Flickerfest and IQ Inc have announced the finalists in this year’s Byron All Shorts competition, which screens as part of the 33rd Flickerfest International Short Film Festival in Mullumbimby, running from Thursday 29 February to Sunday 2 March.
Now in its 19th year, organisers say the Byron All Shorts competition celebrates our unique local culture and approach to storytelling, with twelve films featured this year, showcasing the talent of regional creators and reflecting local life through a range of themes.
2024 local finalists
- Waterfalls Of Thought: A music video made with the special needs kids at Mullumbimby High School.
- River Boy: a journey of the heart of a brave teenage boy overcoming his fears of the river after the impacts of the 2022 February floods in Northern NSW Australia.
- Moments: a short documentary about living in the moment, the difference between being present and observing life. the importance of not taking the little things in life for granted.
These Are The Sounds I Make. 2024 Byron All Shorts finalist. - These Are The Sounds I Make: Simi, a young woman with disabilities, communicates in many different ways from making sounds and gestures to using conversation cards and communication technology.
- Djalbuyan Nahra: Djalbuyan, meaning little sister in the first nations Dyirbal language, follows the story of Nahra. Taken from her community, Nahra returns home to confront past traumas and reconnect with her people, land, and waters after 8 years away.
- Duwarra Wujara: In the time of the Dreaming, the Australian Aboriginal period of creation, two young cousins become Duwarra Wujara, newly initiated young men in the clans of their people. Frustrated and impatient, these two cousins abandon their duties in search of adventure… and mischief.
- Coming Home: A music video made with the elders, kids & community at Cabbage Tree Island, looking to return home.
- Headland: presenting a small story of moving to a quiet Lennox Head of the early 70s contrasted against the busy and sometimes chaotic visuals of Lennox Head today.
- Coming Home – Stories Of Bandjalang Elders: Three Elders from the Bandjalang region near Coraki reminisce about their childhoods growing up at Box Ridge Mission as well as their ongoing connection to country.
Trinket. 2024 Byron All Shorts finalist. - Trinket: explores an apocalyptic Australian landscape from the eyes of a tiny protagonist as she encounters warped & nightmarish creatures, all from the back of an ancient huntsman spider.
- Elephants In The Sky: During an outing to a waterfall, Ruby, an eccentric girl, struggles to assimilate with her taunting peers. The arrival of an ethereal outsider, Astrid, provokes mixed emotions for Ruby, leaving her torn between two worlds.
- The First Of Seven: A spiritual being is sent to save planet Earth but things don’t go to plan.
- Love Lockdown: A darkly twisted love story about lonely people who go to desperate lengths to find love in a disconnected world; and a woman who is finally ready to take control of the narrative of her own reinvention. How far will she go to have the life of her dreams?
All Byron All Shorts 2024 finalists will enjoy their local premieres on the big screen on Saturday 2 March at 4pm. Flickerfest Mullumbimby and Byron All Shorts is a fund-raiser for the IQ Reserve.
More information is available here.
