W’SUP interviews ‘Made in the West’ ahead of its online Mega Movie Marathon event, starting 10th December 2024. Misty McPhail, ‘Made in the West’ CREATIVE, tells us what to expect when viewing these wonderful films online.
W’SUP: What is the ‘Made in the West’ film festival?
McPhail: Made in the West film festival is an annual event that celebrates and showcases Western Sydney filmmakers and the amazing work that is coming out of this region.
W’SUP: ‘Made in the West’ has an online option for audiences. Can you explain how that works?
McPhail: We will screen all 24 films for the marathon line-up in the online mega movie marathon, which will go live from the 10th of December through to the 31st of January. And that is available for a one-week rent for 6 USD, which is approximately $9 AUD, and you can purchase the entire movie marathon, which will be 3 and a half hours’ worth of marathon.
You can purchase the whole marathon and watch it from home. You have one week to watch. I should mention it is an over-18s festival, so probably not one to bring your kids at Christmas. At the end of the show, you will be invited to vote as an online viewer, there will be a QR code that pops up on the screen that you can scan to vote for your favourite films in each genre and your favourite overall, and then at the end of the season after the 31st of January, we will be hosting our final closing night event where we announce those winners and award them with their awards and prizes.
W’SUP: So viewers can experience it online as well and share it with their family and friends…
McPhail: Yeah totally. We’ll have an online program set up online, and we’ll have all of the social links that people can follow the filmmakers on, and you can share your experience online and you can tell the filmmakers what you think of their film. And you can just get really involved online. It’s a very different way of experiencing it, but I think we’ve packaged it up nicely.
W’SUP: How many short films will be showing, and are there any you’re particularly excited to watch?
McPhail: There are 24 films in total, that will be included in the online mega movie marathon line-up. The opening night celebration (at Liverpool Event Cinemas) will only feature 14 films because we’re limited by a duration at the cinema. We only have a certain time slot that we can use at the cinema, so 14 films will fit into that time slot. But there were another 10 films that we just couldn’t resist including – and so we’ve bumped them into the MITW Online Mega Movie Marathon, to screen online over the summer!
W’SUP: What do you love about short films and music videos?
McPhail: Short films are the entry into the industry for local filmmakers. So, the reason we are a short film festival is partly because when we were first starting out as third-year students at WSU, we had a short film to screen. So, we wanted to be able to put that on screen and then get all of the rest of the filmmakers who we knew, get them together and then put everybody else’s films on screen – that’s ultimately where it started. Emerging filmmakers are making short films – this is what we’re doing! By putting the films up on screen, what it helps everybody do is firstly get more commendation for their work, more recognition for their work, but it also builds an audience for those filmmakers, so that when they do eventually move onto making a feature film, they’ve developed an audience that they can market that to. Strategically, that’s what the short film festival is about.
W’SUP: Tough question – but what four films stand out to you?
McPhail: The four short films that I’m really excited about are:
‘MisUnderstood’:
One of the films that stands out to me this year is called ‘MisUnderstood’ which was directed and written by Kaisey Medeiros and Diana Caicedo, both ex-Western students, alumni. They’ve made a beautiful film that tells a love story of a woman, and the challenges that come up in her family, over that love story. Beautifully shot, and we’re really excited to have that film in the line-up. ‘MisUnderstood’ is a standout for me.
‘Greystanes’:
I’m also excited about ‘Greystanes’ – ‘Greystanes’ is a web series, built for TikTok, written and directed by Ryan Cauchi, local Penrith filmmaker. ‘Greystanes’ is an 18-part horror anthology; each episode is only 1 minute long. It’s filmed in a vertical ratio, for TikTok, and it tells the story of two young teens who live in Greystanes, and who find themselves being harassed by mythological beasts, and they have to use their grandmother’s Maltese mythology in order to beat all of these evils that come into their life.
It was written and directed by Cauchi, who is of Maltese heritage, and he’s used these stories that he grew up with, all of these little habits that the Maltese families might have – “You’ve got to do this before you go to bed, to protect yourself against the monsters” – all of those stories have ended up coming into this 18-part anthology that he’s built. So, we’re going to be screening the first 7 episodes in the line-up.
‘Places, Please!’:
There’s also a wonderful film called ‘Places Please’, by Paul Rye. It’s also another student film –the student films this year are so great, I’m so pleased for them. Also, another student film, it’s ‘Places, Please!’ is set in a theatre, and it’s the first-time stage/manager/director of a theatre, as he’s walking, trying to get all of his crew ready, everything is falling apart, everything’s happening all at once. It’s a great film that gives a little bit of that back-stage insight, that I think our audience will really like, seeing almost behind the scenes.
‘Bottleneck’:
Another film that I’m really excited about is called ‘Bottleneck’, and it’s produced by Benjamin Menday, who is a filmmaker based in Campbelltown, and it tells a heartbreaking story of three youths, who make a bad choice one day, as they’re hanging out in the park and making their way to a family event –they make a bad choice, and the result turns horribly wrong for them. It’s a very moving and heartbreaking story, that has stuck with me in recent weeks, since I first saw the film. I think about it quite often, which I think is a sign of a very good film, that it sorts of stays with you, in that moment.
Music Videos:
McPhail: There are also great music videos! One from great local hip-hop artist called Isaac Puerile, and another by Dylan Atlantis – both are outstanding local artists, and they’ve both got some really gritty, cool music videos in the mix as well.
The MITW Online Mega Movie Marathon runs from 10th December – 30th December.
The list of films can be found here.
You can find out more about ‘Made in the West’, and read their 2024 program and list of films, as well as watch the Online Mega Movie Marathon.
