Speech Excerpt: Renae Hardie Braovich, Festival Director
“As you may know, this festival is open to anyone of any age or experience, using any devices or resources they have to make a short film or documentary any way they like. The only thing they have to do is film their project within a specific region, or have the story be set in that region. Then, if they’re shortlisted, their projects will be screened at their local cinemas.
We did this, because this festival is about giving aspiring storytellers a platform — a chance to see themselves on the big screen and be heard and acknowledged — and by doing this, we hope to bring communities closer together through storytelling.
Last year, the only region of the festival was Rockingham: we had our Opening Ceremony and all our screenings here in the ACE Cinemas Gold Lounge, and our Closing Ceremony and Gala Awards Night at Gary Holland Community Centre. We all saw some great entries — animations that made us laugh, short films that inspired us, that showed us talent and great potential, as well as documentaries that made us connect with people who are all around us, but whom we’re not connected enough with…”
