Festival on a roll

By Tania Martin
TWO of the hills’ top filmmakers will shine this week at the Blue Dandenongs Young Filmmakers Festival (BYFF).
Budding producer Chris Hocking of Olinda and an award winning documentary maker Miranda Wills of Tecoma will showcase their work at the festival.
The festival will display the best short films from young filmmakers from across the world.
As well as a swag of brilliant films from international and interstate filmmakers, some of the most exciting work at the festival has come from local talent.
A screening program where all 16 finalists’ films will be shown will be held at the Cameo Outdoor Cinema, 1628 Burwood Highway, Belgrave, on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 February.
The festival also includes a workshop program with events catering for everyone from the film curious to full blooded celluloid addicts. The workshop program will be held at Burrinja Gallery, 351 Glenfern Road, Upwey.
This year the workshops will include the finer points of making films on a mobile phone and provide a guide to creating a blockbuster without spending a cent.
For budding producer Chris Hocking the festival is a fantastic way to show his work to the world and share ideas with other industry professionals. His film Happy Sundaes is a hilarious bittersweet look at family, belonging and ice-cream and has announced Hocking as a serious filmmaker of tomorrow.
Hocking said the film is about two men in their mid 20s and their experiences of working in an ice-cream shop. Hocking said he hopes to one day become a top movie producer and is excited about the up-coming festival. Award winning documentary maker Miranda Wills will take centre stage at the festival this year showcasing her talents and sharing some of the secrets of her trade.
Wills’s most recent film, Two Mums and a Dad, won Best Documentary at the Sydney Film Festival and Australian Teacher of Media Awards in 2007.
The documentary follows a lesbian couple and a gay man who decide to rear a child.
The workshop will be an introduction to documentary making and will feature a showing of Wills’s latest work. She said the workshops would be open to all ages not just young filmmakers.
To find out more about the film festival call the Burrinja Gallery on 9754 8723.