[ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL] WESTERN SYDNEY SHORTS

(Image: CuriousWorks)

In collaboration with CuriousWorks, Blacktown Arts are presenting an online film festival in response to COVID-19. The eight films have a strong connection to Western Sydney.

We recently interviewed Western Sydney filmmaker Vonne Patiag as part of our podcast series. Vonne has previously curated a local film festival Blacktown Shorts, and he was chosen to curate this online film festival. ‘I wanted to celebrate the diversity Western Sydney creatives have to offer by curating a slate of films each taking place in different areas of the region. These are local films, made by local artists, about life.’ says Vonne.

Some of the films include Being Kurd, directed by Dee Dogan, a documentary following a Kurdish journalist as she reflects on her childhood memories of escaping Saddam Hussein’s regime and rebuilding her life in Australia.

Short film My Name is Mohamed and Raghad, We Don’t Exist Here Anymore by director Ali Mousawi will also be made available online. This feature is a one-shot twelve-minute film about a day in the life of an Iranian-Ahwazi asylum seeker family surviving in Liverpool, produced through CuriousWorks’ Beyond Refuge program.

Vonne pushes for Western Sydney films in hopes that more audiences can become aware of the local stories and have perspective into their worlds. ‘I wanted to explore different sides of the Australian identity, especially from cultural groups under-represented in our storytelling landscape.’ says Patiag. ‘These films played numerous festivals overseas, so it’s time these films are seen and celebrated locally - after all, these stories are from our own backyard.’

See the world through another’s perspective, you can watch the beautifully curated compilation of short films by Western Sydney artists here.