FRESHLY SQUEEZED SHORTS 1
Saturday 21st March, 10:30am 96 mins, Cinema 2, ACMI
Full: $18
Concession: $14
ACMI Member: $12
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.
From musical celebrations of the land and finding companionship at unlikely moments, to the challenges and rewards of motherhood and family, Freshly Squeezed Shorts 1 showcases the latest and best short films from our region's women and gender diverse storytellers.
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Womb
A young Māori girl in the care of a conservative English couple savours her mother's weekly visitations, as a custody battle driven by racial bias will ultimately decide their fate.
Aotearoa NZ, 2024, 15 minutes
Director: Ira Hetaraka
Writer: Ira Hetaraka
Producer: Amanda Jane Robinson -
Küī
Australian Premiere
In the face of her mother's absence and her father's alcoholism, 12 year old girl, Küī, rises above her age, caring for her brothers and confronting life's harsh realities. Inspired by a true story.
Aotearoa NZ, 2024, 11 minutes
English, Samoan
Writer: Carrisse Uta’i
Director: Kahu Kaiha
Producer: Carrisse Uta’i -
Lemons
Australian Premiere
A young Māori woman receives her estranged birth mother's ashes. She has no idea what to do with them. Struck by the tapu nature of the "gift" and the blasé way in which it was given, she has to reconcile not only her relationship with her mother but her culture too.
Aotearoa NZ, 2024, 12 minutes
English, Māori
Director: India Fremaux
Writer: Caitlin Fremaux
Producers: Caitlin Fremaux, Angela Cudd
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Herekore
Australian Premiere
Herekore
1. (modifier) free of conditions, free of restrictions, freehold.In the gentle, still presence of their tupuna, Hariata has found freedom and joy in the simple act of existing.
A visual representation of a poem by Maori poet, Hariata Wilson which tells the story of how they connect with their Takataapui identity through their whenua and ancestors of Te Tauihu.
Aotearoa NZ, 2024, 2 minutes
English
Directors: Melissa Spratt, Gabe Bertogg
Writers: Melissa Spratt, Gabe Bertogg, Hariata Wilson
Producers: Innit Creative Films, Peanubuttervibes Photography -
The Worth of Things
Victorian Premiere
At their mother’s deathbed, an emotionally repressed woman tries to force her newly therapised sister to forget the past and say goodbye like a normal person. But with neither of them willing to admit how badly their mother’s legacy affected their relationship with pizza, they revert to childish behaviour to work things out.
Aotearoa NZ, 2024, 10 minutes
English
Director: Jane Ballentyne
Writer: Jane Ballentyne
Producers: Robin Murphy, Ness Simons, Nathalia Luna-Sanz -
Repeat
Victorian Premiere
Repeat follows two young women as their friendship unravels. Female friendships can feel like love stories intimate, consuming, and devastating when they end. Told in four non-linear scenes, the film traces the emotional arc of their friendship through the lense of the romance genre: falling in love, being in love, falling out, and letting go. A story about heartbreak that isn’t romantic.
Aotearoa/NZ, 2023, 9 minutes
English
Director: Tū Māia Curtis
Writer: Tū Māia Curtis, Katherine Knight-Maclean
Producer: Ana Smith
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The Open Cup
World Premiere
Estranged mother and daughter, Haleema and Sana, are brought together to prepare sweets for Sana's sister's wedding. With Haleema's 'neighbourhood aunties' on hand, the tension between mother and daughter comes to a head when an innocent coffee cup reading leads to a devastating confession.
Australia, 2025, 11 minutes
Arabic, English
Director: Amal Awad
Writer: Amal Awad
Producers: Amal Awad, Dave Singleton, Christian James -
This Land
Victorian Premiere
A proud GuriNgai woman of the Wannangine Nation, Charlie Needs Braces (known as Charlie Woods) single celebrates First Nations people’s connection to Country and the importance of learning the individual history behind the names and places.
Australia, 2024, 4 minutes
English
Writers: Charlie Woods, Master Kapow
Director: Master Kapow
Producer: Charlie Woods -
Strangers
World Premiere
Noah had his final day planned out. He’ll die alone with a whisky in hand and watch the end of the world from a hilltop overlooking the ocean. However, his solitude is disturbed by an anxious stranger, Jacob, who has found himself alone and searching for companionship.
Aotearoa NZ, 2025, 9 minutes
English
Director: Francesca Emily Mackenzie
Writer: Francesca Emily Mackenzie
Producer: Tom van den Brink
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I See You
In a world where having the perfect baby is becoming a choice, a young mother is struggling to love and accept her daughter for who she is.
Aotearoa NZ, 2024, 17 minutes
English
Director: Briar Elizabeth March
Writer: Briar Elizabeth March
Producer: Caroline Mary Hutchison