Two SAE student film projects have hit the silver screen at this year’s highly anticipated Monster Fest horror film festival, which kicked off simultaneously in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth from October 4.
Shadows and Franz, two short films by SAE University College film students, are among only 10 short films selected in the national Student Shorts category.
Shadows
SAE Masters of Creative Industries student Mark Gambino’s short film Shadows made its premiere on Tuesday 8 October at Carlton’s Cinema Nova.
Mark, a Melbourne-based professional entertainment and arts photographer, said he enrolled in SAE’s Masters of Creative Industries course as a way of taking stock as a creative in the post-COVID landscape.
Shadows is his second short film to screen at Monster Fest and was his graduate project at SAE.
“The course gives you a really high-level understanding of the culture industry, particularly our culture industry which exists in a capitalist economy and what is required of you as a creative practitioner to create and distribute a product that speaks to your ideology,’’ he said.
A queer short horror film, Shadows explores the fatal consequences of intolerance as a group of men target a person returning home from a night out.
That he has embraced the horror genre would come as a shock to Mark’s 10-year-old self, scarred as he was when his parents let him watch 20 minutes of An American Werewolf in London.
“When I was in my late teens, I finally plucked up the courage to watch Aliens on TV. I have loved horror since then,’’ he said.
“When you strip away any genre, it’s a drama underneath. For me, horror is able to take that drama and elevate it to a point and push boundaries in every direction.
“Those dramas, messages, parables, analogies that are underneath, can be addressed in so many different ways through the horror lens.
“In thinking about what my potential was in horror, I asked myself, ‘What can I use it to say? What can I use horror to provide a comment on?’ For me, that was queer identity and issues.”
Franz
A second student film Franz, created in class by a group of SAE Bachelor of Film students, joined Shadows, in the Student Shorts Screening on Tuesday.
The seven-member crew was headed up by director Jovian Ubukata, and included students Lachlan Wylie, Eyal Shorer, Flynn Schultz, Ryan Berg, Sunny Kim and Rowan Cox.
Jovian described it as an absurdist horror film about a work-obsessed recluse who discovers an uninvited guest living in his home. He said the style aimed to emulate Franz Kafka, with inspiration also drawn from Roy Andersson and David Lynch.
“I’m incredibly proud of what our crew has accomplished,” he said.
“The film brings together a unique blend of absurdism, horror and deadpan humour, creating an experience that’s both unsettling and darkly amusing. We’ve worked hard to craft a narrative that defies convention, while still offering moments that will resonate with a wide audience.”
He said the support of SAE University College was integral to the film’s production, and recent success.
“As SAE students, we were guided through every stage of the filmmaking process, from pre-production to post-production,” he said.
“Using the skills we developed throughout the course, we created a solid shooting plan that covered everything from budgeting to the shot list, ensuring a smooth and efficient production.
“In addition to the skills we developed, we were provided with all the necessary equipment, including the opportunity to shoot on a RED camera. This was crucial in achieving the high visual quality of the film.”
Jovian said the short film’s success was especially monumental for one of its producers, Lachlan Wylie, who has a long-held career goal of having a film from his company, Video Nasty, play at Monster Fest.
“We’re honoured to have our film showcased at such a respected event,” Jovian said.
Shadows and Franz screened in Student Shorts, Tuesday 8 October at 6pm at the Cinema Nova, in Melbourne.
