LIGHTSWITCH : A STORY HAS TO BE LIVED BEFORE IT CAN BE TOLD
OVERVIEW :
Production Year : 2009
Director : Emma Keltie
Writer : Natalie Krikowa, Penny Glasswell
With : Lara Dignam (Danielle), Kylie Watson (Shauna), Jay Laga'aia (Bo)
Country : Australia
Genre : Romance, Drama, Short
Runtime : 25 minutes
Original Title : Lightswitch
SUMMARY :
While she’s coming back to her place on her cycle, Danielle has an accident. When she regains consciousness, she gets into the first bar she comes across to be helped. In there, she meets Shauna, a young and attractive woman, who looks after her injuries.
Shauna drives Danielle home on her bike. A few days later, the two young women see each other again and get to know each other. Desirability grows between them and their story begins…
REVIEW :
Lightswitch is a short, which can be watched and appreciated as if it was a feature film. The frame is just brilliant and I think the director, as well as being extremely talented, was perfectly assisted by a director of photography, who knows her work. And there are these beautiful Australian landscapes, which let the camera tame them.
The story is well-written and well-presented as well. Ok the unexpected meeting at the grocery is too much and we smile ahead of such a welcomed coincidence, but the dialogues and Shauna’s smile totally make us melt. So we really don’t care about credibility. Rides on motorcycle and strolls in the beautiful Australian sceneries make us dreaming.
We feel this burgeoning attraction between the two heroines and we can’t wait for them to realize the obvious. The love scene is well-shot, on a different way from what we are used to, and not forgot, even if this is a short film. The director took the time to install things and the story and she was right.
The two actresses are perfect and play right and in a modest way. I really liked the character of Shauna, strong, smart and sensitive. She made choices and realize, in living, that it’s not so easy. We feel her wondering and her doubts through the acting, it’s really well done.
A really great short, thanks to which we discover talented writers, director and actresses. For your information, the crew and cast is between 21 and 26 years old and the older, Kylie Watson, who plays Shauna, is only aged of 30. The new generation of Australian cinema is here !
PRESS REVIEWS & AWARDS :
Official Selection, Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 2009.
Official Selection, Baltimore Women’s Film Festival, 2009.
Official Selection, Hamburg International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 2009.
Official Selection, Paris International Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival, 2009.
Official Selection, Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, 2009.
Official Selection, Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival, 2009.
Official Selection, Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, 2009.
Official Selection, New York International Independent Film & Video Festival, 2009.
Official Selection, Byron Bay Queer Fruits Film Festival, 2009.
TAGLINE :
DANIELLE : A story is more than just words on a page.
SHAUNA : So Princess…
DANIELLE : It’s Danielle.
SHAUNA : Hey you. Princess Danielle, I’m Shauna.
SHAUNA : Come on, let’s go.
DANIELLE : What ?
SHAUNA : I give you a ride.
DANIELLE : No that’s fine.
SHAUNA : Seriously, it’s not every day I get to rescue a Princess in distress.
DANIELLE : A story as to be lived before it can be told.
Isabelle B. Price (September 2009) - English Version Magali Lehane
