On a hopeful future with MWFF’s next gen filmmakers

By Chelsea Daniel

“You don't know what you don't know until you are shown it, so that is why we need to highlight these stories and make them accessible,” says Lilli Corrias-Smith, filmmaker for Before We’re Gone, regarding representation in filmmaking. Before We’re Gone is heartwarming and touching film that explores a young girl's relationship with her family as she aims to solve the world from the unfolding climate crisis. The film was selected to be in the MWFF’s next-gen lineup on Saturday, the 25th of February. The line-up included films from young gender-diverse and female filmmakers, with a wide range of films about onions, homophobia, and bonding with your mother over food. 

Next Gen shorts “​​showcases the creativity and talent of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand’s next generation of filmmakers,” providing a space for filmmakers the industry hasn’t always supported to witness where the film could go next.

Taihra Swaine is the writer and director behind Peanut, a 2021 film exploring the character Odette’s journey with her decision to terminate her pregnancy. Drawn from personal experiences, Swaine made the film as a student. Despite the technical and financial constraints that come with creating a student film, and the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown, Swaine created a profoundly moving film, a testament to her talent as a filmmaker. 

“It was in my undergraduate that I really embraced it,” Swaine says about her relationship with filmmaking. Storytelling is something that has always followed her. “I’d always pick up my parent's video camera and make up stories”, though she initially started with acting at a time that she says didn’t really “have a place for minorities on screen.”

“I was typecast a lot”, she shared, “I really hated it. I remember thinking, ‘I'm not from these places I shouldn't be playing these characters’.” This inspired her to go into filmmaking. Or, as she put it, she “cracked the shits at the industry”. “I remember thinking I am going to make my own films,” she recounts, “I’ll be in them myself.”

Being inspired by a place of underrepresentation is a recurring driving force for these filmmakers. The Next Gen films are incredibly unique in their narratives, as all films showcased at the Melbourne Women in Film Festival were, though there is something necessary in paying attention to what our future filmmakers want to say. 

Though improvements have been made, misogyny-oppressed people’s involvement in film has long been an issue in the Australian film industry. For example, in October 2021, Screen Australia’s “Gender Matters” report noted that “55% of key creative roles across approved development and production funding in 2020/21 were held by women.” However, while they stated that people could self-identify, there weren’t mentions of gender-diverse people in the statement, nor specified which women were white or came from otherwise privileged backgrounds. 

The data shows there have been lulls. For example, there was a drop in women-identifying people in successful Screen Australia application productions who had lead roles like directing and writing from 2020-2021. Women in directing dropped from 50 to 45%, and writing went from 45% to 33%. Race, disabilities, and queer identities weren’t mentioned in the Gender Matters Update breakdown. 

It is hard to deny the role of representation in these filmmakers’ journey to their films. “As a bisexual woman, it is always enthralling for me to see other stories from the queer community and womxn”, Corrias-Smith says after citing Lady Bird and Fleabag as important media pieces for her when discussing spaces that support underrepresented voices in film. “I love to piece together everyone's experiences into a more holistic view of what it means to be Queer and a womxn. You don't know what you don't know until you are shown it.” 

The diversity of films in the Next Gen lineup highlights the range of storytelling we can get when we provide spaces. Both Corrias-Smith and Swaine were able to develop their skills in a university setting. Corrias-Smith says that “university gave me the freedom and tools to execute ideas in new ways that opened doors in my understanding of the medium”, and Swaine says the university provided access to WAAPA actors and lecturers who “really inspired” her. When gender-diverse people and women have access to institutional support from festivals or universities, one cannot help but wonder how many more people could create art with the right support. 

“As filmmakers, and I'm sure everyone can relate, the thought of success or being able to get that bit of funding or that next job, is quite deflating,” Swaine says on spaces like Melbourne Women in Film Festival and is included in the Next Gen Line-up. “To know that where I’m being considered is an amazing feeling. It makes me want to go write and actually do what I say I'm going to do!” 

Corrias-Smith says that being included in the Next Gen lineup is “affirming” and focuses on what's next. “I'm chasing that feeling of daring to have the audacity. The audacity to observe and share what I see as it is.” 

Whether what these filmmakers observe is within themselves or their thoughts on the world, spaces like Next Gen lineups in Melbourne Women In Film Festival support more and more in their storytelling, which creates a spot for those in the future.