A short-film festival that explores the human toll of COVID-19 will be shown in Geelong.
Covideo Twenty21 features the lives of the young filmmakers throughout COVID and the psychological damage it caused.
Filmmaker and festival director Kuranda Seyit said it was a chance to “kiss COVID goodbye”.
“I am hoping that this event will be symbolic for many of us and it will be a cathartic experience as well, as we look back at the last two years of our life that we lost to COVID,” he said.
Seyit said the film festival is not only about collective healing but also about supporting emerging artists.
One of the artists to exhibit at the festival is young Filmmaker Josiah Saxby, who made a haunting film about mental health during the lockdown titled, The End of Myself.
“Lockdown left everyone feeling like they were doing life entirely on their own, so I made this film to make the audience feel less alone,” he said.
“I wanted to make a film that was honest about the mental health toll of COVID and unite everyone – in our collective struggle.”
The night will feature many more short films, guest speakers, performers and comedians and a panel of industry judges.
“We have an amazing selection of films made by local filmmakers,” Seyit said.
“And you will be entertained by comedians Fat and Ginger (Tim Young and Luke Massey), blown away by the magical spoken words of artists, Tim Evans and Rania Ahmed plus a musical intermission.
“There are lucky door prizes, so you have a chance to win some fantastic prizes, and the audience gets to vote for their favourite film.”
Covideo Twenty21 is at the Dome at Geelong at Geelong Regional Library, 52 Little Malop Street on Saturday, July 2.
Search for Covideo2021 on tryvideo.com for free tickets.
Details: covideo21.com.au.
Justin Flynn
