DISSIMULATOR, 3min., Australia
Directed by Holland Kerr
An astronaut, investigating the crash of a space station on a distant desert planet, receives a signal that water has been found. Sweaty and exhausted, she eagerly follows the signal deep into the belly of a mysterious cave.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I wanted to create a gender bent version of mermaids. Instead of beautiful women suffocating wayward men in the sea, the illusion of home and a loving husband could suffocate a woman in space.

As the animating process chugged along, the work became a reflection on somewhat suffocating relationships I've had in life as well.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

All up, 25 weeks spread out across 1 year.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Trust Nothing.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

Making the work through the RMIT Masters program gave me the tools and encouragement I needed to create the work, but also gave me an extremely strict time limit to create it in.

Originally the work was about twice its current length, was coloured in and contained the protagonist's son. The final version is much more abstract, which I leaned into and I think makes the work much more open and
absurd, some of its final version’s more enjoyable qualities.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

I needed to make it clearer who the protagonist was and her relationship to her husband who she encounters as an illusion later in the work. That being said, people enjoyed the abstraction of the work, so I need to strike a better balance between over and under explaining.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

I've been filming and animating for as long as I can remember. Some time around age 5, I starred as a cowgirl in a family friend’s home movies, and this gave me the film-bug I think. Around 6, my rich neighbors made the enormous mistake of letting me use their video camera. With it, my friends and I filmed a lot of BluesCluesesque songs which I had written, which my neighbors dutifully transferred onto full sized video tapes for my mom. Around age 7, I had somehow managed to get myself banned from borrowing that silver beauty (there was an incident involving a can of whipped cream I think) and I moved on to animating in Microsoft Paint and Windows Movie Maker, which I pursued well into highschool.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

Ooooh that's tough. Either Blazing Saddles or Amadeus, as I grew up watching both.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

This is my first festival season, and this experience has been terrific so far, so I don't have a sense of what could be missing.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform sites?

A lot of rejection thus far, but a very enriching experience overall.

10. What is your favorite meal?

A big greek salad made by my Mom.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

A new film or possibly a comic book. I honestly have so so many ideas, the tough part is choosing which thing to make next