By Lin Wolfe and Bronwen Beechey
Now in its ninth year, the St Kilda Film Festival is the only festival devoted to recent Australian short films and documentaries. If the preview tapes are any indication, film goers will be treated to the usual eclectic, diverse and eccentric mixture of works that followers of the St Kilda Film Festival have come to expect.
Ways of Thinking is a 30-minute documentary made by Digby Duncan in collaboration with the Walpiri Aboriginal community in Central Australia. The video focusses on the determination of the Walpiri community to preserve its language, culture and traditions. To achieve this the community uses both ancient rituals and educational videos and a local news program produced by its own media association.
Portrait of the Artist - George Haynes, written, produced and directed by Deborah Howlett, is a well-made documentary introducing one of Australia's most significant contemporary artists. Haynes describes his experiences of growing up as the son of English parents in Kenya, his study of art at the prestigious Slade school in London, and the development of his art since settling in Western Australia. Interspersed with Haynes' reminiscences are glimpses of his brilliantly coloured, light-filled paintings.
Two Fish is a four-minute animated piece directed by Rohan Smith. Plot-wise it doesn't make a lot of sense, but it has very nice visual work and a quirky production design with a very '60s flavour.
Also with an early '60s ambience is Sexy Girls, Sexy Appliances, a short film by Emma-Kate Croghan which spoofs both porn movies and those charming TV ads with housewives portrayed in near- orgasmic delight over vacuum cleaners and white goods. Very funny.
Liz Hughes' Cat's Cradle is a truly bizarre film. Shot on 16 mm, the black and white cinematography contains some stunning images, and there is an intelligent use of sound and music by Paul Schutz. The plot involves the attempt by a woman and her three children to dispose of the corpse of her husband. This includes trying to bury him in the park and an attempted cremation in a factory furnace.
Other films which could be of interest include Shane McNeil's comic "mocumentary" An Apocryphal History of Meat, Violent Hands, which chronicles the fear and terror of domestic violence, and Visual Purple, a selection of Australian women's contemporary short film and video.
The festival runs from April 29 to May 3 at the National Theatre, St Kilda. Programs, screening times and tickets can be obtained by phoning the theatre on (03) 534 0221.