St Kilda Film Festival returns May 24-29 with a huge lineup including the main short film competition with tens of thousands of dollars in prizes, a mash up of scares in Horrorpalooza and Irish and German film programs. The short films competing pull out some big guns with Nash Edgerton and David David Michôd’s Bear, Angus Sampson appears in Pop and There’s A Hippopotamus On Our Roof Eating Cake;Offspring’s Don Hany stars in Suburbia; Damon Gameau creeps into Cockroach and Roman’s Ark; Paul Capsis shines inOscar’s First Kiss; Josh Lawson and Damon Herriman are in Pet; Marg Downey shows up in Us; Camille Keenan appears in Snake and Everything Is Super; and Gracie Otto directs her dad Barry Otto in Seamstress.
Day’s pick of the program is Nadine Garner’s Afterglow, a period piece. Garner is also an actor who’s trying her hand at directing. “There’s a certain amount of control that comes with directing that you don’t have when you’re acting,” says Day. “There’s the story telling process which I really enjoy. But having grown up on film and TV sets and worked as much as I have on them, it’s great just to be able to range and have a go at driving the bus, as it were, instead of sitting up the back.”
Day still makes a living from acting though, and is quick to clarify he’s aware of his role in that context. “I know my place. An actor’s life on set is a very cushy one I think for the most part, we get looked after very well. No, I love acting. I’m very lucky that I make a living out of it too. That’s something that will always be there as a part of what I do. This is just something else, a new challenge for me.”
The short film, BEAT was written and directed by Day and features Peter O’Brien, Matthew Whittet and Matt Dyktynski. Without spoilers it’s hard to describe; in fact Day says the film is beyond description – beyond perhaps the hybrid adjective: dramedy. “The concept was one born of necessity,” he says. “I remember it was a few years ago and I was trying to make a short – one location, a couple of actors – keep it very simple. I’m not sure why I thought of it but I thought of some meeting between two people and some kind of transaction going on and then this just popped into my head – kind of a play on the word ‘beat’ and a play with the stereotypes as well. It just kind of popped into my head as most ideas do and I just kind of experimented from there.”
The film was shot in one afternoon on a Canon 5D [digital SLR with high definition video]. Day says he wasn’t sure when it was finished whether it was any good. “You really have to wait until an audience sees it. I don’t know what it is. You’re so involved in just getting it made, then you kind of sit back and go is it any good? I don’t know. I guess that’s part of being selected for a festival as well – it’s that acknowledgement that the work you’ve done isn’t all bad. There has to be some merit to it – that’s another bonus.
“People who want to make films need these kind of platforms, firstly as an incentive to get out there and start making films. It’s much easier for people to get a short film up than a feature – just as an incentive it’s a great thing. Then secondly as a platform, as a place for people to come and see your work and kind of get it out there to an audience.”
As for what Day thinks of the film, post-validation? “I’m convinced that it’s there and that it has good aspects and it has bad and that I’ve learnt from it and that the next time around I will try and improve upon it,” he says, without a breath. For our part, we think it’s worth going along and seeing.
