ABC Arts and ScreenWest have teamed up to showcase some of Western Australia’s most exciting artistic talents.
Art X West is a new project which brings five short films about five artists to audiences via mobile devices and connected televisions. As well as celebrating the State’s wealth of creative talent, the initiative provides a fast-paced platform for young filmmakers to tell local stories about local people in new and interesting ways. The shorts make their Australian premiere online at abc.net.au/arts and on ABC iview on 8 August.
The Art X West initiative began with an open call in March 2014, which attracted 65 applications from WA’s practicing artists and filmmakers.
ABC Arts and ScreenWest selected a short list of five exciting visual artists to take part in the project: Abdul Abdullah, Tim Burns, Olga Cironis, Pippin Drysdale, and Pilar Mata Dupont.
These artists were then paired with five filmmaking teams, who would bring their work to life and make the artists the subject for their films. The filmmaker teams selected are: Amelia Phillips and Daniel Gallagher; Lauren McDonough and Chad Peacock; Alice Ross and Sam Field; Mat de Koning and Brooke Silcox; Melissa Hayward and Tenille Kennedy and Georgina Isles.
Western Australia has long been a hot bed for nurturing creative talent. From the WA Ballet to Tim Winton, Elizabeth Jolley, Julie Dowling, The Triffids and Kim Salmon, the list is long and auspicious. To capture a slice of this creative energy, ScreenWest and ABC Arts have commissioned five short films about five visual artists by five emerging filmmaking teams.
Head of TV Arts Katrina Sedgwick, explains that the project also reflects the current short film renaissance taking place around the globe: “By creating films made first and foremost for online broadcast, Art X West is designed to challenge filmmaking teams to create exceptional, broadcast-quality work in a short time frame. This format also provides a rich and exciting platform for filmmakers to trial ideas and push the envelope creatively, while also celebrating the work of some truly wonderful WA artists.”
Annabelle Sheehan, A/Chief Executive – Production, ScreenWest says: “Art X West was designed as an opportunity for emerging filmmakers to experience a collaboration with a Commissioning Editor of a major broadcaster while showcasing significant Western Australian artists. They have produced extraordinary short documentaries that will expand Australia’s understanding of our contemporary artists and their creative process.”
24-year-old Art X West producer Lauren McDonough says, “This production has been a great experience. There has been so much invaluable support, which makes the entire process so much smoother. Western Australia is full of amazing artists and it’s fantastic that their talent is being celebrated.”
Brooke Silcox, another Art X West producer, says, “Mat and I are really grateful for the opportunity the ABC and ScreenWest have given us to work with Abdul Abdullah to create a film about his work. We have learnt more than we could have possibly imagined about ourselves as a filmmaking team.”
Visual artist, Abdul Abdullah says that the experience has been equally rewarding for him in learning about his own artistic practice: “I had a lot of fun working on the ABC documentary with Brooke and Mat. It was a great opportunity to distill some ideas into succinct points. In particular, thinking about my family history and how my experiences fit together allowed me to better align my thoughts and explore the causal relationship between my childhood experiences, and how it fits in with my artistic practice.”
The five short films will premiere on abc.net.au/arts and ABC iview on August 8, 2014.
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