NEXT GEN SHORTS

Sunday 22nd March, 4:30pm
98 mins, cinema 2, acmi

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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.

Next Gen Shorts shines a spotlight on the creativity and talent of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand’s next generation of filmmakers. With quirky and unsettling explorations of womanhood, celebrations of doing things differently, finding courage through friendships and family, vibrant encounters with Melbourne’s drag scene, and the challenges of mother/daughter relationships, these diverse films show that the future of women's and gender diverse filmmaking looks bright!

  • Big Johnny

    After an unexpected encounter with Melbourne’s vibrant drag scene, a lonely warehouse worker must find the courage to embrace his true self when traditional male expectations threaten to hold him back.

    Australia, 2025, 14 minutes
    English
    Director: Jeanie Kane
    Writer: Jeanie Kane
    Producer: Sarah Pierce

  • Girly

    10 year old Maude is too young to understand why her conservative mother disapproves of their enigmatic new neighbour. But Maude does understand she can’t be the girly girl her mother wants her to be. When the neighbour agrees to give Maude a haircut, Maude’s mum explodes and Maude runs away. Her mother and her neighbour put aside their biases to find Maude, who in turn must learn the bittersweet value of compromise.

    Australia, 2025, 11 minutes
    English
    Director: Ruby Alice Cichero
    Writer: Ruby Alice Cichero
    Producer: Charlotte Dyson-Clarke

  • My Years of Fear and Trembling

    Australian Premiere

    After writing a novel inspired by her relationship with her mother, Taiwanese New Zealander Alina Wang must learn how to separate from a complicated and destructive relationship.

    Aotearoa NZ, 2025, 15 minutes
    English, Mandarin Chinese
    Director: Acacia Wong
    Writer: Acacia Wong
    Producer: Amelia Walshe

  • My Monthly Struggle

    My Monthly Struggle is a playful and quirky exploration of the ups and downs of menstruation. Inspired by the director's personal experiences, this film delves into the absurdity of monthly symptoms, transforming them into a vibrant visual narrative that aims to spark conversations about a natural yet often stigmatized experience.


    Australia, 2024, 2 minutes
    Director: Crystal Tai
    Animator: Crystal Tai

  • Typo

    After graduating from university a year ago, Astrid has been struggling to find a job that fits with her Asperger's characteristics. Dependent on her pregnant sister and brother-in-law, time is running out for her to gain her independence before the baby is due. A misguided idea to hold an ‘art’ garage sale unexpectedly opens the door to pursuing her passion for typography as a career. However, the question remains: can she overcome the challenges of her Asperger's and succeed in the interview?

    Australia, 2025, 13 minutes
    English
    Director: Alinta Burton
    Writer: Alinta Burton
    Producer: Vishka Davina Haydock, Alinta Burton, Ethan McDonald

  • The Colour of Black

    Victorian Premiere

    Mahtab, a lonely and financially struggling woman, finds comfort in a virtual romance with a man from her homeland, Iran. As he sells her a dream and fuels her hopes, she begins selling her belongings to help bring him to Australia. But when the illusion begins to crumble, Mahtab is forced to confront a painful question: will she open her eyes to the truth, or keep clinging to a love that never truly existed?

    Australia, 2024, 11 minutes
    Persian
    Director: Melika Azimi
    Writer: Melika Azimi
    Producer: Casey McCosh

  • Ruru

    Australian Premiere

    Deep in the forest, Pip is forced to confront her fear of the dark as she reluctantly embarks on her school camp’s Burma Trail. Trekking alone through the night with only a rope to guide her, Pip is stalked by the greatest monsters of the forest - mean girls Holly and Georgia.

    Aotearoa NZ, 2025, 8 minutes
    English, Māori
    Director: Sophie Hampson
    Writer: Sophie Hampson
    Producer: Ben Wagstaff

  • Skin Deep

    Victorian Premiere

    Fixated on preserving her youthful appearance, a beauty store employee brutally confronts the inevitability of ageing.

    Australia, 2024, 12 minutes
    English
    Director: Jasmine Formato
    Writer: Conor O'Neill
    Producer: Justin Poi

  • The Tinsel Years

    Victorian Premiere

    Lonely in the mundane rigmarole of living, Jane (being very much alive and well) plots her own fake funeral. Though soon, her true intentions of winning over her Mall Santa business entrepreneur, Mother, start to reveal themselves.

    Australia, 2024, 12 minutes
    English
    Director: Milla Rovere
    Writers: Milla Rovere, Pearl Salmon-Watson
    Producers: Bella Ogdon, Milla Rovere