After winning the award for Best Direction in a Student Film at the Australian Directors Guild (ADG) Award, Friends of Mine will have its hometown Melbourne premiere at the 2023 ReelGood Film Festival, where it is also nominated for Best Short Film, presented by Umbrella Entertainment, and Most Exciting On-Screen Talent for actress Chi Nguyen (Class of ’07, Fisk).
Produced as writer/director Andréas Giannopoulos’ graduating film from the Master of Arts Screen: Directing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), and shot on Super 16 film by cinematographer Ehran Edwards with support from Kodak, the short sees Lou (Alex Donnelly), a young essayist, landing his first paid gig while unable to express his feelings to his crush Sylvie (Emily Joy: Human Error, Neighbours). Meanwhile, Elena (Nguyen), an amateur director, prepares a play in an attempt to reveal her own feelings for Lou.
Channeling the snappy romantic comedies of both New York independent darling Alex Ross Perry and French New Wave maverick Éric Rohmer through a distinctly autumnal Melbourne setting, Friends of Mine “on paper… feels like a traditional love triangle scenario, but with Giannopoulos’ considered direction and explorative script, that groundwork allows for a deeper exploration of the emotional bonds that tie us together” (Andrew F Peirce, The Curb).
Giannopoulos, Nguyen and Producer Braiden Asciak will attend the festival as guests. On the festival and the film’s nominations, Giannopoulos said, “We want to thank the ReelGood judges for recognising Chi’s intelligent and heartfelt performance, alongside the hard work of the entire cast and crew. It’s humbling to be screening and nominated alongside so many other Australian short films.
“After showing the film interstate, it feels incredibly special to bring our film to a hometown audience, and doubly special to screen at Lido Cinemas, across the road from where I completed part of my undergrad at Swinburne’s Hawthorn campus. Many of the works I encountered while studying, including the films of Chantal Akerman and the writings of Susan Sontag, had a profound impact on my ideas and practice.”
The nomination for Nguyen comes after recently appearing in the key cast of Amazon Prime’s series Class of ’07, and her Melbourne Theatre Company debut in a production of Diana Nguyen’s play Laurinda.
Friends of Mine will screen at 1:00pm and 3:00pm at Lido Cinemas on Saturday 22 April, followed in each session by Lachlan Pendragon’s Oscar-nominated animation An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It.
Giannopoulos will also take part in the ‘Shooting on Film’ talk at 4:00pm in the Lido Jazz Room alongside cinematographer Bonita Carzino, Moderated by Festival Director Chris Luscri, the session will explore the myriad of factors – aesthetic, economic and practical – that go into crafting a short on celluloid film.
