High School Program| From Here To The Moon

From Here to the Moon is a short film package curated for secondary school audiences in the Northern Rivers of NSW which consists of Australian and International stories intended to connect with youth audiences through inspiring narrative, documentary and experimental filmmaking.

This curation was constructed by Jasper Caverly, an emerging filmmaker from Arakwal Country, with the intent to showcase the many possibilities of storytelling within the moving image medium. In the case of From Here to the Moon, he was motivated by Byron Bay Film Festival’s 2023 tagline: ‘Anything is possible’. This package was programmed with such a determination in mind, opening on the beaches of Cavanbah and journeying as far as the lunar caves of Tartarus.

  • THE RISE

    Angus Goozée

    A pre-apocalyptic drama from the perspective of young Jonah as he navigates an unknown future threatened by an unprecedented climate event.

    Angus Goozée’s filmmaking explores the environmental issues we are facing in a powerful and poetic way. Gus now lives in Byron Bay, NSW and hopes to inspire custodianship for our planet and reverence for the natural world.

  • BIRD DRONE

    Radheya Jegatheva

    A lonely seagull looking for love struggles to accept that his newfound object of affection is a human-operated drone with a limited battery life.

    Radheya Jegatheva’s animations, live action narratives and documentaries have been selected to 29 Academy Award Qualifying Festivals. He has spoken to thousands of school students over the years with an aim to encourage young people about being involved in the arts, and his works have been used as an educational tool in schools and universities around the world.

  • CRY OF THE GLOSSY

    Tim Brown & Michael Portway

    Poet and Gunai woman, Kirli Saunders, reflects on the special place the endangered Glossy Black Cockatoo holds in her heart and culture set against the forested hills of the NSW Southern Highlands.

    Tim Brown is an award-winning ecologist-turned-filmmaker. He is passionate about combining his love of the environment with filmmaking to create positive change for the natural world.

    Michael Portway is an acclaimed Melbourne-based filmmaker. His directorial work has been screened at local and international festivals, including the Berlinale and the Melbourne International Film Festival.

  • THE OLD YOUNG CROW

    Liam LoPinto

    An Iranian boy befriends an old Japanese woman at a graveyard in this mixed-media, visually delight about familial love and the beauty of nature.

    Liam LoPinto is a filmmaker and animator based out of New York City. He graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts' UGFTV program, studied further at Waseda University in Tokyo and attended CalArts' Character Animation program from 2017-2021..

  • YAMA

    Lucy Small & Maddie Meddings

    A story of a reclamation and joy, Yama follows Australian surfer and activist Lucy Small as she travels to Ghana to meet with a group of pioneering female surfers and skaters.

    Lucy Small is a professional longboarder, activist and filmmaker whose determination for gender equality in sport culminate in Yama - her directorial debut.

    Maddie Meddings is a surf, travel and lifestyle photographer and filmmaker, based out of North Cornwall, UK. With a penchant for all things outdoors, she aims to capture the utilisation of the wildest corners and those that reside there.

  • MIRADOR

    VERSUS & Angela Goh

    A performer navigates the labyrinthian architecture of an imposing structure - becoming part of it in tactile and physical ways that make the building feel sensorial and the body dreamlike.

    VERSUS is a director duo comprising of Tanya Babic and Jason Sukadana. Meeting at art school, the two bonded over a shared creative approach of combining contemporary art theory with commercial aesthetics.

    Angela Goh is an internationally recognised dancer and choreographer based out of Sydney. Her work poses possibilities for disruption and transformation inside the aesthetics and conditions of technocapitalism, planetarity, and the post-anthropocene

  • MÅNGATA

    Maja Costa

    When an astronaut on an important lunar mission becomes isolated from the base and must call on Mångata (“the road to the moon”) to help her navigate the caves of Tartarus.

    Maja Costa is as a multilingual screenwriter/director based in Berlin, Germany. After studying Cello at the Milan Conservatory and getting a master’s degree in Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Egyptology, she studied Screenwriting at the dffb in Berlin and is, as a scholarship holder from SKY Italia, and an alumna of the International Showrunner Incubator Serial Eyes.

SESSION TIMES

  • PALACE BYRON BAY

    Wednesday 25th October

    10:20am

  • BRUNSWICK PICTURE HOUSE

    Monday 23rd October

    10.20am

  • PALACE BALLINA

    Thursday 26th 10.20am

  • MORE SESSION AVAILABLE

    on request - email Schools@bbff.com.au