Here we take a dive into the three Screenability shorts as part of this year’s Sydney Film Festival virtual edition.
The Sydney Film Festival (SFF) is running an abbreviated online program this year, thanks to a certain global pandemic. Yet one welcome inclusion is the Screenability stream, one of four program strands that make up the 2020 virtual schedule.
Now in its fourth year, the partnership with Screen NSW is a showcase for screen practitioners with disability leading the narrative. All three films this year are Australian shorts, all of which highlight living with disability in very different ways.
DIVING IN (Dir: Adam Bowes, Nina Oyama) is one of the more delightful of the crop. While competitive swimmer Alex (Adam Bowes) is a double amputee above the knees, the film is less about that than it is the mad crush he has on Jen (Isaro Kayitesi). When Alex’s friends send her a text on his behalf, what follows is an incredible acrobatic display in order to get to her messagebank before she reads anything.
It’s a confident and genuinely sweet short, one that has an adorable handful of moments between the leads and some impeccable editing of underwater and land-based acrobatics. Indeed, it’s more action-comedy than slice-of-life at times, and the combination makes it one of the most readily replayable of the selection. Bowes is unquestionably a voice to watch.
SAFETY NET (Dir: Anthea Williams) is initially less overt in its intent, ostensibly about the 12-year-old Terry (William Best). He’s being cared for in a motel room by two guardians following his mother’s arrest.
The latter fact is not a focus beyond a voice-over at the start, but what does develop over the 13 minutes of the short is relationship the boy, who is also living with a disability, develops between one cheeky carer (Nikki Shiels) and another who gives tough love (Steve Rodgers). This film could easily be developed into a feature, and it holds some important messages for carers in similar situations while maintaining a Taika Waititi vibe thanks to Best’s endearing performance.
The last, and by no means least, of the trio is the fun GROUNDHOG NIGHT (Dir: Genevieve Clay-Smith), which has an entire TV series of potential behind the character-driven story.
Written by and starring Emily Dash – who gave us The Milky Pop Kid back in 2017 – it’s an often chaotically funny exploration of father/carer Gary (John Batchelor) trying to move on from the death of his wife with a new partner. An unexpected visit from his wife’s parents throws the evening into a mess. I can totally see this working as a weekly serial or web series, something in the vein of The Family Law.
While each film takes a very different approach to the subject matter, what holds these three shorts together is their common goal of bursting some of the stigmatisation around disability. Indeed, each of the films weaves disability into the narrative without being defined by it, and it’s a welcome change from the traditional Hollywood tropes.
For just $5, you can rent the lot of them on the SFF website right now, along with bonus material including filmmaker introductions followed by Q&A sessions and live panels.
SFF 2020 runs in virtual mode from 10-21 June and ticket packages are now available.
