28th FLiCKERFEST Programme Announced for 2019!

13th December 2018

28th FLiCKERFEST International Short Film Festival Programme Announced for 2019!

The 28th Flickerfest International Short Film Festival is thrilled to announce the full list of short films officially selected into the Academy® Accredited and BAFTA recognised competitions for 2019. Over 10 thrilling days, Flickerfest, a beloved Sydney summer institution will once again delight audiences with the very best in short films from Australia and around the world, screened under the stars at the iconic Bondi Pavilion in January.

2700 entries from over 100 countries have been received for Flickerfest 2019; a testimony to the fact that Flickerfest is one of the world’s leading and most respected platforms for short film. From this large entry field only around 200 of the very best most creative and inspiring shorts will be screened at the Festival, across 16 competitive programmes and four showcase programmes. In 2019, over 47% of films screening at Flickerfest 2019 have been directed by women.

Always an audience favourite, the Australian program includes some brilliant entries in 2019. Key highlights include the Australian premieres of DESERT DASH, written, directed and starring Gracie Otto, which takes a fun and slightly twisted look at what life would be life in the Aussie outback if it was all just a game, and the Australian premiere of GHOST BEAR, a moving and though-provoking animation for kids by the legendary Actor/Comedian Paul McDermott a Flickerfest veteran whose previous animations have featured and won at Flickerfest and have gone on to win awards internationally.

The international program will feature the Australian Premiere of French film, RISE OF A STAR, starring legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve, which explores the life of a new Ballerina who’s dark secret threatens to undermine what she has spent a whole life on, and Norwegian comedy, TO PLANT A FLAG, starring Jason Schwartzman, known for his frequent collaborations with Wes Anderson, such as Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Flickerfest screens a vast array of film styles and genres and is proud to be bringing back beloved showcase categories such as FlickerKids – a full day of delightful family programming, Rainbow Shorts – featuring the highest quality LGBTIQ+ shorts from around the world, Short Laughs – a program of pure joy and side-splitting laughs, Love Bites – juicy stories about relationships, as well as the special FlickerUp National Youth Competitions for talented Australian filmmakers under 18. All films officially selected at Flickerfest are competing for a number of awards across various areas of the filmmaking craft, including the Flickerfest Award for Best International Film, the Yoram Gross Award For Best Animation, and the Flickerfest Award For Best Australian Film.

Each year Flickerfest drops an irreverent and hilarious Official Trailer, and 2019 is no different! The classic 1960’s dynamic duo themselves, Batman and Robin team up with the equally super Batgirl as they try to defeat The Joker who wants to destroy the Flickerfest Gala! starring Tai Hara, James Fraser, Chantelle Jamieson and Marcus Graham as the Joker, the official Flickerfest trailer can be seen here

Following the Bondi season, Flickerfest hits the road for a massive, 4-month, national tour of the very best films from the festival. The tour will reach 50+ metro and regional venues across all states, bringing the joy of Flickerfest to the rest of the country!

Highlights of Best of Australian Shorts

This year the Australian competition will screen 63 films including 20 world premieres, 18 Australian premieres and 10 NSW premieres.

DESERT DASH
Australia / 13min / 2018
WRI/DIR: Gracie Otto
PROD: Gracie Otto, Jessica Carrera, Francesca Duncan, Craig Deeker
On the outskirts of Australia, Opals are now the currency for survival in the game of Desert Dash. When a feisty heroine gets the opportunity to ‘level up’ there is no choice but to win. Game On.
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

HOME
Australia / 16min / 2018
WRI/DIR: Peter Gurbiel
PROD: Iris Tascon, Jess Black, Peter Gurbiel
Tormented by the news that they bear, two men from town watch over a family whose lives are about to change forever. Starring Jack Thompson.
WORLD PREMIERE

ALL THESE CREATURES
Australia / 13min / 2018
WRI/DIR/PROD: Charles Williams
An adolescent boy attempts to untangle his memories of a mysterious infestation, the unravelling of his father, and the little creatures inside us all. Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
NSW PREMIERE

BIRDIE
Australia / 8min / 2018
WRI/DIR: Shelly Lauman
PROD: Lizzie Cater
On a bright, ordinary day a woman walks alone to the train station. As she descends the stairs to the underground platform she smiles at a young man. He smiles back. With the smallest of gestures, the woman is caught in a subtle and sinister game.
NSW PREMIERE

 

Highlights of Best of International Shorts

Flickerfest’s international programme will feature 40 films including 2 world premieres, 34 Australian premieres and 1 NSW premiere.

RISE OF A STAR
France / 18min / 2018
WRI: Stephane Landowski
DIR: James Bort
PROD: Boris Mendza
Emma is about to be the new Ballerina at Paris Opera. But something upsets her. A secret. A secret liable to undermine what she has spent a whole life on. Starring Catherine Deneuve.
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

TO PLANT A FLAG
Norway / 14min / 2018
WRI/DIR: Bobbie Peers
PROD: Ruben Thorkildsen, Henrik Hofstad
In preparation for the moon landing in 1969, NASA sent a team of astronaut to the lunar landscapes of Iceland. Their hi-tech training mission soon discovers what obstacles one can meet when facing an Icelandic sheep farmer. Starring Jason Schwartzman of Wes Anderson movie fame.
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

BEST GAME EVER
Hungary / 20min / 2018
WRI/DIR/PROD: Marcus McKenzie
PROD: Kirsty Stark
When two CCTV technicians find out about an AI machine threatening their jobs, they must get out of their chairs to beat the system – leading them to an unexpected solution. The new short film of Academy Award-winner Kristóf Deák.
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

 

Highlights of Best of Documentary Shorts

Flickerfest’s documentary programme will feature 18 films including 2 world premieres and 15 Australian premieres.

THROUGH THE WINDOW
Australia / 4min / 2018
WRI: Nick Baker
DIR/PROD: Cecilia Rumore, Tristan Klein, Nick Baker
Through the Window is an animation inspired by Nas Campanella, a 29-year-old Triple J newsreader who has been blind since six months of age.
WORLD PREMIERE

EDEK
United Kingdom / 6min / 2018
WRI/DIR: Malcolm Green
PROD: Marc Cave, Sara Huxley
An 85 year old Holocaust survivor named Janine and a young American rapper named Kapoo collaborate to deliver a Hip Hop message to the youth of the world. A poignant and uniquely challenging fusion of prose, music and rap.
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

KYOKO
Spain / 20min / 2018
WRI/DIR: Marcos Cabotá, Joan Bover
PROD: Joan Bover, Nacho Tejedor, Carmelo Sirera
On April 23, 1971, Mallorca witnessed an extraordinary event: the arrest of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The reason was the kidnapping of a girl named Kyoko.
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

THIS IS YARRA
Australia / 15min / 2018
DIR: Lydia Rui
PROD: Lydia Rui, Nima Sobhani, Bonnie Moir
For nearly 15 years, basketball has played a central role in bringing together the South Sudanese community in Australia. The Yarra Wild Beasts prepare for the South Sudanese Australian National Basketball Association Tournament.
WORLD PREMIERE

 

Highlights of FlickerKids Shorts

With eleven charming short films aimed at 6-12 year old children and their parents. With 5 Australian Premiers, 2 World Premieres and 1 NSW Premiere, this year’s program will entertain accompanying adults as much the kids.

THE PIG ON THE HILL
United States / 6min / 2017
WRI: John Kelly
DIR/PROD: Jamy Wheless, John Helms
When Pig’s free‐spirited, rambunctious new neighbor, Duck, plunges himself into Pig’s quiet, orderly life, Pig learns that having friends is what he has been missing all along. Voice-over by Pierce Brosnan.
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

GHOSTBEAR
Australia / 6min / 2017
WRI/DIR: Paul Mc Dermott
A polar bear cub, the Ghostbear, wanders through the antic wasteland in search of his place in the world and his birthplace in the stars.
WORLD PREMIERE

 

Highlights of Rainbow Shorts

The Rainbow Shorts program has been curated by Sydney based film director, Craig Boreham, who sees this year’s line-up as a real window into the global LGBTQi+ world right now.

THE OTHER SIDE
Mexico / 15min / 2016
WRI/DIR: Rodrigo Álvarez Flores
PROD: Rodrigo Álvarez Flores, Sarahí Castro, Luisa Gómez de Silva
Felipe and Claudio form a very particular relationship, somehow destiny pulls them apart taking Claudio to the US, now Felipe must embark on a journey where he will risk everything in his pursuit of happiness, so he can finally meet Claudio at the other side of the border.
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

PRISONER OF SOCIETY
Georgia / 15min / 2018
DIR: Rati Tsiteladze
An intimate journey into the world and mind of a young transgender woman, locked away from the outside world for the past decade, trapped between her personal desire for freedom and traditional expectations of her parents that threaten their unity.
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

BLACK LIPS
Australia / 15min / 2018
WRI/DIR: Adrian Chiarella
PROD: Rebecca Janek
A lonely abalone trader is awakened by a longing he’s never explored before.
NSW PREMIERE

STILLE NACHT
Australia / 13min / 2018
DIR: Matthew R. Young
WRI: Charmaine Bingwa, Meg Ryan, Matthew R. Young
PROD: Meg Ryan, Matthew R. Young
A rigid German-Australian mother finds answers to generational secrets through her gay daughter when hard truths from both their pasts surface over a traditional tea ceremony one evening. Written by Heath ledger Award recipient Chantelle Bingwa
WORLD PREMIERE

 

For further media information, please contact:
Kabuku Public Relations | 02 9690 2115
Emma Jones | M. 0411 474 359 |  [email protected]
Belinda Dyer | M. 0415 686 014 |  [email protected]

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