BONDI SHORT FILM FESTIVAL FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
The 11th annual Bondi Short Film Festival has announced the 14 finalists for 2011. Chosen from over 200 submissions, the finalists represent some of Australia’s most talented independent filmmakers.
Two films produced at the Sydney Film School (one in the second half of 2010 and the other in the first half of 2011) have been selected to screen – thesis film ‘Berry Bliss’ by Andrew Pearce and part 2 major drama ‘Letters Home’ directed by Neilesh Verma.
“Each year we are blown away by the exceptional quality of submissions and 2011 is no different,” commented Bondi Short Film Festival director, Francis Coady. “It was really difficult to choose just 14 finalists from so many amazing films. I’m really looking forward to presenting the final selections to our audience.”
Directed by Andrew Pearce ‘Berry Bliss’ is a seemingly innocent film that follows the light-hearted adventure of a bunch of balloons that travel through the picturesque countryside. However, this beautifully looking short film will surprise you!
Made in a thesis film class where each student is encouraged to go on a personal and fulfilling journey of discovery, to investigate a compelling cinematic issue, question of style, or technical challenge, ‘Berry Bliss’ explores the manipulative power of filmmakers in a subversive and comedic fashion.
“My main intention behind Berry Bliss was to shock the audience, achieving this by calming the viewers into a false sense of security, then rudely surprising them with an abrasive turn in events,” says Andrew.
The 6 minutes long film premiered at the 13th SFS Festival in December 2010 winning Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography Award. Since then it screened at various local festivals including Queenland’s premiere short film festival Shorts on the Green, where it was the Runner-up for Best Film award.
A topical short drama film, ‘Letters Home’ was written, directed and produced by the following semester student Neilesh Verma as a 15 minutes long Major Drama project with a crew of 12 fellow students. In Punjabi and English this film follows Jas, an isolated international student from India who struggles to adapt to his new found homeland in Sydney, Australia. Things seem to change when he meets Tara, a local, at the convenience store where he works.
“I come from a sub continental background, my parents immigrated to Australia over 25 years ago when I was just a kid and the journey they went through, literally uprooting and leaving everything they have known, leaving their comfort zones to come to another country was something I always admired,” says Neilesh about the inspiration for his film.
“I often find that same journey taking place with the international students that are trying to make a home for themselves in Australia and couldn’t help but see the similarities between them and my parents in many respects. The film is essentially a homage to the notion that home doesn’t always have to be a romanticised “far away place” it can be in the here and now, where one feels they want to be.”
“The film was also envisioned as an ode to a side of Sydney that is largely unspoken. I wanted to tell the story of the people that work behind the scenes, the quiet underbelly that drives the taxis and mans the 24 hour convenience stores, often their stories go unnoticed and I wanted people to have an insight into their lives and their quiet struggles.”
“I wasn’t entirely sure how well a film about international students from India living in Sydney would go down with the public, the subject matter some said wasn’t exciting enough, but when people tell me just how insightful and poignant they find the film to be, it validates for me just how important it was to tell this story and really makes the whole journey my crew and I went through worthwhile.”
‘Letters Home’ was one of Neilesh’s first forays into directing drama which as he said made “the whole process in itself rewarding”, but if he was to pinpoint certain things that stood out for him he’d say that being able to illicit the exact performances he wanted from his actors was personally the most fulfilling thing. “Also seeing my crew go above and beyond their respective duties and take time out of their busy schedules to help with the film even when they didn’t have to, this was by far the most heart warming and encouraging thing to have come out of the production.”
Stunning performances by the 3 main actors (Madeleine Levins, Bali Padda and Andrew Sudiro) won Neilesh the Best Director award at the 14th SFS Festival held in July this year.
“Performance is my favorite element of film and I really enjoy working with actors. In the case of Letters Home I was lucky enough to have worked with three incredibly giving and committed actors that felt strongly about the script and most importantly wanted to be part of the film for the right reasons. Whilst casting I was always looking for elements of the characters in the script to be naturally present in the actors playing them and I was also looking for people I knew I could get along with on set. This is by far one of the most important things for me. I need to know I can rely on an actor when the going gets tough and it often does!”
Both ‘Berry Bliss’ and ‘Letters Home’ will screen at the Bondi Short Film Festival (Bondi Pavilion, Bondi Beach) on Saturday, November 26th. “It feels rather special to have the film screened at a festival like Bondi,” says Neilesh. “I know from previous experience just how difficult it is to get a film into any film festival, so to be accepted into something as prestigious as Bondi is beyond anything I had hoped for. I truly hope people appreciate all the hard work our crew and actors put into the film and it’s a great feeling knowing they are getting the recognition they deserve!”
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