The closure of venues such as theatres, concert halls and cinemas as part of COVID-19 transmission control strategies has led to less entertainment being available in most places in the world. People sigh with a relief that a number of show business organisations and artists have been responding with "the show must go on" philosophy by providing cheers in this time of crisis through other medium. For examples, we have musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ballet Australia ballet, movies and other shows being available by free streaming.
Locally online concerts through the social media had also had been held. In the same fashion, Blacktown Arts and CuriousWorks have come to the party and teamed up to bring Western Sydney Shorts, a festival of short films and a feature. From today, May 15, these films are available in peoples' homes via free streaming through Blacktown Arts' social media platforms, every Tuesday and Friday evening at 7.30pm, with each film being available for only 10 day. This is the first time the films will be streamed online although a few of them had been screened at film festivals.
FULL PROGRAM
The Western Sydney Shorts which is curated by Vonne Patiag include films directed by local directors and are about local scenarios and issues. The title of films, name of Directors, date of release and synopsis are shown below. *
Window
Directed by Vonne Patiag
Friday 15 May: 7.30 pm
A young man in suburbia develops a fascination with his neighbour. As he watches from his bedroom, a shared secret from their past slowly reconnects the two.
Prodigal Son
Directed by Gerard Cabellon
Tuesday 19 May: 7.30 pm
As new generations are born, how much of their culture do they keep and how much is forgotten? If tradition is lost, what is gained in its place? Three Filipino males embody these contrasting notions as they try to sustain their beliefs against their ever-changing environment.
Being Kurd
Directed by Dee Dogan
Friday 22 May: 7.30 pm
A Kurdish journalist reflects on her childhood memories of escaping Saddam’s regime and reclaiming back her cultural identity.
My name is Mohamed and Raghad, we don’t exist (here) anymore
Directed by Ali Mousawi
Tuesday 26 May: 7.30 pm
A one-shot, twelve-minute film about a day in the life of an Iranian- Ahwazi asylum seeker family, surviving in Australia.
Artist talk #1
Thursday 28 May: 1 pm
In conversation with Dee Dogan and Ali Mousawi.
Wild Dances
Directed by Bina Bhattacharya
Friday 29 May: 7.30 pm
When Ruslana wins Eurovision for Ukraine in 2004, this sets of an unbelievable chain of events on the other side of the world. The lives of a shy, closeted Australian gay boy and a spirited, Ukrainian-Australian girl are forever fused as they share a shining moment on the dance floor.
Blacktown
Directed by Kriv Stenders
Tuesday 2 June: 7.30 pm
Nikki (Niki Owen) is a secretary who is struggling in a relationship with a married man. When she meets Tony (Tony Ryan), ‘a black fella on a white bus’, and despite their obvious differences, Nikki learns that there is room for romance in the desperate western suburbs struggle that is life in Blacktown.
Melon Grab
Directed by Andrew Lee
Friday 5 June: 7.30 pm
Dysfunctional truth rap and suspended youth – the final skate between two best friends.
Prone to the Drone
Directed by Daisy Montalvo
Tuesday 9 June: 7.30 pm
An isolated young man spends his baking hot Sydney summers moving aimlessly between work and home until a drone falls in his backyards.
Artist talk #2
Thursday 11 June: 1 pm
In conversation with Shawn Spina, Undi Lee and Bina Bhattacharya.
The films can be watched through Blacktown Arts Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
THE CURATOR
The Western Sydney Shorts' curator, Vonne Patiag, is a filmmaker, writer and performer, working across stage and screen. His credits include The Unusual Suspects (SBS), Halal Gurls (ABC) and Tomgirl (SBS). He is the Director of In-Between Pictures, a production company dedicated to telling stories that champion marginalized and intersectional voices.
The Australian Filipina caught up with Vonne and asked what motivated/inspired him to organise this online initiative.
"Blacktown Arts reached out to me and asked me if I would consider curating an online film program as they were looking to adapt their arts programs digitally. I had worked with them last year curating Blacktown Shorts, a film festival that commissioned five original works as part of Magnify Festival 2019. With Western Sydney Shorts, I wanted to curate a program that paid tribute to the different locales of Western Sydney, with each film representing a different area in the region.
"These films all have a strong connection to Western Sydney and I think it's so important for local stories to be shared, as it opens up conversations with communities that you might not be aware of. I also think it's important to see that Australian stories can come from different places - most of the film industry is city-centric, but all of these films were produced and filmed in Western Sydney, so I wanted to inspire local emerging filmmakers to tell their stories too with this varied program of films from our own backyard.
In terrms of the impact of the covid-19 protocols on his projects, Vonne said:
"I write, produce, perform and direct across stage and screen so I'm always working on something, but with the Covid-19 lockdown, I was forced to cancel all my theatre projects for the year, and postponed a few film productions til the end of the year, when hopefully, we'll be able to shoot again. I've been focusing on writing and developing ideas in the meantime.
"Hopefully the postponed productions will be ready to shoot, but I've also developed quite a lot of my own writing so I'm looking to pitch that onwards. I think for me, I'm accepting that the world and societal structure has changed, so I aim to create work that speaks to the question of 'who will rebuild?"
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* Source:
https://blacktownarts.com.au/western-sydney-shorts/?fbclid=IwAR2MhYpIdFWPUYJW18Zy6WHpCTFi_nGy1odVBvvASJ39igDnplo_Pjl1zV8