Locally Produced Short Film In International Competition

A Mackay-based filmmaker has entered her short film into an international competition, asking for local support to put Mackay on the filmmaking map.

Writer, director and producer (among many other duties and talents) Alle Segretti has been making films for over 20 years, her films winning awards and screening at festivals all over the world.

‘Golden Hour’ is currently running in the Zhiyun Annual Short Video Contest and stars Damien Thomas and Laura Galley as a couple throwing items at the sun, attempting to induce a sunset.

Filmed on a property south of Mackay in August, ‘Golden Hour’ was made for the Sydney Underground Film Festival’s 48-hour film competition TAKE48, tasking filmmakers with incorporating a particular object, honey, and a line of dialogue, “This is your last chance,” into their films.

“We’d been having these really amazing sunsets, which were caused by the Tongan volcano,” said Alle.

“I thought, ‘Sunsets, golden hour, honey, it all makes sense. Why don’t we just have someone throwing something at the sun trying to turn it into a sunset?’”

Shooting wasn’t without drama, with solar mass ejections causing equipment faults.

“At the particular time of day that we were shooting to get the sun at the right angle, we actually had equipment fails,” said Alle.

“The drone went off in its own direction, the camera stopped working, radio mics stopped recording.

“All of this was happening at exactly the same time on both days.”

‘Golden Hour’ has been entered in the Narrative category of the Zhiyun Annual Short Video Contest, with five judges of varying professional backgrounds to announce the winners on November 20.

“If we could get a good range of people watching that film and hitting that like button, then that’s going to influence those judges to say, ‘Hey, we need to look at this and give it a bit more attention,’” said Alle.

Alle said she often experiences cast and crew shortages when making films in Mackay, with ‘Golden Hour’ stars Damien being a local friend and Laura coming from Rockhampton.

“He (Damien) actually says that acting is harder than working in the mines on a 12-hour shift and I had to bring Laura up from Rockhampton because I couldn’t find anyone locally,” she said.

Alle said she is addressing these shortages by taking interested filmmakers on board for projects.

“I am very willing for people to come out and work on what I call ‘gateway projects,’” she said.

“Over two or three projects, not only do you get a bit of training, but we get to find out where your talent lies and give you access to the equipment and resources necessary to actually make a film.”

Those interested are asked to email mackay@venimentus.com and to view ‘Golden Hour’, visit youtu.be/vQ3dHqmGQM8.

‍