CINEMA Australia founder Matt Eeles is calling for the new Perth Film Studios to be made available to local, low-budget moviemakers.

He’s just wrapped up his annual WA Made Film Festival and says it was the biggest yet with more submissions, more films screened, more venues, more education sessions and more awards. 

“Someone thought we had made a mistake in our marketing material—they couldn’t believe so many films were made in WA within 12 months,” he says.

Eeles says the demand is there, so why not utilise Perth Film Studios when big budget, international films aren’t using it.

“I’ve heard directly from the studios that they would love to provide opportunities for local, low-budget films,” he says.

“Premier Roger Cooke recently stated that the studio does not currently have any bookings. What a great time to test the space by allowing student and emerging filmmakers to get in there to make films.”

• The Criminal Helpline team celebrate their Best Student Film award.

Eeles says there is a burgeoning group of young WA filmmakers vying to be the next Baz Luhrmann, and one of his favourite parts of the WA Made Film Festival is the Student Awards. Ranging from primary school pupils to university students, he was inundated with entries this year. The youngest submission was by 10-year-old Lincoln from Baldivis, who made the short film Beneath the Surface on his iPhone.

“My dream is to be a marine biologist, and this film is my way of sharing what I see and love under the water,” he said.

Labour of love

Other notable entries included the award-winning short film Criminal Helpline, about an underground call centre that provides guidance to criminals in distress.

“We’ve created a platform for filmmakers to share their work with a big audience, in a cinema, on the big screen,” Eels says.

“Most student films will largely go unseen outside of the student space.  

“One university told us that so many of their student filmmakers have decided to continue making films because they were recognised in some capacity by WA Made, either just being accepted into the festival, or from winning an award.”

Making an independent, low-budget film is a labour of love which often involves years of financial and emotional hardship.

“One thing that really hit me at this year’s festival was the amount of people who were so willing to share their personal stories with an audience.” Eeles says.

“So many of these films come from a very, very personal space. And to see so many filmmakers become emotional while sharing their stories was overwhelming to see. A lot of tears were shed this year.”

Founded by Eeles in 2013, Cinema Australia started out as a humble fan page devoted to homegrown films he loved watching. Over the past 13 years it has gone from strength-to-strength and is now a popular hub for everything to do with Aussie cinema, especially up-and-coming talent.

Eeles has interviewed literally everyone in the industry from indie filmmakers and cult actors to famous Aussie stars and directors including Eric Bana, David Wenham, Rachel Griffiths and Jack Thompson.

Buoyed by the success of Cinema Australia, Eeles co-founded the WA Made Film Festival in 2020.

“The festival is getting bigger every year: We make far more here than what we screened. We just wish we could screen them all,” he says.

For more info about Cinema Australia see cinemaaustralia.com.au and for Criminal Helpline go to @criminalhelplinefilm.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK