Velvet Films has produced two successful, festival friendly short films. Just Desserts & Your Turn.
Just Desserts was produced in 2009 as part of Film Victoria’s Propeller Shorts funding round. The film is directed by Nigel Karikari,written by Gillian Bartlett and produced by Donna Lyon.
The film is 15 minutes long and stars veteran actors Wendy Hughes and Collette Mann. In 2010, Collette Mann won the Best Actress Award at the Young At Heart Film Festival, and the film was nominated for Best Cinematography and awarded Highly Commended for Best Comedy at the St Kilda Film Festival in 2011.
In 2010 the film screened at Newport Beach Film Festival, Interfilm Berlin, Hollyshorts, Rhode Island Horror Film Festival. In 2011 it was a hit at Flickerfest, St Kilda Film Festival & the San Francisco Independent Film Festival. Just Desserts is currently being distributed by Flickerfest.
Synopsis:
Along a dark and desolate highway, old-timers Frances and Judy run a tiny truck stop that makes the best vanilla slice for 10 kilometers. After closing up shop one cold and dreary night, their doorstep is darkened by a menacing shadow from their past. Just Desserts is a three-handed thriller with plenty of twists and turns – blood and guts, sexual tension, shameful secrets and a stone cold pie floater. Can two old women take on their demon and dish him his just deserts?
Find out more about the films at our blog.
Your Turn was produced in 2008 and self funded by Velvet Films. The film is directed by Sarah Grimmer, written by Gillian Bartlett and produced by Donna Lyon and Gillian Barlett. It premiered at Palm Springs International Shortsfest that same year and has screened at Melbourne Queer Film Festival, San Francisco Women’s Film Festival, Reel Affirmations 19 in New York and the Davis Feminist Film Festival in the USA. The film is currently being distributed by Ouat Media.
The idea stemmed from the desire to make a low budget short film working within the set parameters of one actor, one location and a one-day shoot. Gillian was enthusiastic about taking on this challenge and we started thinking about ordinary situations a person might find themselves in and then through boredom and frustration, erupt into a song and dance routine. Gillian was also keen to write a real performer’s piece that paid tribute to the song and dance routines of the 1940s and that married the notion of new technology with the forgotten tradition of do-it-yourself entertainment. We used the You Tube ‘Lonely Girl’ phenomenon as further inspiration.
Synopsis:
Esther and Joan have been playing chequers over the Internet for hours – or has it been years? Bored with waiting for Joan to make her move, Esther decides to spice things up.