has earned 17 nominations at the 70th Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) Awards and won seven categories for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Tañada, Best Supporting Actor for Johnrey Rivas, Best Cinematography, Best Original Song for Sa Gitna Ng Gulo, and Pipo Cifra for Best Musical Score.
