Freshly Squeezed Shorts 1

Victorian Premiere

A six-minute continuous take following a bride-to-be who is having doubts just before she walks down the aisle.

Aotearoa NZ, 2024, 6 minutes
English
Director: Isla Macleod
Writer: Isla Macleod
Producer: Miryam Jacobi

Australian Premiere

An evocative documentary that follows 28-year-old Jzayla as she navigates the challenges and triumphs of embracing her afro-textured hair in Aotearoa, uncovering profound layers of identity, culture and self acceptance along the way.

Aotearoa NZ, 2024, 12 minutes
English
Director: Jzayla Marcya Hughey
Writer: Jzayla Marcya Hughey
Producer: Jennifer Onyeiwu

While We Still Have Time is the debut from daughter-cum-documentary filmmaker, Ava Grimshaw-Hall, who embarks on a poignant journey to connect with her sperm donor father John, as he battles an aggressive cancer. Together, they explore their unique bond, seeking understanding and closure amidst life’s uncertainties.

Australia, 2024, 15 minutes
English
Director: Ava Grimshaw-Hall
Writers: Ava Grimshaw-Hall, Cindy Clarkson
Producers: Jasper Caverly, Peta Hitchens

“If you listen to nature, it will lead the way…” Elder Gagaj Taimanav

After scores of performances around the world and years away from Rotuma, Armea opens as the dedicated dancers and musicians of Rako Pasefika make their long awaited return home to the island. As Rako prepares to perform a new production inspired by the totemic Armea, their relationships with elders, knowledge keepers, healers, artisans and cultural custodians reveal deep and reciprocal connections to this ancient land and to the immense ocean from which it rises. Both an offering to those who have guided the way — such as the hån lep he rua sacred women — and a promise to sustain sacred artforms for generations to come, Armea is an ode to all that is small yet sacred.

Fiji, 2024, 20 minutes
Rotuman
Director: Letila Mitchell
Producers: Taylor Hensel, Adam Mazo, Kavita Pillay, Tracy Rector

Fox creates a little sun as a toy and discovers that it can produce heat. He sets it on the shelf in his apartment and enjoys sunbathing when the sun falls down and loses its magical quality. Fox is trying but is unable to fix it. Frustrated, he kicks the sun into the corner when it starts interacting with him.

Australia, 2023, 6 minutes
Director: Liubov Korpusova
Writer: Liubov Korpusova
Producers: Liubov Korpusova, Varvara Sova

Content Warning: contains themes of mental health.

An inquisitive approach to bipolar disorder in Aotearoa New Zealand, Taurewarewa – a Māori word describing the pressure building as a wave rises – positions the ocean's moods behind those of the interview subjects as they recount and describe phases of experiencing the disorder.

Aotearoa NZ, 2024, 13 minutes
English
Director: Libby Witheford-Smith
Producer: Lily Groenhart

Australian Premiere

16-year-old Nelson plays parent to his younger siblings while their unstable and unreliable Mum wreaks havoc on the household. As the chaos of their world increases, Nelson must decide: how much longer can he stand to love her?

Aotearoa NZ, 2023, 14 minutes
English
Director: Rebekah Tyler
Writer: Rebekah Tyler
Producer: Madison Smith

Moral-abiding feminist comedian Rach receives a massive blow after a show when she is rejected by the agent she was so hungry for. Rach's brother Benny takes her out to his work Christmas drinks to cheer her up. But in his world of sales bros Rach is pushed to see if she's got the "tenacity" to survive in their world. Will she flip on her morals and throw her integrity to the wind to step up to their plate?

Australia, 2024, 16 minutes
English
Director: Lucy Coleman
Writer: Lucy Coleman
Producers: Lucy Coleman, Lucy Hayes