Flickerfest short long on buzz at awards, by Matthew Westwoods - 2nd Jan 2008
(Credit: The Australian)

WHEN a nine-minute film takes a year to complete, Paul McDermott may be wondering how long he'd need to make a full-length movie.

The comedian, television host and writer says making short films requires a similar discipline to writing short fiction.

"It's that process of editing or sculpting away to get the very kernel of your truth," he said in Sydney yesterday.

"You don't want to wax rhapsodic too much."

McDermott's animated short, The Girl Who Swallowed Bees, will screen at the Flickerfest short film festival, which starts in Sydney on Friday.

It has already been lauded at international festivals, and last month won the Australian Film Institute award for best animated short.

The film uses live action and animation to tell a strange fable about a 10-year-old who tries to kill herself by swallowing bees.

"Instead of ending her life, they form a hive inside her heart and the honey that flows from it gives her life and sumptuous wonder," McDermott said.

"She never experiences the dark thoughts that she previously had, because the beautiful bees have reinvigorated her."

Like McDermott's first short film, The Scree, The Girl Who Swallowed Bees began as a storybook that he wrote and illustrated.

Pia Miranda plays the depressed young girl, and McDermott created the animations with Tony Melov.

Flickerfest director Bronwyn Kidd said 1300 films were entered for this year's festival, of which 85 would be screened in competition. "Australian short films are very strong," she said.

"We certainly have a nurturing tradition in this country for short filmmakers, at a state and federal level."

Flickerfest is different from next month's Tropfest short film festival, which requires that entries be made specifically for that festival.

Held at Sydney's Bondi Beach from Friday to January 13, Flickerfest includes competition screenings for Australian and international shorts, and a showcase of more than 30 years of Australian animation. Parts of the program tour to other state capitals and regional areas.

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