BLACKWOOD – Short Film

About the film…

Following mother and son, Mary and David, BLACKWOOD is comedy-drama set in small town Australia. The film intertwines spoken word with traditional narrative form to explore the intricacies of family, self love and empowerment, and more subtly; the social politics that exist within Australia.

It takes place over a day, and we follow Mary, an acclaimed author as she prepares for her first ever national TV interview. At the same time, we follow David, a 14 year old aspiring soccer player as he goes for a once in a lifetime tryout, attended by an international scout. Both events go incredibly disappointingly for each of them, yet they find comfort in each other at the end of the day, highlighting their resilience and ultimately; their achievement of self empowerment and worth.

This is simultaneously explored in the spoken word monologue which is going to be intertwined throughout. The idea is to have it brought in at three different moments throughout the film, with each time recontextualising the words based on what’s just come before it. The film is funny, wholesome, and feel good, essentially about loving the skin you’re in. It will also be in the smaller, more subtle details, that some much larger pictures and critiques regarding issues of our country are made.

Meet the team…

Kalu Oji (Writer/Director)    

With a fascination for storytelling since a young age, Kalu began his journey into filmmaking at 14 years old. With an interest in putting his own experiences on screen and a desire for honest storytelling, his body of work has very much reflected his personal journey. His entry into the broader film community, came in 2016 with his first public release; ‘ADA’, which took home the Bonus Best Film prize at the Made In Melbourne Film Festival. Although having actively written and directed in the time between, he has yet to release content publicly since. Despite this, he has gone on to collaborate on non-narrative works with Sony Music, Wondercore Island, and Rhythm Section Intl.

Mimo Mukii (Producer)

Mimo Mukii is a media producer and writer. She is currently co-producing ‘Her Words’, an intimate interview web series that shares women’s stories, and she writes for her blog, I See You, which reviews films from Africa and the diaspora. In 2017, Mimo was the Co-Director of the Melbourne-based film festival, Girls On Film Festival, where she combined her passions for film, feminism and community.  Her short film, ‘TAKOT’, was screened at the 2017 Emerging Writers Festival, and she has produced community television programs with C31 and RMITV and interned on the Foxtel program, ‘OZ African TV’.

Gabriel Francis (Director of Photography)

Gabriel Francis is a Naarm (Melbourne) based cinematographer and filmmaker. He collaborates with filmmakers who share an interest in character driven stories with an emphasis on rich visual storytelling. His award winning work across narrative shorts, documentary and fashion film has been exhibited internationally. His recent projects include ‘Allergies’ (Dir. Kirrilee Bailey – Award for Emerging Australian Filmmaker MQFF 2018), ‘Skullcrush’ (Dir. Liam Fitzgibbon – MIFF 2017) and ‘The Days Pass Quietly’ (2017). His graduate film from the Victorian College of the Arts ‘Perisher’ is having its international premier at the 2018 Palm Springs International Short Film Festival.

Our Vision…

With a scarcity of African-Australian media content, and too often disingenuous portrayals, our aim with BLACKWOOD is to re-contextualise the screen narrative we have in our country at the moment.

We are making this film from a place of empowerment. BLACKWOOD will somewhat be a reclamation of identity, and for us, it feels important to bring this story to life on the big screen to mark shifts in how we want our voices to be heard.

The film will screen at ACMI as part of the Victorian College of the Arts graduate program. Once it’s completed, we will be distributing to festivals both nationally and internationally.

How The Funds Will Be Used…

We are committed to bringing BLACKWOOD to life in the most economical way that will do justice to its message. We intend to make use of the resources we have available, however, as with any film there will be costs which you can still help us with…

– Locations & Accomodation ($1500)

– Travel ($200)

– Catering for the cast & crew ($500)

– Film stock and developing ($2000)

– Film Scanning ($800)

– Equipment hire ($500)

– Costumes ($150)

– Production Design ($500)

– Professional sound recordist ($400)

– Crowdfunding commission costs ($450)

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