closing night
daydreams and nightmares
monday 24th March, 7pm
100 mins, Cinema 2, ACMI
This session is Unclassified 15+.
The Melbourne Women in Film Festival is proud to showcase the work of women and gender diverse filmmakers and storytellers. This means that we sometimes include films or panel topics that may explore difficult subjects and be confronting for some audiences. Our aim is to ensure our audience has a safe and enjoyable experience when coming along to our festival and so we have included content warnings, classification and cultural information throughout the program.
Please take the time to read the film synopses below to determine whether the session is suitable for you.
Celebrate the closing night of the Melbourne Women in Film Festival with an out of this world selection of short films from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand's emerging creative talent. Daydreams and Nightmares embraces the surreal, revels in the sinister, and frolics in the bizarre. These short tales will take you on a visual odyssey that will challenge your perception.
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flaccid
World Premiere
Flaccid is an evocative cine-essay that dissects the brittle architecture of patriarchy, unearthing both its hidden frailties and the enduring strength of the feminine force it seeks to contain. Through the mythic lens of Lilith, the film traverses the shadowed corridors of history, where patriarchal dominance has gone unchallenged across time and culture. By tracing the legacies of archetypal men‚ Adam, Genghis Khan, Henry VIII, and Napoleon‚ the film questions the enduring power of this ancient system and asks: what if the patriarchy surrendered its rigid hold?
Australia, 2025, 13 minutes
English
Director: Theresa Angela
Writer: Theresa Angela, Steph Cicco, Aicee Ignacio
Producer: Finn Baptie -
Amalgamate
Australian Premiere
A young Māori infiltrates a new political party gaining fast traction. He aims to reveal their true motives and show the country who they’re actually voting for. When he discovers concerning experiments targeting Māori, things begin to escalate impacting not only his people but his own whānau.
Aotearoa NZ, 2022, 11 minutes
English
Director: Holly Groves
Writer: Holly Groves
Producer: Paris Coulson -
Void
Victorian Premiere
Content warning: contains themes relating to domestic violence.
Void portrays the turmoil and emotional journey of a child living in a domestic violence household. Using visual metaphor to represent the parent's troubled relationship, the film transforms the abstract concept of child trauma into a tangible visual experience.
Australia, 2024, 2 minutes
English
Director: Waroonrat Thanaboonsrikoon
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Crescendo
Content warning: depictions of violence, blood.
Caught between relentless expectations of perfection and her artistic desires, a young virtuoso pianist must choose to either uphold or shatter her family’s formidable musical legacy.
Aotearoa NZ, 2024, 7 minutes
English
Director: Faith Concepcion Cruz
Writer: Faith Concepcion Cruz
Producer: Faith Concepcion Cruz, Tayla Sutton -
When Wavefronts Collide
World Premiere
A grieving geologist begins to unravel when she discovers her estranged, newly spiritual mother conducting an intimate seance with a handsome young medium.
Australia, 2024, 15 minutes
English
Director: Siobhan Mulready
Writer: Siobhan Mulready
Producer: Siobhan Mulready, Brad Francis, Felix Orion -
A Poetic Struggle
Australian Premiere
A Poetic Struggle is an immersive gallery-based animation exploring censorship's impact, focusing on self-censorship and self-exile dynamics. The creator confronts suppression, celebrating art's liberating power and inspiring resistance against censorship.
Australia, 2023, 5 minutes
Farsi/Persian, English subtitles
Director/Artist: Shirin Shakhesi
Writer: Shirin Shakhesi
Narrator: Shirin Shakhesi
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Clown
Eight-year-old Sami can't wait to play “serial killers” with her older sister Jiya, but her sister-time is threatened when Jiya's cool new bestie arrives.
Australia, 2023, 10 minutes
English, Hindi
Director: Aarushi Chowdhury
Writer: Aarushi Chowdhury, Diane Vu
Producer: Adrian Ortega -
Blood Sisters
Content Warning: Visual depictions of blood
Summer is invited to a sleepover with a new group of friends, but when their makeover starts to take a dark turn, Summer is tested just how far she will go to fit in.
Australia, 2024, 12 minutes
English
Director: Muraya Moore
Writer: Muraya Moore
Producer: London Hawke, Taylah Cate -
The Meaningless Daydreams of Augie and Celeste
Two best friends embark on a high-stakes game of imagination, which takes a twisted turn and threatens to jeopardise their relationship.
Australia, 2024, 7 minutes
English
Director: Pernell Marsden
Writers: Pernell Marsden, Gregory Kelly
Producer: Sophie Booth