Farmed & Dangerous Film Fest
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Farmed & Dangerous Film Fest

 Q&A with Blake Freeman
Rural Victorian students are getting the chance to shine through the Farmed & Dangerous Film Festival, run as part of the official amateur film section of the St Kilda Film Festival and open to all Victorian students (VCAL). That’s the business side of things, now let’s get creative. To help us out, meet event manager, Blake Freeman.
Hey Blake, thanks for taking the time to chat. How are you and what are you up to right now?
I’m doing great – just finished my Uni course! I am currently working with the VCAL class down at Lorne/Aireys P12 with my mentor teacher Cherie Osta towards running our very own VCAL Film Festival: Farmed & Dangerous, in collaboration with St Kilda Film Festival. My involvement began during my teaching rounds, and has since become an ongoing side project.
Submissions are officially closed for the competition. How did it all go?
We have decided to keep submissions open until the day before screening! (This makes the new closing date 5th November.) We felt that schools may need a little more time to finish their films, especially during term four when work is due.
Having a “cow” as the subject is an interesting idea. Why a cow and not a sheep?
We decided that we needed something to make sure the films were made specifically for our festival. Why a cow? Well, to answer this you will need to venture inside the creative young minds of the Lorne VCAL class.
I guess we just kind of agreed that cows are naturally funny, and it will be interesting to see how filmmakers go about including an animal of that stature into a five-minute film.
It also opened up a world of cow-based humour for slogans… ‘make a mooo-vie’, etc.
What’s been your role in the whole competition?
As a student teacher, I’ve been given the role of event manager. This role has required me to assist students in planning for the festival, make sure everyone is on task, work collaboratively with local business guru Clayton Thompson to promote the event and help students to make connections with the local community.
Getting involved with the St Kilda Film Festival is pretty exciting. How did that all come about?
The partnership had been created prior to my involvement with the festival. Cherie Osta, VCAL teacher at the school, has developed numerous award-winning VCAL programs, and I believe this is the result of her great networking and just one of her brilliant initiatives. I think that it’s a wonderful idea to mirror what is being done in Melbourne down here on the coast.
How important is it for VCAL students to have this opportunity?
I think this is a great opportunity for VCAL students to become involved in an exciting hands-on learning project in which their hard work and creativity will be showcased at the end. The event will aim to provide a platform for this type of learning and will seek to unite all VCAL students in the region.
Why should people boycott the A Walk Among the Tombstones movie to come along to the screening?
Some of the new up-and-coming talent within our VCAL community could really give Liam Neeson a run for his money.
Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us. Is there anything you’d like to add before we finish up?
Thanks Forte for your support! I know my VCAL class really appreciate it and they are overwhelmed by how well their hard work has been recognised.
When&Where: Mantra Resort, Lorne – November 6