Many thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s Melbourne Lift-Off Film Festival. It was great to see so many filmmakers and film enthusiasts filling the screenings in support of both local and international indie films. The judges' votes have been counted and added to the audience's feedback. Huge congratulations to the filmmakers who screened with us, who all did themselves proud. All Melbourne Lift-Off Film Festival winners will receive complimentary screenings at future Lift-Off Film Festivals. A special well done to the following films.
Photos from the event can be seen on the Melbourne Lift-Off Facebook Page.
Festival Winners
Best Short Live Action Narrative
(next screening with Lift-Off in Berlin)
Bye Bye Virgins
Dir. Pierre Boulanger
Synopsis: Even though they don’t know each other very well, Inès (14) and Abdel (15) decide to have their « first time » together. The big day arrives and Inès is called to help out a neighbor to babysit her two kids Moussa (3) and Balla (5). Inès is determined to go through with their plan and asks Abdel to join her at her neighbor’s apartment. But the two children and their friends don’t stop to interrupt them in their pursuit. And so, they are forced to get to know each other in a different way…
Best Short Live Action Narrative
(next screening with Lift-Off in Berlin)
Serving Joy
Dir. Martin Sharpe
Synopsis: The table is set, the roast is cooked to perfection, and the soufflés are rising as high as Joy's blood pressure for the most important dinner party of her life. As the wine begins to flow and facades drop, buried secrets rise closer to the surface and the painful veneer of middle class decorum begins to crack. Keep it together Joy, we're all watching.
Special Mentions
Special Mention
(next screening with Lift-Off in Manchester)
Knuckles
Dir. Laura Groombridge
Synopsis: A man tangled in the violent criminal world of bare knuckle fighting pursues a misguided attempt at redemption.
Special Mention
(next screening with Lift-Off in Manchester)
After Silence
Dir. Peter Kalos
Synopsis: A man on the edge, confronts the life he should have lived.
Special Mention
(next screening with Lift-Off in Tokyo)
Moon Rabbit
Dir. Kae Ho
Synopsis: During a visit to her grandparents in Japan, everything changes for 7-year-old Rio.
Online Festival Winners
Yet to be announced...
Officially Selected Screenplays
Season Award Nominations
The Lift-Off Season Awards is an annual event which celebrates the very best of indie film. Following each Lift-Off film festival, films which 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. Click here for the current nominations for 2018.
Oddlands
Dir. Bruce Gladwin
Synopsis: Des and Tam are members of a clean-up crew in a strange toxic wasteland. It’s a lousy job, but it’s the best they can get, and it may just get them what they want. When they stumble upon what may be the wasteland’s last human survivor, these determined but lowly Level 7s will have to decide between saving humanity or saving themselves. ODDLANDS is a story about two unlikely heroes who manage to find a little hope in the strangest of places. The question is, what will they do when they find it?
Nominated for Best Acting Ensemble
Little Joe
Dir. Ned Donohoe
Synopsis: In this documentary portrait a misfit country kid recalls coming of age in Australia’s emergent rave scene. Joe’s transition from ‘party drugs’ to decades of addiction does not temper fond and vivid memories of the infamous ‘Melbourne Underground’ of the early 1990s.
Nominated for Best Short Documentary
The next festival on our 2018 calendar is the London Lift-Off Film Festival where we will be screening some of the winners and special mentions from Melbourne amongst a variety of fantastic independent films from the UK and around the world. Click the link below to view the programme and get your tickets now!
