by Dov Kornits
“My first short film got into Flickerfest,” says director Nina Buxton, referencing her 2016 film Woof. “That was my VCA graduating short film, and our first festival that we got into was Flickerfest. It was terrifying. I remember my heart was just pounding out of my chest when it was about to screen.
“As most film students do, I pushed the sound levels too far. So, the sheer volume of the reverb in the opening credits, it has a really intense opening credit scene…” Buxton remembers the screening of her first ever short. “It was so intense that the seats at Flickerfest were almost shaking. But the audience loved it. And then afterwards, the judges came up to me and told me that they really liked the film. I ended up winning the award for best editing in an Australian short film. One of the people on the jury was Jocelyn Moorhouse. And then a few years ago, I got the opportunity to shadow her on Boy Swallows Universe.
“Flickerfest really did kickstart my career.”
In 2026, Buxton is loving her career as a television director, and she’s back at Flickerfest with her latest short film, Bubba. “It’s very special to be back there and with Hannah [Samuel, co-writer] as well [who also wrote Woof], because we’ve both been working our way in television. We both just got to work on Heartbreak High. We’ve both been building our career together and it’s very nostalgic to be back at Flickerfest.”
Bubba is about a woman (Hannah Monson) and the titular dog, who arrive at a vet’s seemingly there to help Bubba, however, it quickly becomes evident that the woman is running away from a domestic situation.
“We put a dog in Bubba because it just raised the stakes of the story; it’s not only herself that the character has to look out for, but she also has this beautiful pet that she wants to protect. So often, pets and children get caught up in domestic violence and perpetrators threaten to harm pets and children, and it can be a way that keeps people trapped in relationships.
“We wanted to be truthful and show coercive control to be something that is not just violent. Coercive control can be disguised as being loving or caring when actually it’s controlling, but it can be done in this way that makes it sort of invisible.
“Also, I just think that audiences love dogs,” she continues. “I think that adding a dog into a film is magic because it makes people pay attention.”
As someone who is now kicking career goals as a director, why step back into the slog of micro budget short filmmaking?
“I couldn’t not make it,” says Buxton. “It was just weighing on me. This story, I just felt like it wouldn’t go away. By making the short film, it’s freed something. That’s been my experience with all the short films I’ve made. It’s always been about something personal, and it is cathartic making it.
“I was 30 weeks pregnant when I directed the film, and then I edited it with a newborn baby in my arm. I was just desperate to make the film. I just had this feeling that I had something to say and wouldn’t feel settled until it had been completed.
“For me, it’s a way to have a voice. For others, it might be a proof of concept or a way to launch their career or test something out, try new things. But for me, it’s always just a feeling or an experience that bothers me. And instead of going to therapy, I just make a film about it.
“I’ve had a career now working in television and making a short film is so much harder than making TV. I’m just amazed that anybody finishes a short film. Making it, you are just convincing minimum 20 people to give up their whole weekend.
“TV has trained me to be so quick and precise on set. I couldn’t have made Bubba in one and a half days when I first finished film school, but since working in television, I feel like I’ve become a lot more precise in decision-making and where to put the camera and being the right perspective. On Bubba, we didn’t have time to get a wide shot, mid-shot, close up of every scene. It was really tight coverage where we mainly just did roaming singles where Max [Walter, DOP] would just frame up on somebody and then just feel the scene. And when it felt right, he would pivot to frame somebody else and then go back and forth almost to make you feel like the audience is there in the room looking from one person to the other, watching it unfold, which was the only style I think you could do in having that small amount of time to make the film.”
Bubba screens on 24 January 15, 2026 at the Best of Australian Shorts 3 program at Flickerfest.
