SQ News

Queensland Indigenous Short Film, Welcome to Country, to have World Premiere at Flickerfest


QLD short film Welcome to Country will have its world premiere at the prestigious Flickerfest short film festival in January 2017.  As one of just four Australian festivals to carry Academy® Award accreditation, selection for the Bondi based festival is fiercely competitive.

Written and directed by indigenous filmmaker Dean Gibson, the 10-minute short film tells the story of the ultimate cultural faux pas – a hot shot Canberra bureaucrat who travels to a remote Aboriginal community with what he believes, is the perfect solution to their problems.

Mr Gibson, who owns Brighton-based production company, Bacon Factory Films, wrote the script as a comedic twist on reality.

“I wanted to highlight the juxtaposition of white people coming into an Aboriginal community thinking they have all the answers.” he says.

“I hope that Welcome to Country can help people understand the importance of community and home, in the context of black and white Australia.”

Brisbane producer, Helen Morrison of Bent3Land Productions, is thrilled to start the film’s festival circuit with a bang. 

“Flickerfest is one of Australia’s most renowned and prestigious Film festivals so our selection will be a career boost for the entire team” she says.

“We shot Welcome To Country in the remote community of Cherbourg, west of Gympie, with a cast and crew of 18.  It was July and a little colder than we were used to, but the location was perfect and the community was on board from the start” she continued. “You can’t make a film like this without the support of the local community, so it was a great experience right from the start”.

While Welcome To Country was created as part of a 2016 Screen Queensland Initiative – Queensland Originals: Short Fiction, Mr. Gibson and Ms. Morrison are no strangers to the industry with over 10 years’ experience in film and television drama and documentary.

“It’s great to showcase our skills to the world. Without the support of Screen Queensland, unique stories like “Welcome to Country” would struggle to get made” says Ms. Morrison.

“It’s an honour to be involved with such a high quality and prestigious selection of filmmakers from across the world. We have such rich talent in Queensland” Mr. Gibson says.

Flickerfest runs from January 6-15 at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach and is followed by a national tour until May 2017.

This year’s program includes an impressive 60 short films battling it out for the prestigious Academy® Accredited Award for Best Australian Short Film.

ENDS

For more information, please contact:
Dean Gibson               0402 329 421              dean@baconfactoryfilms.com
Helen Morrison           0416 256 705              helen@bent3land.com