Presented by Women in Film and Television NSW ( WIFT NSW )
The World of Women – WOW Film Festival is a short film festival that promotes and awards the talents of women directors, producers, writers, editors and cinematographers in the Australian film industry and internationally.
It is a festival that offers emerging and established filmmakers the opportunity to screen short works giving a thematic perspective of … “seeing the world through the eyes of women”.
Sunday August 26
Vancouver Cafe
Doors open at 6pm | Screening at 7pm
All tickets $15 from Paperbark Merchants + Vancouver Cafe
Limited seating, so grab your tickets early!
BYO Alcohol
Coffee + Food available: Selection of 3 Soups with bread, damper+ condiments all $12
The 18th WOW Film Festival…
aims to be a festival of discovery, celebration, debate, networking and an inspiration for new work!
Presented by Women in Film and Television NSW (WIFT NSW)
Traveling to over 17 national locations and overseas in 2012!
GSFI are very excited to bring you…
The Australian Shorts Fiction Program
WOW Award winners
Films exempt from classification | Recommended wing 15+
Peekaboo
10 min Drama
Joe Weatherstone, Producer
Damien Power, Director / Writer
Katie Flaxman, Editor
Kristen Anderson, Production Designer
On the train home, a stranger plays peekaboo with a young child. When the toddler
goes missing, her desperate mother searches frantically. A thriller. Stars Justine Clark
(Look Both Ways, Bastard Boys). Melbourne International Film Festival 2011, Sydney
Film Festival – Dendy Awards 2011, Flickerfest 2012 (Sydney) – Avid Award for Best
Editing, WOW Film Festival 2012 – Winner SBS Award, Joint Winner Best Editing,
Audience Choice Award
Wonder Boy
15 min Drama Australia
Anna Kojevnikov, Producer
Corrie Chen, Director / Writer
Malgortza (Maz) Swierczak, Editor
It’s Chinese New Year – dancing lions, dragons and blood red firecrackers. Ten year
old Clancy is from Chinese background. Living in Australia he is stuck between a life
he doesn’t know and a life he wants to belong to. Stars Evonne Fletcher (Blue
Heelers, Neighbours), Sophia Chen. Flickerfest International Short Film Festival 2011
(Sydney, Australia), WOW Film Festival 2012 – Winner Best Student Film
Heck
7 min 36 sec | Australian Premiere | Comedy
Lisa Hoppe & Bobbie Waterman,
Producer / Writer
Tanya Goldberg, Director,
Pru Montin, Composer
In this black comedy, 75 year olds Ray and Mary decide to take fate into their own
hands_but their double suicide pact doesn’t go according to plan! Stars Robina Beard
(Home and Away). Palm Springs International Shortsfest 2011, Winner Best Script for
Short Film, AWGIE Awards 2011, WOW Film Festival 2012 –Highly Commended
Screenwriter Award, Audeience Choice Award – Highly Commended Screenwriter Award
Comfortable
16 min 45 sec Drama
Laura Dudgeon, Director / Producer /
Writer
Nice boy Andy and his adventurous, girlfriend Sam are lost and struggling in the depths
of something called “us”. A night of debauchery forces them to confront the truth. Stars
Ashlie Hunter, Megan Drury (Packed to the Rafters, Underbelly). Sydney Film Festival
2011 – nominated Dendy Awards, WOW Film Festival 2012 – Winner Best Australian
Fiction Drama, Winner Best Director Award
Garbo
5 min 13 sec Comedy
Damien Prypchan, Producer
Venetia Taylor, Director / Writer
Bill and Barbara aren’t growing old gracefully, but they’re usually too drunk to care.
‘Garbo’ is an elegy for the old people we don’t hear about. Stars Helen Tonkin (Home
and Away, Underbelly). Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2011 (York, UK), Crystal Palace
International Film Festival (London, UK), Dungog Film Festival 2011 (Aus), Holmfirth
Film Festival 2011 (UK), & others, WOW Film Festival 2012
Camera Obscura
5 min 44 sec | Animation
Nicolas Szmidt Producer
Marta Maia, Director / Animator /Producer
Christina Christensen, Composer
Maria lives inside her Camera Obscura, until the day she feels that things outside are
changing. No one seems to notice those changes … sometimes you need to create
projections in order to make the others see. Official Competition for New Portuguese
Filmmakers 2011 Cinanima, 2011 Revelation Perth International Film Festival, 2011
Dungog Film Festival, Australia & others, WOW Film Festival 2012 – Winner Best
Australian Animation, Best Woman Composer Award
Kamambo
10 min Drama Australia
Victoria Goodyear,
Director / Producer / Writer
Inspired by a true story, “Kamambo” is a drama about a 10 year old West Papuan asylum
seeker who has escaped to Australia. Haunted by violent memories of her homeland,
she longs for a safe haven. Stars Joanne Owen-Smith (Payload).
Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Market 2012 (France), Flickerfest International Film Festival
(Aus) Finalist, VCA Premiere Awards 2010 Panavision Best Graduate Diploma producton (Aus),
Papua New Guinea Human Rights Film Festival 2011, Canberra Short Film Festival 2011 (Aus) –
finalist, & others, WOW Film Festival 2012 – Winner Best Woman Screenwriter Award
Playlunch
9 min 51 sec World Premiere
Drama Australia
Tamara Small, Producer
Cassandra Nguyen, Director / Writer
Dumplings, fishballs, nine layer cake, fruit and so much more. Little Molly Lam has
promised her mother that she will finish her lunch before playing. But with so much food
how will she have time to play football? Food, friendship and football. WOW Film Festival
2012 – Audience Choice Award
Moth
13 min 30 sec Drama
Meryl Tankard, Director / Writer
Alana Valentine, Co-writer
Pru Montin, Co-Composer
Roslyn Durnford, Production Designer
In 1970s Australia, three girls escape their institution for a moment of liberty. A last surge
of rebellion in an age where audacity in women was savagely repressed and punished
with incarceration. Stars Beatrice McBride, Madeleine Madden, Sophie Lowe (Beautiful
Kate, The Slap). Cannes Film Festival 2012, Prague Shorts Film Festival 2012, St Kilda
Film Festival 2012, St Tropez Film Festival 2012, Plus Camerimage Film Festival
Bydgoszcz, Poland 2011, WOW Film Festival 2012, Australian Cinematographer Society
Winner Golden Tripod for Best Student Cinematography 2012
Distant Thunder
7 min 19 sec | Australian Premiere | Comedy
Damien Prypchan, Producer
Venetia Taylor, Director / Writer
Pam and Richard are divorced. Richard has a new life, but there’s something on the
horizon that will shake things up. An existential comedy about marriage and death.
Stars Jan Langford Penny (Not even a Mouse,The Storymaker, Water Rats). Holmfirth Film
Festival011 (UK), Langsett Independent Film Festival 2011 (UK), WOW Film Festival 2012
The Burnt Cork
9 min 26 sec Drama
Cassie Kelly, Producer
Alexandra Edmondson, Director / Writer
Monica Saralertsophen, Sound Mixer
Kyas Sherriff, Amber McMahon Production Designers
In 1950s rural Australia, a man faces losing everything when love, fear, duty and shame
collide, following the birth of his illegitimate child with his aboriginal childhood friend. When
a policeman arrives, Matthew is faced with a critical decision. Today they are known as
‘The Stolen Generations’. Stars Kyas Sherriff (The Alice), Amber McMahon. Festival de
Cannes Short Film Corner 2011, Dungog Film Festival 2011, St Kilda Film Festival 2011,
Canberra Short Film Festival 2011, Show Me Shorts Film Festival NZ 2011, Bahamas
International Short Film Festival 2011, WOW Film Festival 2012, Winner: The Black Shorts
Award, Adelaide Shorts Festival 2012
Something Fishy
4 min 30 sec Comedy
Kristy Best, Director, Producer , Writer | Melanie Annan, Editor
Set in the colourful and animated world of a child on Summer Holidays. Cheeky 7 year
old Maxine has a fantastical obsession with the world of goldfish. A new game, has darkly
comical results. LA Comedy Shorts, Vail Film Festival, Friars Club Comedy Film Festival,
Dungog Film Festival 2011, Canberra Short Film Festival 2011, DC Shorts Film Festival
2011, Cornwall Film Festival 2011, Connecticut Film Festival 2012, Winner: Best Editing in
a Short film: Australian Screen Editors Awards, Kristy Best nominated for a Reel Women
Film Award at the Cornwall Film Festival, WOW Film Festival 2012 – Winner Best
Australian Fiction Comedy
Women in Film and Television NSW ( WIFT NSW ) is committed to improving the status of women, both on and off the screen, by supporting and advancing women working in the film, television and related screen industries. They are a membership based not-for-profit organisation. WIFT NSW is part of a global organisation, Women in Film and Television International (WIFTI), which provides a foundation for global co-operation as well as a public voice representing and unifying our members worldwide.
WOW acknowledge and thank all sponsors including: Arts NSW, Office for Women’s Policy, NSW Department of Family and Community Services, City of Sydney, Panavision,
Spectrum Films, Lemac, TressCox Lawyers, JAM Directions, Porter’s Liquor, SBS Television, Opera Bar, AFTRS, E-Film, SMPTE, Metro Screen, Wacom, ARRI Australia, Videocraft and many others.
Many thanks to the ongoing support of Alison and her team at the Vancouver Cafe and Store.
We love the films at the VAC!
