Two Master of Arts Screen graduates, both from the class of 2019, have claimed major prizes at Flickerfest after their AFTRS capstone projects screened at the festival’s 2021 edition. Naomi Fryer was awarded Best Direction in an Australian Short Film award for her work on This River, while composer Jorde Heys won Best Original Music for his work on Archie Chew’s The End, The Beginning.
Having screened in the Best of Australian Shorts program, This River – written, directed and produced by Fryer during her final year at AFTRS – earned her an Australian Directors’ Guild Award nomination for Best Direction in a Student Film. This River was made with fellow AFTRS classmates, cinematographer Ehran Edwards (Master of Arts Screen, 2019), editor James A.Thomas (Master of Arts Screen, 2019), composer Jenna Pratt (Graduate Certificate Screen: Music, 2018), sound designer Lana Kristensen (Graduate Diploma in Sound, 2014), first assistant cameraperson Carina Burke (Graduate Certificate Screen: Cinematography, 2017), second assistant cameraperson Annie Benzie (Specialist Extension Course Certificate Cinematography, 1994) and art director Mitchell Jones (Diploma in Screen Design, 2017).
“I am absolutely thrilled to receive this award for ‘This River’! Huge thanks to Flickerfest and to all the staff and students from AFTRS that contributed. Also, to Katherine Shearer my co-producer and all of the cast and crew. We shot ‘This River’ in the Northern Rivers of NSW where I grew up and was a teenager in the 1990s, when the film is set, and I want to thank the amazing contributions from the Northern Rivers community, we couldn’t have made it without them. We hope by sharing these stories we contribute to the conversation of empathy with the overall intention of empowerment.”
Naomi Fryer, 2019 Master of Arts Screen graduate
The End, The Beginning made its Australian debut at Flickerfest, shortly following its world premiere at Uppsala Short Film Festival in Sweden.
“I am so pleased and humbled to have received this award. Writing the score for ‘The End, The Beginning’ was a labour of love spanning almost two years. One of my earliest conversations with Archie and Alicia, we were discussing music in film and how they want to create a story with music playing a central character. How pleased I was when this evolved into a Masters’ capstone film, and how lucky I was to spend time closely collaborating with them on some incredibly fun music—I’m still feeling smug that they let me write a Morriccone-inspired, yee-haw western cue with a gorgeous, gun-slingin’ electric guitar solo (played by James Mountain, MA Screen Music 2020). My experience working on this film taught me how to hone my collaborative skills, my compositional proclivities and to more-deeply understand the storytelling power of music in screen stories. My thanks must be extended to my collaborators Archie Chew (director), Alicia Easaw-Mamutil (producer), Sam Herriman (screenwriter) and Xanthe Dobbie (editor) for bringing this story to life, as well as Cameron Patrick, Greg Wise, Geir Brillian for their knowledge and support throughout the process—not to mention the incredible musicians who came in to play for our sessions. More importantly, however, this award has really allowed me to remember why it is so important to keep creating and sharing screen stories when the world needs them most.”
Jorde Heys, 2019 Master of Arts Screen graduate
The concept of the film was developed by director Archie Chew with fellow 2019 Master of Arts Screen graduates, producer Alicia Easaw-Mamutil and writer Samuel Herriman, who worked on the film alongside a team of current students and recent alumni, including cinematographer Nick Najdov (Master of Arts Screen, 2019; Diploma in Camera, 2017), editor Xanthe Dobbie (Master of Arts Screen, 2019), third assistant director Peter Skinner (Master of Arts Screen, 2019; Graduate Diploma in Directing, 2013), sound recordists Tahira Donohoe-Bales (Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production, 2018) and Jeremy Nicholas (Master of Arts Screen, 2019), first assistant cameraperson Bebi Zekirovski (Graduate Certificate Screen: Cinematography, 2017; Diploma in Camera Fundamentals, 2016), second assistant cameraperson Jamie McVicker (Master of Arts Screen, 2019), assistant editor Hannah Smith (Diploma in Editing, 2017) and colourist Michael Angelis (Graduate Certificate Screen: Cinematography, 2017).
“So happy for Jorde. Just the start of what will be much-deserved recognition for his extraordinary talent I'm sure! Jorde the world is at your feet. Hopefully exposure such as this puts your name in front of other filmmakers who can hear what an asset you would be to their creative teams.”
Cameron Patrick, AFTRS’ Head of Screen Music
“Huge Flickerfest kudos for AFTRS MAS alumni Naomi Fryer (Best Directing, ‘This River’) and Jorde Heys (Original Music, ‘The End, The Beginning’). Naomi's This River makes the audience think- emotionally, intellectually politically. This is great recognition for both their awesome craft and powerful voices!”
Rowan Woods, AFTRS’ Head of Directing
Both films were selected to screen at the festival alongside 45 other AFTRS student and alumni films. Flickerfest is now taking its program on the road, touring all states and territories nationwide.
The awards were announced at Flickerfest’s closing night ceremony on 31 January. See the full list of winners here.
This River
Producers: Naomi Fryer, Katherine Shearer
Cinematographer/data wrangler: Ehran Edwards (Master of Arts Screen, 2019)
Production designer: Jess C.Wheatley
Costume designer: Loretta Egan
Editor: James A.Thomas (Master of Arts Screen, 2019)
Composer: Jenna Pratt (Graduate Certificate Screen: Music, 2018)
Sound designer: Lana Kristensen (Graduate Diploma in Sound, 2014)
Sound recordist: Steve Nossiter
Boom operator: Florian Delain
First assistant camera: Carina Burke (Graduate Certificate Screen: Cinematography, 2017)
Second assistant camera: Annie Benzie (Specialist Extension Course Certificate Cinematography, 1994), Clementine Bourke
First assistant director: Keith Heygate
Second assistant director/extras coordinator/first aid on set: Alexandra Duggan
Continuity: Isabel Macmaster
Casting director: Nicole Sullivan
Production assistants: Isabel Macmaster, Emily Page
Gaffer: Tom Keyes
Lighting assistant: Paige Hilliard
Underwater camera: Chris Bryan
Drone operator: Clayton Lloyd
Art director: Mitchell Jones (Diploma in Screen Design, 2017)
Standby props: Ara Nuri Steel, Courtney Westbrook
Set decorator: Marianna Coretti
Standby wardrobe: Dominique Klein
Costume assistant: Elka Mantscheff
Makeup designer: Reia Perkins
Makeup artist: Tracey Reeby
Makeup assistant: Rohana King, Antoinette Carse
WHS risk assessment: Gordon Waddell
Intimacy coordinator: Michela Carattini
Safety officer: Dar Davies
Unit manager: Matt Ingram
Stills photographer: David Collins
Foley artist/editor: Les Fiddess
Foley re-recording engineer: Craig Beckett
Re-recording mixer: Sam Hayward
Titles and graphics: Jonathan Kwok
Music mixer: Geir Brillian
Colourist: Justin Tran
The End, The Beginning
Director: Archie Chew (Master of Arts Screen, 2019)
Producer: Alicia Easaw-Mamutil (Master of Arts Screen, 2019)
Writer: Samuel Herriman (Master of Arts Screen, 2019)
Concept: Samuel Herriman, Archie Chew, Alicia Easaw-Mamutil
Cinematographer: Nick Najdov (Master of Arts Screen, 2019; Diploma in Camera, 2017)
Production designer: Ara Nuri Steel, Courtney Westbrook, Aracourt
Costume Design: Brianna Russell
Editor: Xanthe Dobbie (Master of Arts Screen, 2019)
Composer: Jorde Heys (Master of Arts Screen, 2019)
Sound designer and mixer/foley engineer: Nathan Turnbull
Production managers: Sal Balharrie, Felicity Sculthorpe, Gabrielle Ferguson
First assistant directors: Julian Ryan, Emma Jamvold, Lynn-Maree Danzey
Second assistant director: Sal Balharrie
Third assistant director: Peter Skinner (Master of Arts Screen, 2019; Graduate Diploma in Directing, 2013)
Continuity: Samuel Herriman (Master of Arts Screen, 2019)
Locations managers: Gabrielle Ferguson, Gary Pole
Production assistants: Vincent Power, Alec Wilson, Nathan Cleary
Costume supervisor: Frances Harvey
Costume assistant: Sue Bateman
Makeup artists: Erin Leite and Jade Diaz
Art department assistant: Mel-Annie Turner-Carlin
Sound recordists: Tahira Donohoe-Bales (Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production, 2018), Jeremy Nicholas (Master of Arts Screen, 2019)
Boom operator: Blake Williams
First assistant camera: Bebi Zekirovski (Graduate Certificate Screen: Cinematography, 2017; Diploma in Camera Fundamentals, 2016)
Second assistant camera: Jamie McVicker (Master of Arts Screen, 2019)
Gaffer: Aaron Ashwood
Grip: Tony Bosch
Best boy: Vincent Power
Grip assistant: Jeremy Nicholas (Master of Arts Screen, 2019)
Assistant editor: Hannah Smith (Diploma in Editing, 2017)
Colourist: Michael Angelis (Graduate Certificate Screen: Cinematography, 2017)
Stills photographer: Mark Chew
On-set illustrator: Judith Chew
Music mixer/recording engineer: Greir Gunnerson
Score producer: Cameron Patrick
Foley artist: Sam Grimshaw
