Review: Flickerfest closing night

Being blessed with something of a limited attention-span, the short-film format is ideal for me. At its best, a short film is a perfectly formed nugget of cinematic brilliance – complete with compelling story, meaningful character development and solid dialogue. At its worst, you’ve only wasted 15 or so minutes of your life. Regardless, this year’s Flickerfest winners fell firmly in the former category.

Hefty rain clouds looked in danger of overshadowing the closing night of the 23rd annual Flickerfest, forcing the awards ceremony inside the pavilion. Much as I hate to criticise the event organisers, it would be remiss of me not to say that, on at least two occasions, the winning film in a category played before the award had been announced, lending a slightly awkward note to the proceedings. Having said that, it’s worth mentioning that several of the competitions are now Academy Accredited; a pretty impressive feat and testament to the hard work and perseverance of the Flickerfest team.

My personal favourite from the selection of films shows was The Kingdom of Doug (named Best Australian Short Film), a gripping story about a cult with an amazing central performance by Laura Wheelright as Josie; it also boasted the best acceptance speech of the night as director Victoria Thaine submitted a video in which she waved her newborn baby while a half naked man clutching a beer gyrated in the background. If that’s not an appropriate celebration then I don’t know what is.

On a more serious note, Miniyamba, the Best International Animation, is well worth a watch if you get the opportunity. A picture of the dark side of immigration, shows that this medium can explore difficult topics as it follows Abdu on his journey to try and reach Europe.

Words by Sonia Clarke.