Cause Film Festival 2018 Films
These are the 2018 award winners for the Cause Film Festival.
BEST FILM and BEST AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND FILM
Superheroes (PROJECT O)
Superheroes is a live action / animated short film which tells the story of a boy’s connection to his imagination. Ten year old James uses his amazing talent of drawing his own superheroes as a sanctuary for safety, a way of keeping his family’s hopes for safety and respect alive in a household dominated by his father’s use of family violence.
Chris Busuttil: Director/Writer
Jessica Pearce: Producer
RUNNER UP BEST FILM
Curated Illusions (Road Safety)
After an accident leaves her with amnesia, Skye Reed tries to use her social media account to rediscover who she is. But when the online version of her life doesn’t reflect her reality, her world begins to crumble as she realises she doesn’t like the person she truly is.
Rachael Belle Myers: Writer/Director/Producer
2ND RUNNER UP BEST FILM
I'm Here Too - Festival Version (Suicide Prevention)
Teenager, Claire Prescott (Carol Elsden), has the perfect life; a family who cherish her, a boyfriend who adores her and friends who admire her, she even has the social respect with over 2,000 followers on Instagram - so why does she suffer from depression? I'm Here Too, tells the touching story, through the eyes of Claire, as she narrates her thoughts and emotions, whilst struggling to uncover the answer to the ultimate question - Is her life worth living? As the emotional journey unfolds, Claire's narrative, explains an intricate and emotional topic in an intelligible way, as she endures the trials and tribulations of her severe depression, but by the time she finally realises she doesn't have to suffer in silence, it may be too late.
Brendan Byrne: Director, Writer, Producer
Marissa Kaye: Producer
STARCENTRAL BEST ACTOR AWARD - NELL NAKKAN
Winter Retreat (Beyond Blue)
A heartwarming drama set in a meditation retreat, Winter Retreat deals with loss, grief, friendship and forgiveness.
Anne Brito: Director
Nell Nakkan: Producer
MOST UPLIFTING FILM
Operations 2017 I Children of Sumatra (Children of Sumatra)
The Children of Sumatra was set up with the aim of helping children suffering from cleft lip and palate living on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Many families on the island are too poor to pay for a simple operation that can transform their child’s life. This film briefly captures what they do and their work done in 2017.
Mohit Sebastian: Director/Cinematographer/Editor
Katie Pavett: Narration
PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD
Suicide Toilet (Anti-Depression/Suicide Prevention)
Tom has thought this through. He has decided. He's ready to jump off the building to his death. Moments before the leap, his stomach growls with diarrhoea. What does he do. Toilet? Jump?
Jasmin Anderson: Director/Writer
Kevin Kim: Producer
2018 FINALISTS
The Cycle (LGBT rights and inclusion / T Project)
The Cycle follows the homecoming journey of a gay Singaporean man, who desires his father's acceptance of his husband, their soon-to-be born son and ultimately, himself. The man reconnects with his childhood through a game of Chinese chess with his father, and satisfies a childhood desire to learn how to cycle from him. Through this journey, the man comes to a revelation about fatherhood and the cycle of life.
Benjamin Zhang & Dewi Tan: Directors
Benjamin Zhang: Writer
Jean Ng: Producer
Remember everything, to not forget anyone (Migrants from Africa)
A man is walking around Lampedusa, an Italian island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, reciting the names of the victims of October 3rd 2013, when more than 500 emigrants died while attempting to reach Europe. This man is Marco Pietrantuono. He is one of the very few established Italian hyperthymesiacs, people with an extraordinary autobiographical memory. If the victims’ names are declared by a person who will never forget their names, they will be remembered, thus symbolically alive, for ever.
Paolo Caspani: Director
Enrico Chiarugi: Writer/Producer
James Is Grandiose (Mental Health)
An autobiographical short comedy about a young man diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder and his attempts to make a film.
Writer: James Hartley
Director: James Hartley and James Shepherd
Producer: James Shepherd
Changing the Tide (Environment)
In the climate-change-ravaged, not-so-distant future of Wellington, New Zealand, Aunt Jamie and Sam must travel back to 2016 to try and right the destructive course humanity is on. It's up to them (and you) to help save the future. Changing the Tide was made by Film for Change Aotearoa in collaboration with Keep a Cool World
Jonathan Mines: Director
Courtney Rose-Brown: Writer
Tasman Roy: Producer
Emily Fong: Producer