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.
Every once in a while, the cinematic stars will align and produce a perfect combination of drama, romance, and comedy in a film. A movie that will take the viewers through an emotional journey that will enthral them even way after that movie experience. In HELLO, LOVE, GOODBYE, it has done just that.
Finally, a documentary about Filipino cuisine is launched to the gastronomical delight of food and film critics. Filipino-American documentary filmmaker Alexandra Cuerdo helms ULAM: MAIN DISH. With this, she has deliciously concocted not only an immersion into Filipino cuisine but also an exploration of Filipino culture. It is also a study of the Filipino migrant experience and even a side trip into the history of Philippine politics and government.
