A massive thank you to everyone who participated in the Melbourne Lift-Off Film Festival 2022. It's been fantastic having so many filmmakers involved and seeing the global support for true indie film...
The judges' votes have been counted and added to the audience's feedback. Huge congratulations to the filmmakers who screened with us! A particular well done to the following films...
Season Award Nominations
The Lift-Off Season Awards is an annual event that celebrates the very best of indie film. Following each Lift-Off film festival, films that have excelled in their respective category are nominated and invited to attend the prestigious Lift-Off Season Awards, culminating at the end of the Lift-Off season. Click here for more information about the Lift-Off Season Awards.
Season Award Short Listed Films
Lucky Boy.
Dir. Jack Michel
Synopsis:"Meg, early 20's, is forced to face bleak circumstance as her love, Boyden, is diagnosed with an acute cancerous neurofibroma, growing steadily at the base of his jawline. With only a short time to ready themselves, Meg and Boy prepare for a surgery that could have debilitating consequences. A dark-comedy about youth, love, cancer… and pink bed-socks."
Friendship
Dir. Lin Tam
Synopsis: Friendship is the story of two childhood friends who bond together despite their different personalities and ethnicities. The short film spans their lifelong journey and portrays how they sustain their connection through challenges, celebrations, and the test of time.
We Wanted To Make a SCI-FI movie
Dir. Yves Whissell
Synopsis: Filmmaker David B. Ricard and choreographer Menka Nagrani embark on the journey of making a dance-fiction film with roughly twenty actor-dancers who have Down's syndrome. From the idea’s conception through to shooting the film, the process is rich in lessons both artistic and human.
Reboot Camp
Dir. Ivo Raza
Synopsis: After losing his life savings and his wife to a self-help guru, Seymour is on a mission to expose false prophets who fleece people for money. He teams up with his brother Danny, a filmmaker, and they start a fake self-improvement group called Reboot Camp. While Seymour transforms into the charismatic Gordon St. Pierre, a larger than life persona who teaches a path to bliss through a process called “rebooting,” Danny films. They succeed handsomely as even the most ludicrous group activities are met with unbridled enthusiasm from the members. But as Reboot Camp grows, Seymour and Danny must request additional funds from the producer, who pushes them to hire his niece Claire to supervise.
Audience Choice
The Audience Choice award is given to the filmmakers whose film received the most votes during the festival. The filmmakers will be invited to join us on the Lift-Off YouTube channel for a directors commentary roundtable. Join in the conversation as we delve deeper into each film.
Light Attaching to a Girl
Dir. Laina Barakat
Synopsis: Suffocated by an overbearing father and two older sisters who soak up any attention that comes their way, Clare is desperate to escape. She plans a trip to Iceland by herself where she can experience nature, and make her own decisions for the first time in her life. Light Attaching to a Girl poetically drifts between the interior and exterior life of an adolescent, as she reckons with haunting memories of her childhood even as she takes her first steps into adulthood.
The Unthinkable
Dir. Bonginkhosi Comfort Ndzinisa
Synopsis: A documentary about the accounts of the survivors of the 2021 massacre in the Kingdom of Eswatini and details of the brutality of armed forces in the country. The stories are real, the footages are real, the people are real
EBE Memory
Dir. Robert Ian MacBride
Synopsis: A group of ordinary men wind up together after something inexplicable transpires. -from imdb
OUT
Dir. Sean Maddox
Synopsis: Keali'i is a theatrical artist with influences from 80s dance music, punk rock and K-pop.