A bright bunch of Griffith drama students have taken out an international film award for the production Amelia, a short film written and directed by their teacher Dona Parise.
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“It was written especially for my students to highlight their strengths and acting abilities,” Ms Parise said.
Heath Bethe, Hannah Mitchell, Caitlin Knight, Caitlin Chant, Emily Crooks, Jess Moraschi, Lara Crooks, Ava Sillis, Shayla Barrett and Alani Stewart starred in the short piece.
Here’s what they took away from the experience:
“I have worked with professional adult actors, and there always come a time where everyone gets tired or they’ve had enough, but these students just kept going, were always full of enthusiasm, and they took direction really well and deserve the award,” Ms Parise said.
Filmed in Griffith’s City Park, the film centres around a much sought-after park seat, and the interactions between different groups try to claim the seat for themselves.
The film was written with the idea of submitting it to Flickerfest, and while it was submitted, unfortunately it didn’t make it through.
But never giving up and believing in everyone’s hard work and talent, Ms Parise then submitted it in an international competition, where it was chosen as the winner for an artist recognition award in the Indie Fest Film Awards.
“We won the Recognition Award, which means it was viewed by a lot of judges who watched all of the submissions, and ours stood out with a heap of other Aussie films. We are all very proud,” Ms Parise said.
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This festival sees thousands of film submissions, and Amelia was only one of a handful of Australian films to have been awarded the prestigious recognition.
The film’s creation was made possible through a GoFundMe page, where the community put forward money for the expenses required to make a movie.
The film took around six months to create, from writing the script to the final product.
“I would like to thank my students – they all did an amazing job, and also the parents, friends and relatives who pitched in and sponsored the film, as well as Carlos Teixeira for his camera and editing work,” Ms Parise said.
Established in 2008, The IndieFEST Film Awards are unique in the industry, in attracting both powerhouse industry veterans as well as talented new filmmakers.
It is an international awards competition, not a traditional film festival – which allows filmmakers from around the world to enter their films.