West End Film Festival 28 - 30 June 2019
Rumpus Room & Bunyapa Park | West End
Film Screenings
50 hand picked curated selections. Each session will take you on a roller coaster of emotion, from romantic sci-fi through to dystopian coming-of-age.
Free Events
Free park screenings of unofficial short films and a free community screening of B.OLD films presented by the Department of Communities.
WEFFY Awards
Where the film makers take home nine prizes including the audience choice award voted by you.
Panel Discussions
Come and learn about the craft of film making and story telling with some of Australia's best film makers.
Programme
Friday 28 June
Venue: Rumpus Room
6.45pm | Blue Session (Official Selection)
There’s something for everyone at the opening screening of the 2019 West End Film Festival, Friday 28 June. Drama, comedy, animation, sci-fi. Then soothe your fears of the impending techno-apocalypse with treats from the food trucks outside.
A Rare Breed
Rob is a world renowned chicken breeder from Tasmania. He has travelled all over the world to exhibit his chickens, as well as his own body…
A Stone’s Throw
After a truck driver is killed by a rock thrown from an overpass, teenage schoolgirl Hannah runs from the scene and is hit by a car.
Die Proses
Die Proses (The Process) is a playful character study that follows an actress’ creative journey as she finds her voice for a part.
Drum Wave
A young pianist is forced to confront her fear of motherhood when she marries into a remote island community with bizarre fertility rituals.
Emergency First Aid Hacks with Rach
An upbeat food blogger attempts to make a first aid video – accidentally sparking a year-long journey of grief, self-discovery and reality-bending twists.
Emma
Emma is a regular human that is faced with daily modern obstacles; yet underneath her smile a secret hides. A story with no words.
Humdingers
A young, highly intelligent girl with an archaic mind tries to escape the confines of her overbearing parents’ control.
Lavender
A woman must learn to let her ailing Father go in a future where eating humans has become the norm to help combat growing food shortages.
SINGULARITY
Evolution is the ultimate journey, always in the now and always moving forward. Our film explores the journey of life, showing its complexity and scale.
The True History of Billie the Kid
Billie visits her ageing father in jail, revealing that her childhood in his care was not as safe and happy as he might have believed.
#Typecast
After an audition, a group of mature actors refuse to be typecast and make their own film.
8.45pm | Yellow Session (Official Selection)
Which of the many colourful characters from the Yellow Session at WEFF 2019 will stay with you after the projection ends? Meet a variety of onscreen personalities in one of Brisbane’s most vibrant suburbs.
Desiccation
A fictional drama about a middle-aged man who’s struggling with his mental health due to his property being in a long drought.
FEZ
A high energy, short spectacle celebrating Samoan-Australian entertainer Fez Faanana and his trailblazing artistic journey from growing up in small town Ipswich, Queensland to representing Australia on the world stage in dazzling drag, with his co-founded all male burlesque company “Briefs Factory”.
Greener Pastures
Tom wants to send his elderly Mum to ‘Greener Pastures’ Nursing Home, however Mum has other plans… just ask Toms Dad!
Lace
A young transvestite tries to hide the fact that he’s impulsively wearing red lingerie on a first date.
No Means
Inspired by the “Me Too” and “Time’s Up” movements, the “No Means” video features a diverse cast of women speaking out about sexual harassment and how it affects their lives.
Pool Side
Emily is a shy, young swimmer, rejoining her team after some time away. When she has an awkward encounter with Janine, an open and confident older woman, she finds she has more in common with her than she thought.
Prey
A lonely woman saves a young waitress from a creepy hotel manager and becomes the new subject of his unwanted attention.
Skeletons
With the help of a stranger, a lost teen stands up to his domineering friend and learns to seize the day.
Stray
After three long years away, a crippled World War II soldier excitedly returns home to his wife, only to discover her life now revolves around a sinister stray cat.
The Dinner Party
A young couple set-up for their first dinner party until tensions mount as their guests keep calling to cancel.
The Mother Load
A reckless 25 year old woman has her life gate-crashed by the daughter she gave for adoption ten years ago.
Saturday 29 June
Venue: Rumpus Room
9.30am | Panel ``So you think you have a story?`` (FREE)
Panel chair:
Joe Carter – Documentary Producer
Joe has worked in the advertising and television industry since 1994 and as a university lecturer for the past 18 years. He has produced and directed advertising campaigns, international television content and adventure documentary films in Australia, Europe and North America, and recently relocated to Brisbane after almost two decades living in Italy and the UK. His most recent extreme sports film “Taming the Bear” followed a team of British athletes led by Berghaus-sponsored Julia Pickering as they attempted to become the first people to climb and then snowboard down Mt Bear, one of the highest and most remote mountains in Alaska. After running the Master of Television Production degree at Sunderland University in the UK, Joe joined QUT in Brisbane to coordinate the BFA in Film Screen and New Media.
Panellists:
Dr Phoebe Hart – Documentary Director
Pheobe Hart: Dr Phoebe Hart is an award-winning television writer, director and producer and a screen studies academic with an interest in screen writing, autobiography, documentary, children’s television, gender identity and representation, cultural studies, and feminist phenomenology. She was born in Brisbane, Australia and studied at the Queensland University of Technology. Phoebe has worked with many production companies and television networks, including Network Ten, Wildbear Productions, Freshwater Pictures, Vizible Entertainment, Octagon CSI, Beyond, Turner Entertainment Inc., Brisbane International Film Festival and Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Her work has been broadcast on Showtime, ARTE Germany/France, Special Broadcasting Station, Nine Network, Schweizer Fernsehen, Televisión Española, UR (Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company), DBS Israel and ArtMedia (Eastern Europe. Her credits include The Full Kombi, Totally Wild, Downunder Grads, Roller Derby Dolls and Orchids: My Intersex Adventure.
Dr Sue Cake – Scriptwriter
Dr Sue Cake lectures in Scriptwriting in the Film, Screen & New Media Discipline in the Creative Industries Faculty at QUT. Susan received an Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award for her thesis titled Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: Facilitating self-directed, transformative learning. Her thesis included a narrative comedy television series titled, Fighting Fit, that gives neoliberal, corporate approaches to education a good oiling up and rubbing down, parodied within the hazardous confines of a run-down fitness centre. Susan has taught screen production in the vocational training and education sector and produced numerous short films and interactive CD ROMS for a range of not-for-profit organisations. She wrote an Innovative Teaching Guide and was the curriculum expert on a $250,000 ABC funded project aimed at devising strategies to increase student media production within the South Pacific. Susan has published in national and international journals and conferences. Her current projects include Augmented Reality (AR) Situated Storytelling.
Jo Kenny – Production Manager
Joanne Kenny began in the Film Industry in 1984 and has seen all the changes from Annalogue to Digital, from big Budgets to skinny Budgets.
After working in Production with highly successful Production Companies across Local, National and International Productions – high end TVCS, Documentary, Television and Travelling Exhibition, Joanne now Lectures into QUT Film, Screen & New Media. Joanne Supervises Work Integrated Learning Interns in the Screen Sector.
Along the way she has mentored incubating and small to medium enterprise Production entities, consulted into the Screen Sector, opened up locations at QUT to support Industry Film Shoots, encouraged ACS Membership and engagement and become an all-round “Fairy Godmother”.
Those who know her well are familiar with her idea = time + money approach at getting Production values up on Screen.
11.15am | Panel ``Discovering Stories in Unexpected Places`` (FREE)
‘In Conversation with Faramarz K-Rahber on Discovering Stories in Unexpected Places’
Faramarz K-Rahber:
Iranian/Australian filmmaker Faramarz K-Rahber has specialized in producing and directing documentary films since graduating from Griffith Film School in 2000. Nominated for AFI for Best Direction in Documentary for debut film ‘Fahimeh’s Story’, he subsequently received worldwide acclaim for ‘Donkey in Lahore’ which screeened at Tribeca Film Festival and IDFA in Amsterdam. During the course of his career he has won a number awards for his films, which tend to theme around cultural identity and diversity. His most recent film ‘Dancing the Invisible’ explores the career of one of Australia’s most respected editors – Jill Bilcock.
1.00pm | B.OLD Films Community Session (FREE)
B.OLD short films
A collection of heartfelt stories will make you think twice about what’s possible as you get older. B.OLD short films celebrate the lives, experiences and passions of older people, and the contributions they make to our communities every day.
Proudly supported by the Queensland Government – find out more at www.qld.gov.au/BOLD2018.
En Pointe
Director: Tamara Hall | Producer: Jed Cahill
A 72-year old ballet dancer shares her life journey and love of dance. Her life lessons are now benefiting her young granddaughter as she discovers that dance is more than artistic expression. Dance is a foundation for meeting the challenges the granddaughter will face in a world more complex than the one her grandmother grew up in.
Keeping up with the Joan-ses
Director: Andrew Stennett | Producer: Dee Dimmick
Geo’s new neighbour is awesome… a little too awesome… it’s actually tiring how awesome she is. When Geo tells her friend Tiff all about her neighbour Joan, Tiff can’t help but imagine an impossibly beautiful and confident young woman. She’s mostly right.
Never Stop Playing
Director: Ljudan Michaelis-Thorpe | Producer: Ljudan Michaelis-Thorpe, Bobbi-lea Dionysius
Uncle Bill Lawton smiling and holding a guitar, Uncle Bill Lawton, is an Aboriginal elder of the Bidjara people and local music legend who, at 86, still travels central Queensland playing at country music festivals, charity events and local gigs. Uncle Bill’s endless stamina proves that age is no barrier as we watch him play with his original band, the Country Cousins, jam in the garage with his family and share yarns of years gone by. As long as he has his guitar and never stops playing, he will always be around.
No Bones Jones
Director: Peter Blackburn | Producer: Graham Young
Music doesn’t age, it just becomes classic. Moe “No bones” Jones has always been a music man. Now that he’s older, he’s started to feel his time has passed. That is, until his granddaughter Jess looks at performing herself. Jess has her own life challenges to get past, which provides the catalyst to get Moe back on track, and to reinvigorate the philosophy he has always lived by – “You don’t get old and stop, you stop and get old.”
Powering On: Looking Forward, Never Back
Director: James Hyams | Producer: Jeremy Rigby
While others may spend their retirement with their feet up, John Rigby likes to keep busy. He trains at the gym most days, runs regularly and is still actively researching in the field of paleobotany (the study of fossilised plants). A recent cancer diagnosis seemed like it may derail John’s dreams of defending his body building title and unearthing the next great discovery, but it wasn’t enough to keep John Down. Find out what keeps him powering on: looking forward, never back.
Typecast
DIrector: Brett Davis | Producer: Helen Morrison, Tara Wardrop
After an audition, a group of older actors refuse to be typecast and make their own film.
These Walls
Director: Susanna van Aswegen | Producer: Jessica Dee
Julia, a protective single parent who works night shifts to make ends meet, worries that her ageing mother, Valerie, may no longer be capable of looking after her son, Eric, after school. But Julia is unaware of the enduring bond that has formed between her mother and her son through their shared love of creative expression through street art.
Visible
Director: Luis Bran | Producer: Dayna Yates
Fran has always been the invisible force that keeps her family and community running smoothly. Only recently she has decided she must make the time to do something for herself. Fighting the temptation to submit to the familiar beck and call of family and colleagues, she boards her plane to adventure. But when she arrives at her destination alone, her fears threaten to overwhelm her and she begins to melt into the background once more. If Fran is ever going to be seen, she’ll have to take a bold step into the unknown.
*Films may not play in this order on the day.
2.45pm | Red Session (Official Selection)
What do two men, both named Bob, both stuck on a life raft in the middle of the ocean have in common with A: soap. B: a botched burglary. And C: two determined young women. They’re all stuck together for the Red session of WEFF 2019.
Buy your ticket, stick yourself in a chair Saturday 29 June and join them.
BoB
A comedy short about two men, both named Bob, bobbing adrift at sea in a life raft. Will they survive when a hole ruptures in their vessel?
Bradley Bickleman & the Perfect House
Bradley lives in a house but not just any house, a perfect house. From ceiling to floor, every detail is meticulous and orange! He lords over the location with a precise, pedantic nature until one day he notices a Kid watching him from outside, purple ice-cream in hand.
En Pointe
A 72-year old ballet dancer shares her life journey and love of dance. Her life lessons are now benefiting her young granddaughter as she discovers that dance is more than artistic expression. Dance is a foundation for meeting the challenges the granddaughter will face in a world more complex than the one her grandmother grew up in.
HeartBreakIns
An elderly man mistakes the burglar in his home for a removalist, and insists on helping with the heavy lifting.
Louder Than Words
Amy Clearwell is eleven years old and all she wants is to be the drummer in her school concert band. However, when both her concert band conductor and her father block her from being involved in the band, Amy begins to want something more. She wants them to realise that she can be both talented, and Deaf.
Pipe Dream
The dream of freedom is in all of us, even a bar of soap.
To The Sea
When a strange disappearance rocks a tiny seaside town, a young girl remains determined to continue the search.
Wither
After suffering a loss, the inundating sympathy flowers echo a young woman’s emotional passage.
4.45pm | Purple Session (official Selection)
Who needs package adventure holidays when you have short film festivals. Local films. Food trucks on the doorstep. All in the heart of West End.
Get your tickets now for the Purple Session at WEFF 2019 Saturday 29 June.
Banana Peel Man
After a close call with death, Alex finds himself abandoned by all his friends and is forced to continue his line of work as a solo hero.
Frank and Eunice Corley
There’s no place like home. And there’s no sense of nostalgia quite like the one we feel when we see a photograph of a home. During the 1960s and 70s, Frank and Eunice roamed the suburbs photographing houses in South-East Queensland. Fifty years on, the legacy of their efforts is an extensive collection of 61,000 images that indiscriminately capture Queensland housing stock – from the architectural to the ramshackle.
I NEVER REALLY LEFT
A man with nothing left to lose, makes a deal with a mysterious driver.
No Bones Jones
Moe “No bones” Jones has always been a music man. Now that he is older he started to feel that his time had passed. That is until his granddaughter Jess is looking at performing herself. Jess has her own challenges in life to get past. This is the catalyst to get Moe back on track, to reinvigorate the philosophy he has always lived by “You don’t get old and stop, you stop and get old.”
Rose City
A series of vignettes centering around a couple as they revisit places of significant in her hometown.
Strays
In the suburban hinterlands of Southern Queensland, two homeless brothers survive by raiding the homes of strangers for food and other necessities.
Street Dreams
Humzadeas, the infamous nineteen-year-old street photographer from New York City is leading a new movement that intersects street art, danger and social media.
The Coin
A supermarket trolley. A searcher and his quest to find a rare coin.
The Dos and Don’ts of Doomsday Cult Dating
A romantic office comedy inside a sinister Australian doomsday cult.
Valentine’s Day
It’s Valentine’s Day, and Evie could care less. Her best friend Sarah has other plans. They are having a romantic couples dinner and Evie will invite her new boyfriend. The trouble is, he doesn’t exist.
6.45pm | Orange Session (Official Selection)
The final session of WEFF 2019 features a comedic take on anti-Arab racism, a portrait of political photographer Ben Baker, and a political leadership spill farce, to soften the blow the next time it happens for real. By the end of WEFF 2019, it’ll all make sense. Or not.
Get your tickets here.
And The Winner Is
When tennis champion Stanley finds himself caught in the midst of a public scandal, he’s left with no other choice but to seek out the very best in crisis management. The institute’s unconventional method descends into a surrealist nightmare as Stanley is forced to relive the moments that changed the course of his life forever.
Crush
It appears Lizzy has an obsession with novelty candles. But the truth is her “burning” desire isn’t for candles, it’s for the girl selling them. Will she work up the courage to ask her out or will she just buy out the whole store?
He’s ISIS
Based on a true-ish story, it’s Omar’s first day playing a terrorist when an actual ISIS terrorist takes over the film set, leaving Omar to save the crew. If only they could tell him apart from the actual terrorist.
I Love You Sara
An inventor from the not so distant future reminisces about his single greatest creation.
Joy Boy
Based on a true story, Joy Boy is a moving and fractured retelling of the defining moments in the life of a young gay man, Jonny, caught between his conservative family, an evangelical church and his emergent sexuality.
Makers Who Inspire: Ben Baker
A portrait of political photographer Ben Baker, whose work with Fortune, Politico and Time Magazine has seen him photograph the world’s most powerful people, including Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, Rupert Murdoch, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Snuffed
The Prime Minister rallies to save his career in the face of a leadership challenge.
Taxi!
When someone drops a glass in Australia, it’s very rare not to hear someone call out for a cab. “Taxi!”, follows the historic journey of one man making this joke for the first time, how he becomes adopted by the Australian media and finally suffocated by the grip of commercial interests. Will the joke that never gets old become immortalised or finally die?
The Men that Come
‘The Men that Come’ is a Gothic allegory about the way we treat victims and survivors of violence and abuse.
Transmission
Earth is dying, humanity is on the brink of extinction, and now mankind’s final hope has all but disappeared. In an effort to source a new life for planet earth, a research team ventured through the stars, only to go missing on an unknown planet. Desperate to find them, Commander Madison Sterling and her crew venture in pursuit. As her crew go missing one by one, the entire fate of humanity rests on her shoulders.
8.45pm | WEFFY AWARDS CEREMONY
Stick around after the last session to find out who will win the WEFFY awards for 2019.
Get your tickets here.
Venue: Bunyapa Park
5.30pm - 8.30pm | Community Screening (Free)
NOTE: THIS EVENT IS IN BUNYAPA PARK IN WEST END
Get your camp chairs and blankets ready for films under the stars. We’re giving film makers the opportunity to get their films out there into the world with a curated selection of films from the unofficial selection.
Hot, refreshing beverages provided by Stovetop Chai to keep you warm in the night time chill. www.stovetopchai.com.au
Get your tickets here.
Sunday 30 June
Venue: Bunyapa Park
5.30pm - 8.30pm | Community Screening (Free)
NOTE: THIS EVENT IS IN BUNYAPA PARK IN WEST END
Get your camp chairs and blankets ready for films under the stars. We’re giving film makers the opportunity to get their films out there into the world with a curated selection of films from the unofficial selection.
Hot, refreshing beverages provided by Stovetop Chai to keep you warm in the night time chill. www.stovetopchai.com.au
Get your tickets here.
Venue Locations
Rumpus Room
Bunyapa Park
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