If Tropfest is Australia’s Biggest Film Festival, in many ways Flickerfest can be considered the best. It is one of only a few Oscar Accredited festivals in Australia, so this means the shorts on show can be nominated for an Academy Award if they succeed at this stage in the process. With this in mind, there was high expectations for the calibre of films to be showcased as the Flickerfest tour hit Canberra last Thursday.
The viewing was a ‘Best Of’ Australian short films that certainly didn’t disappoint. The production value and sheer quality of films was impressive. Technically they were all hard to critique – visually stunning, well shot and polished. The range of films was certainly unique and varied in style, flair and substance. Some left you reeling from a poignant or reflective message, others with a warm, fuzzy feeling deep inside.
At this end of the festival spectrum – which is on a national scale compared to a local festival vibe – all the movies explored different (and daresay serious) themes ranging from Indigenous affairs and asylum-seekers to young love, old love and the love between a man and his dog; with a lot of others in between.
One noticeable trait throughout the festival was that many of the films were AFTRS (Australian Film Television Radio School) projects, and that is a better advertisement for the school than anything because it showed that students are capable of (potential) Oscar Winning short films; but were well deserving to be there, the access to excellent equipment, technology and crew are better than ever and the products that are churned out are as impressive as they are technical.
There was a distinct lack of comedy. Although that is not always necessarily a bad thing, one thing that a lot of filmmakers tend to forget is that festivals are for the people… and people like to laugh! There was a definite sigh in the Dendy Theatre when dark film after dark film was played; sometimes it is good to mix the light stuff with the thought-provoking. The unfortunate thing is that the way filmmakers tend to think is to impress the judges with ‘actors’ pieces filled with over-melodramatic tone and trying to force messages down the audiences throats rather than focusing on telling good stories in good settings.
Only one film ‘The Chuck In’ was a comedy and it was brilliantly shot and funny at the same time, and was an audience favourite from the point of view of many at the after-party. This, however – I must stress – does not take away from the other films, as every one of them was outstanding, absolutely top class and irrefutably well-made. Every amateur short filmmaker should aspire to be in Flickerfest.
Best of all, we were only given a taste. There are so many other films in the festival to see.
The Flickerfest showcase will continue to tour Australia until May 17, details can be found at www.flickerfest.com.au/tour.
