Documentary
"Documentary as a form of story telling is something I only learned gradually as I began to realise the importance of watching, not only making, films. While finding your own documentary filmmaking voice is a fascinating and sometimes difficult process, there are so many others to be challenged by or become engrossed in." Says Mandy King - Documentary Maker
"Documentary is a survivor and its coming back more and more, after all recording reality was the first form of filmmaking. Documentary will always be a fascination for me - a process of drawing from an unlimited source of stories." Says Fabio Cavadini - Documentary Maker
Fabio & Mandy have executive produced over one hundred and thirty short form, half hour and longer form documentaries at Sydney Film School since its inception in 2004.
SYDNEY FILM SCHOOL's award winning documentaries include:
'MY DAD SUSAN' directed by Teagan McCarthy, who tackles a highly personal and confronting subject in a short form documentary of 8 minutes. She says, 'As the daughter of a cross-dresser, this is a documentary I wish I had when I was growing up.’
Awards:
Best Short Form Documentary - St Kilda Film Festival
The Queer Perspective Award - Mardi Gras Film Festival
Official Selection:
Official Selection - St Kilda Film Festival
Official Selection - Mardi Gras Film Festivals, Sydney & Melbourne
Official Selection - Women On Women International Film Festival (WOW), Paddington 2007 & their Touring Film Festival
‘RICHARD' – the most interestingest person I ever met is a documentary recieved DVD distribution in 2008. The moving and highly personal interaction of a young student filmmaker, Maya Newell and her subject, toyshop owner, Richard Blackie is broken when circumstances take a dramatic turn.
Awards:
Best Director of a Documentary - Asian Festival of First Films (AFFF), Singapore
Official Selection:
Official Selection - Asian Festival of First Films
Official Selection - Perth Revelation Film Festival
Screened at the Film Market of the Cannes Film Festival
Distributor: Siren Visual, Melbourne
‘I MET A REAL STREETY ONCE’ is a half hour documentary directed by Caroline Ingvarsson about life on the streets of Sydney’s inner city homeless seen through the eyes of a young filmmaking team.
Awards:
Best Film - Film for Film Festival
Official Selection:
Official Selection - Film for Film Festival
Official Selection - St Kilda Film Festival
Official Selection - Perth Revelation Film Festival
Official Selection - Singapore International Film Festival
Official Selection - TGHFF International Digital Shorts Competition
Screened at the Film Market of the Cannes Film Festival
SYDNEY FILM SCHOOL's documentaries that have screened at film festivals both nationally and internationally include:
‘TROY’ directed by Daniel Hayward, who’s short documentary about the eccentric and highly talented artist, Troy Davies, features an interview with Richard Lowenstein and footage of Michael Hutchince.
Awards:
Best Documentary - South Florida International Student Film and Video Festival
Official Selection:
Official Selection - South Florida International Student Film and Video Festival
Official Selection - New York Film Festival
Official Selection - Melbourne International Film festival
Official Selection - Brisbane International Film Festival
Official Selection - Chicago Underground Film Festival
‘Mr HECTOR DUDLEY’ directed by Brian Lye, celebrates the quirky and amusing character traits of a pug-nosed dog.
Awards:
The Promo D’Oro Award - ViVa Leichhardt Short Film Festival
Official Selection:
Official Selection - ViVa Leichhardt Short Film Festival
Official Selection - 7th Global Chinese University Student Film and TV Festival, Hong Kong
Screened at the Museum of Sydney’s Tails of the City exhibition
‘BUZZ’ directed by IL HOON CHANG, an international student who took a hard look at the lives of younger Korean students, based his doco in Sydney’s northern suburbs, where a fifteen year old International student embraced life unhindered by parental supervision.
Official Selection:
Official Selection- Asian Symposium of Film, Singapore
‘TO SEE’ follows filmmaker Chris Wohlers, who sticks patches on his eyes for a week to experience the world of the blind. ‘Close your eyes, step out your door - and see the world a bit differently.’
Official Selection:
Official Selection - International Documentary Forum, Beijing
Mandy King and Fabio Cavadini
Mandy King produced The Shadow over East Timor, which was nominated for an AFI Award for Best Documentary in 1998. She has created extensive international broadcasts and is an acclaimed visual artist.
Fabio Cavadini has over thirty years experience as a cinematographer on Australian award winning documentaries. He shot and co-directed Buried Alive - The Story of East Timor, which screened at the Sydney Film Festival and sold to Ch4 (UK) and P.B.S.(NY).
Since 1987 Mandy King and Fabio Cavadini have been collaborating as a co-producer / director team. They have produced a string of documentaries, many being broadcast on SBSTV. The most recent, An Evergreen Island, an inspiring story of the people of Bougainville Island who survived a ten year blockade imposed after they protested against the operations of one of the world’s largest copper mines, was an AROM Award finalist in Short Form Documentary in 2008, and screened at the Kalamata International Documentary Film Festival, the Commonwealth Film Festival in Manchester, Version 02 in Chicago MCA in 2008, and the World Social Forum Film Festival in Mumbai India in 2004.
