AUSTRALIAN SHORT FILM TODAY launched OZDocs, an evening of Australian documentary short films at the Asia Society in New York City on November 10, 2017.

 

This 90-minute program featured real stories of forbidden love, risk taking, rejection, consolation, sacrifice, discovery, being a pioneer, being the last of a kind, and the most nerve-wracking thing you can imagine -- summoning up the courage to start dating in your eighties.

 

The Heart Thief
Director: Ella Rubeli. 9 mins.
At Sydney Hospital in 1956, a woman assists a pioneering surgeon commit a grisly crime in the name of medical science. 

 

The Drover’s Boy
Director: Margaret McHugh. 11 mins.
The story of forbidden love between a white drover and his Aboriginal wife who travelled together on cattle drives with her disguised as a drover’s boy at a time when it was illegal for Aboriginal women to work as drovers.

 

At Midnight
Director: Amber McBride. 4 mins.
After Russian tanks rolled to Hungary in 1956, Maria escaped, seeking safety and freedom in Australia and leaving everything behind. 60 years later, Maria tells her story.

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The Last Mirror Maker
Director: Sean Meltzer. 6 mins.
Melissa is a young woman who is the last of her kind in Australia; she makes mirrors by hand in a time when the art and science of silvering is no longer taught or handed down. She is the last mirror maker.

 

Creating a Monster
Director: Gena Lida Reiss. 20 mins.
A critical look at reality television, and how one reality TV show manipulated a contestant's persona, making him the villain, and making him the most hated man in Australia.

 

How History May Come

Director and Animator: Olesya Mazur. 10 mins.

The director recounts her early childhood memories of how her great-grandparents kept her family alive in Ukraine during the Soviet of famine of 1932-33.

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Bright Spots
Director and Animator: Jilli Rose. 8 mins.
A blindingly beautiful portrayal of Australian scientist Nick Holmes and his work in preserving animal species on Pacific islands. It's big-hearted environmental science.

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Something to Crow About
Director: Sebastian Broadbent. 9 mins.
In rural Victoria in the wake of a natural disaster, a group of 14 coal miners play bluegrass music at a local pub, their music consoling the community of the picturesque Strzelecki Ranges. Something to Crow About celebrates the joy of music and the importance of friendship in overcoming adversity.

 

Deighties
Director: Mason Fleming. 8 mins.
An 86-year old widower ventures into the unfamiliar world of online dating.

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After the screening there was a Q&A with Gena Lida Reiss, the director of Creating a Monster.

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