BEST AUSTRALIAN SHORT FILMS - 3
The Ride by Timothy Melville (2013) (USA) (7m)
The Ride is a comical romantic drama from Australian filmmaker Timothy Melville. Forgoing the hit-and-miss festival route, Melville decided to put his great short film online straight away instead. In The Ride we find a man waiting by his car for his mates to return when his ex-lover passes by. As they talk about old time the man seems nervous. But is there another reason for his nerves?
Yardbird by Michael Spiccia (2012) (Australia) (13m)
Its title refers to the film's heroine, a young girl who lives on her father's scrapyard. It soon becomes clear that she has special telekintic and healing powers (using them causes a nosebleed - a somewhat overused trope). When she comes across a group of teenage boys torturing a cat (a shortcut that tells us these are bad people) she feels obliged to save it. Despite being aware of the girl's awesome powers, the boys come to the scrapyard to take their revenge.
Saw by James Wan (2003) (Australia) (9m)
A horror film from Australia starring Americans, Saw, wtitten by Leigh Whannell and directed by James Wan, is the short movie that spawned the somewhat ridiculous but extremely successful feature franchise. Whannel plays the lead character, David, who has suffered at the hands of the psychologically unhinged, wannabe puppteer. Whannell would basically revive the role in the first Saw feature film.
