Finalist in Sydney and Melbourne Queer Film Festivals and Tampere’s Film Festival in Finland

LASH is doing really well around the world at the moment.


TRAILER

LASH is a finalist for the 2010 My Queer Career Awards in Sydney and the 2010 Best Australian Queer Short film of the City of Melbourne Award competition. In the same month LASH is also competing in the International competition of Finland’s exclusive Tampere Film Festival as the only Australian Film.

Each year the festivals receive larger number of entries and the competition is fierce.
These selections are an indication of Kerkhofs’ courage to keep pushing the boundaries and create intriguing and thought provoking films that members of the community and industry respond to.

“What an incredible month for queer films, that’s all I can say. To be finalist again at both Sydney and Melbourne and to even break through at Tampere is a lot to digest in one go. I feel truly humbled and honoured that my work has been received so well all over the world.”

Kerkhofs was a finalist with her animation film ‘Filled With Water’ at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival in 2008 and an Award winner at the Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival in 2007. She is no stranger to awards with LASH either, winning The Best 2008 VCA Graduation Film Award and the Unique Aesthetic Film Award at Sydney’s Underground Film Festival in 2009.

Asking her if she anticipates another award, she replies

“First of all it’s already a reward to be one of only 8 finalists at Sydney and Melbourne and one of only 70 films selected at Tampere from 3000 entries. Secondly the most joy is received by the creation itself, rather then rewards reaped. But if an award spins my way then I gracefully accept and will feel very encouraged to continue making films.”

The Winner of the City of Melbourne Award competition for Best Australian Queer Short film receives $2000 cash and the Winner of the My Queer Career competition will automatically be in the running for The International “Iris Prize” worth £25,000, the world’s largest prize for gay and lesbian short films.

‘LASH’ is a film about the persecution of women throughout the ages for their sexual preferences, with a message that religious and cultural punishments cannot kill the power of love.

And while Elka is delighted with the success of ‘LASH’ she is already back at the drawing board making her next animation film with her colleague Leigh Ryan, in which the boundaries of mainstream cinematic storytelling are being pushed again. However this time it’s a very quirky queer comedy, she let us know.

LASH plays on opening night of the Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival on12 of Feb, 7.30pm, Recital Hall, Angel Place.

At the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, ACMI, as part of the OZ shorts program on 20 March and 27 of March.

At Byron Bay Community Hall on the 13 of March as part of the adult animation section.

At Cleveland International Film Festival on the 30 March.

And in Tampere, Finland, on 10 and 12 of March, if you feel like a little trip up North.

honoured with the most ‘Unique Aesthetic Film Award’ at SUFF

Filmmaker, Elka Kerkhofs was honoured with another award for her short animation film ‘LASH’.

“It was wonderful to be honoured at this fantastic festival that focuses on the exposure and critical discussion of independent, experimental, artistic, subversive and provocative films. With over 120 films screening it is very encouraging to receive an award for the unique aesthetics of LASH.”

The SUFF award recognizes filmmakers who really are pushing the boundaries of filmmaking.
Honoured filmmakers received a SUFF handmade award created by Mark Wotherspoon, a Sydney glass artist, who casts statues from recycled television screens found on the side of the road. Also the filmmakers received a custom made SUFF Crumpler bag and rolls of Kodak 16 mm film.

‘LASH’ is a five-minute experimental animation film about the persecution of women throughout the ages confirming that religious and cultural persecution cannot kill the power of love.

Kerkhofs attended the Cannes Film Festival with her film LASH earlier this year and also travelled to the Frameline San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival and the Palm Springs International ShortFest in the US.

“It’s fantastic that ‘LASH’ has travelled so far and been so well received by such top festivals. It has encouraged me to pick up my pencils and start animating again. Just last week, I began production on my next animation film ‘PVG & me’ with my very talented colleague Leigh Ryan and should be finished by January next year”

LASH can next been seen in Sydney as part of the official selection of the WOW Film Festival running from the 14 till the 18 of October. www.wift.org/wow/

BEST FILM at 2008 VCA Film Awards

In photo L to R
Lorraine Jenkinson, Elka Kerkhofs, Karen Maxwell and Jo Simpson

Last night, Elka Kerkhofs won The Victorian College of the Arts Best Masters Animation and the VCA Best 2008 Graduation Film Award with her new animation film ‘LASH’, announced at the premier night of the VCA Film and TV school (University of Melbourne) graduations screening at ACMI, Melbourne.

The VCA Best 2008 Graduation Film Award is awarded by a panel comprising industry experts and University professionals who viewed the 52 graduating films from the Film and TV school 2008. This award provides the recipient with $5000 and is sponsored by Village Roadshow. The Best Masters Animation Award was $2000 sponsored by the Orloff Family Charitable Trust.

‘‘It makes me especially proud that the judges picked ‘LASH’ from such a selection of quality films. I’m truly elated having won these awards. These awards will provide the film with a magnificent launching pad, blasting it off into the International Film Festival circuit.”

Kerkhofs acknowledges that this year her skills have further developed and have become more sophisticated. ‘LASH’ carries an extremely dynamic and powerful message that has built upon Elka’s many years of artistic endeavor.
“Lash will now be sent around the world to tour to National and International Film Festivals! And I will accompany the film to a couple of Festivals in Europe and America next year, which is very important to find support for the next projects.”

Click here to go to Awards and Official Festival Selections

‘LASH’ can still be viewed as part of the Program-A VCA Graduation screenings at ACMI this week on Thursday the 11 of Dec at 7 PM and on Saturday the 13 of Dec at 9 PM.

The Making of Lash

Lash was filmed in three geographical places throughout Australia’s vast continent. The beach scenes were shot on the beautiful beaches of Northern NSW. The underwater scenes were filmed in the crystal clear waters of the Northern Territory’s Bitter Springs (400 km south of Darwin) and the persecution scenes were shot at the VCA’s studio in Melbourne, Australia in 2008. The short film is a wonderful mix of hybrid arts practices, combining traditional pixilation techniques, rotoscoping and visual effects, seamlessly blending the live action performance with the more traditional hand drawn backgrounds

The process involved taking digital stills of live action and then each element of each frame was cut out in order to layer different textures onto faces, body parts and backgrounds to achieve a mysterious look. The result is very unusual, the animation taking on an almost other worldly quality and adding a surreal edge to the finish of the film. Lash was shot in five days over three months and the animation took another three months to complete.

Medium Synopsis & Directors Statement

Celina falls in the water. “What if you live your whole life in one day and that day is today?”. A cocoon grows around her and she is born inside an old wooden shack. She meditates and tries to reconnect with her memory. When her mind opens she sees a dead body washed up on the beach. She moves in and hears the body whispering a poetic language, which draws her closer. By her touch she travels on a journey through her green eye and sees into another lifetime where this woman was her lover, but they were persecuted on the cross and burnt at the stake for their love. By her second touch she sees into another lifetime where this woman was her lover again, but now time and place has changed. Again they get punished for their love. While Celina gets hung, Olisa gets stoned to death after which her body sinks away through the soil into the ocean, where she drifts to shore. The green eye drops a lash and tears run out of Celina’s hand on the beach. She embraces Olisa’s dead body and their energies merge. “One day, until then, ….my love”! They now have a chance to heal the past and find peace.

Click here to go to Tech Specs

DIRECTORS STATEMENT
Lash is based on the director’s experience of being brought up as a Catholic, falling in love with women, discovering Buddhism later in life and observing gay persecutions in conservative religious society. Our story explores the concept of reincarnation and reconnecting with the same group of souls through different lifetimes. The film aims to expose the unjust actions of human ignorance upon the rights of women in a man’s world. Elka wanted to symbolize the destruction of love by religion through abstract visual language whilst allowing the viewer to arrive at his or her own interpretation.

Go to THE MAKING OF LASH

Tech Specs & Cast and Crew

Celina finds a dead body. By her touch she sees into another lifetime where this woman was her lover, but they died for their love. She now has a chance to heal the past and find peace.

Click here for Medium Synopsis

SPECIFICATIONS
Language---------English
Running Time-----5 min 30 Sec
Format-----------Beta SP & DVD
Sound-----------Stereo
Aspect Ratio------16:9
Frame Rate-------25 frames per second
Country of Origin-----Australia
Film Completed-----December 2008
Production Company-----The Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne

PRINCIPAL CREW
Writer, Director, Animator-Elka Kerkhofs
Line Producer-Karen Maxwell
Supervising Producers-Paul Fletcher and Robert Stephenson
Olisa-Lorraine Jenkinson
Celina -Elka Kerkhofs
Voice overs-Rachael Kane and Lina Monseur
Tyagarah Beach/Bitter Springs DOP - Beth Nelsen
Melbourne DOP-Kye Plunkett
Production Assistant-Jo Simpson
Editor-Elka Kerkhofs
Fire Visual Effects – Rob Ride
Online Editor-Charme Lee
Sound Designer and Mixer-Ben Hurt
Original Music – Michal Imielski