The largest-ever selection of short films by VCA graduates to stream for free on MIFF Play from 5 to 18 December
“The VCA continues to usher in some of the most fascinating and singular voices in Australian cinema – it’s a setting from which we are always excited to see the emergence of new talent, those who newly compel us as viewers every year. This year is no different. Profiling a huge line-up of 60 films and their emerging filmmakers to audiences and the screen industry here in Melbourne and right around the country, it’s unmissable cinema for those looking for who’s next in the world of local filmmaking.” – MIFF Artistic Director Al Cossar
The 60 short films by some of Australia’s most exciting emerging filmmakers – the 2022 graduating class of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) Film and Television – will be available for free on our streaming platform MIFF Play from 5 to 18 December.
This year’s showcase boasts the largest selection of films in a single season and explores an extraordinary range of genres, including comedy, drama, thriller, arthouse horror, animation and documentary. The films tell stories of love and infidelity, transition, share-housing, missing persons, immigration detention, bad haircuts and a kleptomaniac photographer.
Explore the full program and book tickets now on MIFF Play.
The VCA Film and Television Graduate Season is presented in partnership with the University of Melbourne.
Image: Demon Boy Steam Bun
Image: Kotoba
Kotoba
Thirteen-year-old Japanese immigrant Hina attempts to charm her way into friendships using an omamori (Japanese amulet) and broken English phrases. After a disastrous encounter with a classmate who introduces herself as “Pardon”, Hina is left with no choice but to retreat to her one and only friend: Holly, a self-righteous sheep residing at a local petting farm, whom Hina visits regularly for English lessons. But a human–sheep relationship can only last so long.
Image: Black Trans Miracle
Black Trans Miracle
Lindani, a neurotic young trans man, wants his partner Tam’s birthday to go perfectly. But when Lindani ventures outside the house to get coffee, an encounter with a group of schoolgirls sends him into a spiral that leads him to create distance within his relationship. As he embarks on a journey to get Tam’s birthday cake, Lindani is forced to reckon with his own crisis of identity in order to deepen his relationship with Tam – and ultimately with himself.
Image: Above Water
Above Water
This partly animated documentary short tells the story of seafarers stranded on cargo ships around the world. These ships are unable to berth or change crews, leaving workers trapped onboard what are effectively floating prisons months and sometimes years past their contracts.
Above Water explores why these seafarers are left in this position and recounts the stories of individuals desperate to return home.
Image: Influence
Influence
In a cookie-cutter 2010s Melbourne neighbourhood, impetuous Abigail Aberdeen is enraptured by the outside world and its charming internet celebrities. Born into an isolated evangelical sect, Abigail has always felt like the odd one out. When she is caught watching strictly forbidden worldly media, the last thing Abigail expects is to be gifted a handheld camera. Urged by her dad and the sect’s leader to make videos for God’s eyes only, Abigail sees her creative voice grow – as do her questions about what’s really going on in this Church.
