(Cinema screen at Made in the West before the films began. Photo by Garish (Luci) Kugathasan, 2024)
On November 30th, 2024, Made in the West Film Festival invited W’SUP to an exclusive red-carpet event celebrating the outstanding work of filmmakers from Western Sydney. Held at Event Cinemas Parramatta, the night showcased diverse creative projects. Representing W’SUP, I attended alongside W’SUP’s social media officer Julia Bell, to experience the festival firsthand.
That night, attendees were treated to 14 short films, each portraying a beautiful story. The selection ranged from music videos to short films, exploring themes of queerness, family, grief, satire, horror, drug addiction, and theatre.
Watching the films, I found it inspiring to see how filmmakers brought their ideas to life on screen through hours of hard work, dedication, and creativity. During the intermissions, Julia and I interviewed three directors to ask about their experience and expertise while creating their incredible pieces, as well as a graphic designer who designed the artwork for the event.
We interviewed:
- Ella Southwell, director of Gallery of Echoes
- Kasey Medeiros & Diana Caicedo, co-directors of MisUnderstood
- Abbey-Jane Camilleri, designer of the 2024 Made in the West artwork
Ella Southwell (Director of Gallery of Echoes)
Ella Southwell shared she and her co-director came up with the idea for their short film at a bar in Scotland after attending a ghost tour, a moment when creativity flowed. She advises aspiring filmmakers to be creative and put in the effort, emphasising the rewarding feeling of seeing a project come to life, all from a single idea. Southwell highlighted the challenges of securing locations, particularly finding an all-white room and coordinating logistics like shipping work. Despite working with a small group of three for the film, she credited industry connections for helping them pull the film together.
(Still from the short film Gallery of Echoes. Directed by Ella Southwell, 2024 | Sunny Side Up Productions).
Kasey Medeiros and Diana Caicedo (Co-Directors of MisUnderstood)
(Poster for MisUnderstood (2024), a short film directed by Kasey Medeiros. Photo: ‘MisUnderstood’ short film poster | Colourful Screens)
Kasey and Diana drew inspiration from their personal experiences and aimed to create a meaningful queer story. They wanted audiences to feel inspired and seen. Their advice for amateur filmmakers is to start with any idea, no matter how small, and to collaborate with others in the filmmaking community. An important lesson they learned while crafting the film was the importance of having backup plans; for example, losing a filming location at the last minute almost derailed production. Their biggest challenge was working in a small team and managing multiple roles, but they pushed through and brought their vision to life beautifully.
Abbey-Jane Camilleri (Designer of the Made in the West 2024 Artwork)
Abbey-Jane found the festival an exciting opportunity to see her work displayed on a large scale. She explained that her designs drew inspiration from psychedelic and ‘kooky’ elements. Building on past festival posters, she incorporated astronaut and space motifs to create a bold and eye-catching design.
(Poster for Made in the West 2024, designed by Abbey-Jane Camilleri, 2024)
The Made in the West Film Festival showcases Western Sydney’s filmmakers’ creativity, resilience, and passion. From overcoming production challenges to crafting deeply personal stories, each short film and music video featured in this year’s festival highlights the region’s thriving talent. These filmmakers prove that a single idea can be transformed into a beautiful short film with dedication, effort and care, showing that anyone can achieve their dream if they set their mind to it.
