Freshly Squeezed Shorts 1

Saturday 23rd March, 12:15pm
95 mins, Cinema 2, ACMI

This session is Unclassified 15+.

The Melbourne Women in Film Festival is proud to showcase the work of women and gender diverse filmmakers and storytellers. This means that we sometimes include films or panel topics that may explore difficult subjects and be confronting for some audiences. Our aim is to ensure our audience has a safe and enjoyable experience when coming along to our festival and so we have included content warnings, classification and cultural information throughout the program.

Please take the time to read the film synopses below to determine whether the session is suitable for you.

A peculiar red kite, learning to find your voice and spiritual journeys, Freshly Squeezed Shorts 1 showcases the latest and best short live action, experimental and animated films from our region's women and gender diverse filmmakers.

  • A cartoon face of a girl with red hair, big black eyes and a big toothy grin looking excited.

    My Jumper, It Roars!

    Ellie spends her life channelling her frustrations into the collar of her jumper, and one day it decides to fight back. Will Ellie find that life-loving, mischievous child within and finally speak up, or will she drown in Jumper’s woolly mess?

    Australia, 2023, 6 minutes
    No Dialogue
    Director: Isabella Spagnolo
    Writer: Isabella Spagnolo
    Producers: Alexia Gates-Foale, Francesca Hope, Sofia Iffla, Grace Rein

  • A young, white girl is sitting in the driver's seat of car looking out of the window.

    Weedling

    Weedling is a magic realist drama about Alix, a gender non-conforming teenager who steals their father’s car to save their spirit plant and themselves from an unsafe home, at the risk of leaving their mother who can’t protect them.

    Australia, 2023, 18 minutes
    English
    Director: Angie Black
    Writers: Angie Black, Kate Schmitt
    Producers: Angie Black, CJ Welsh

  • Pink-tinted negative photo of two naked pregnant bellies

    WOMEN INC.

    CW: Pregnancy

    WOMEN INC. is a stinging satire of the disturbing way pregnancy and motherhood are simultaneously minimalised and fetishised by pundits, politicians, and pop culture.

    Australia, 2022, 2 minutes
    English
    Director / Writer / Producer: Jennie Feyen

  • A young, white girl with blonde hair and a cowboy hat is sitting pointing a TV remote. Behind her are a man and a woman arguing in the background.

    Me, My Ralph and I

    9 year old Lenora, and her imaginary friend, Ralph the lion, try their best to protect their friendship from the impending breakdown of Lenora’s family.

    Australia, 2023, 14 minutes
    English
    Director: Maggie Brittingham
    Writer: Maggie Brittingham
    Producer: Brayden McManus

  • An image from above looking down on a mother with dark hair and light pink long-sleeved top asleep, and daughter with blonde hair and a black singlet awake and looking at her as they lie in bed.

    Bedbound

    Bedbound is a coming-of-age story of a mother and daughter trying to find their way back to each other, set in Sydney suburbia.

    Australia, 2023, 8 minutes
    English
    Director: Andrea Mudbidri
    Writer: Andrea Mudbidri
    Producers: Andrea Mudbidri, Juliet Lochrin

  • A long distance image of a young girl with dark hair flying a red kite in the air. She is running across a large sand dune.

    To Fly a Kite

    "To Fly a Kite" or "风筝悟" is a poetic short film on the second generation Chinese coming-of age. Lily does not feel like a person yet; she exists on the fringes of two worlds and feels comfort, however estrangement from both. When she discovers a peculiar red kite whilst helping at her parent's Chinese restaurant, she is faced with eagerness to fly it, yet guilt to leave her parents. Her journey through Australian suburbia and terrain proves to be difficult and bizarre, will she get the kite up?

    Australia, 2023, 15 minutes
    No dialogue
    Director: Bernice Jiang
    Writer: Bernice Jiang
    Producer: Bernice Jiang, Ricky Perdec

  • A young woman is sitting on the ground, leaning against a fence. She is wearing a white singlet and blue shorts. Another younger girl in pink bathers is standing in the background.

    Mary Mary

    CW: Pregnancy themes.

    1963, Aotearoa. An out of wedlock pregnancy forces 18-year-old Mary to take things into her own hands at great personal risk.

    Aotearoa NZ, 2022, 15 minutes
    English
    Director: Ella Gilbert
    Writer: Ella Gilbert
    Producers: Emma Mortimer, Ashleigh Roworth

  • A young First Nations man in profile. He is wearing a dark jacket and in standing in a dark room. His face is slightly illuminated by a warm, orange light.

    Djaambi

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander audiences are advised that this film may contain images and/or audio of deceased persons.

    CW: Racism, mental health

    Djaambi centres on Reg, a young Indigenous man, transitioning between past decisions, and the new. Made raw in the wake of the death of his close cousin, Tjarrah, Reg embarks on a spiritual journey, reflecting on the past to reassure his present decisions, Tjarrah guides Reg through his grief. Djaambi touches on contemporary, and often unseen by the privileged, themes of racism and mental health, while navigating one’s place in Australian society, illustrating the impact of cultural overload and the aftermath of trauma.

    Australia, 2021, 11 minutes
    English
    Producer: Jodie Kirkbride
    Director: Joel Brown
    Writers: Joel Brown

  • Three women are standing next to one another in a dark room. The middle woman is wearing construction goggles and holding a hammer, and two daggers. The other two women are looking at her.

    To The Death

    To the Death is a dark comedy short about two South Asian/Australian actors in Los Angeles who are forced to fight to the death for an acting role. Is it physically impossible to have more than one brown person on a show?

    Australia/Aotearoa NZ, 2022, 10 minutes
    English
    Director: Rose McIver
    Writers: Yasmin Kassim, Menik Gooneratne
    Producers: Yasmin Kassim, Menik Gooneratne