Tribeca Has My Heart
Words by Josie
18 December 2024
Last year, Annelise Hickey’s short film, Hafekasi, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Annelise and Josie (Hafekasi’s Producer), made the trip to the Big Apple to experience the festival. Below are some musings…..
Annelise
“When I got the call from Tribeca, one of the shorts program selectors called me and said that the head of program selection really identified with the film because he was Hafekasi in his own way. So I thought the story must of made sense for New York, which is also similar to Melbourne being a melting pot of different cultures. But we didn’t think that it would go into having the success that it did.”
Josie
“I think going into the festival, I underestimated how big Tribeca was going to be for the film and our careers. I learnt a lot, very quickly, about how much impact film festivals like this one could have, for launching film careers in a really big way. The biggest thing I think it gave us was the confidence to continue on this path.”
Meeting the other Filmmakers
Josie
“The first time I remember meeting the rest of the short filmmakers we were on that red carpet at the premiere, and we were incredibly nervous. And it was Anno’s birthday…..”
Annelise
“….It was my birthday, and it was just the most intimidating moment ever, taking professional photos. But everyone in our block was so encouraging and then we just bonded so quickly, didn’t we?”
Josie
“Everyone was cheering on each other and it was just such a different energy (to Australia), like there was space for everybody.”
Annelise
“Everyone lifted each other up instead of being competitive because we all had really great things to say but no two of those stories were the same and I think we all realised that we weren’t competition. We still connect and speak to those filmmakers today, and I think we’ve made lifelong friends and industry peers through the experience.”
What makes a ‘Tribeca’ Short?
Annelise
“We discovered that all of the films that we saw at Tribeca all had something to say and were things that you don’t necessarily see time and time again. So I think that made me realise, yeah, if you’re going to make a short film you better have something good to say that no one else is saying.”
Josie
“I think that saying less is more and just having one clear thing that you’re trying to say that is rooted in honesty of your own experience was the key thing that every single film had. And in fact, I would say that craft came second in some of the films to story and theme.”
Moments that mattered
Josie
“There were so many ‘favourite moments’ for me. It felt like the whole thing was a dream. I think from the day we arrived it just felt like I was living outside of my body. Running on adrenaline and excitement. Interestingly, I felt like we saw way less films than I expected, but went to way more networking events and parties.
Every single day from 3 PM onwards there was an hourly event on the hub rooftop. Each hour, there would be a different meet and greet event and we’d rest for five minutes, eat some food, and then go back out to the next one.
Eating dirty pizza at 1 AM in our red carpet fits was definitely a moment I’ll never forget though….”
Annelise
“For me, some of the best moments were the reactions to the film. Having like people come up to us after the film – I had a lot of people come up crying or really affected by the film because it was them and their mother or them and their father or they felt like an outsider and that was pretty special.
I realised through this, like why we tell stories, you know. Yeah. And it’s not just for me, it’s for other people to feel like seen and heard. And yeah, like you’re not alone in your own narrative. If that was something you connect with.
And probably like another layer was my mum and stepdad came to Tribeca. And the story is obviously about a mother and a daughter. We had a Q and A after the screening and it was kind of hard to talk about the film while mum was in the audience, but it was so beautiful
They (Tribeca) really treat you like royalty and like you are a serious artist and that was something I’d never experienced before. That was pretty special.”
Learning and growing
Annelise
“The main thing I think we took away from the experience is an understanding of the possibilities ahead. It felt like, all right, if we wanted to go and live in America and become a director and producer duo – that’s possible. We’ve made all these great connections with people who are way further up the food chain than we are and you could actually hustle and make it happen. And become something bigger than whatever I thought I could be. You know, like shit’s possible.”
Josie
“I think for me it’s similar. It’s about understanding that we are on the right track. When you’re ‘in it’ it can be really hard to know if what you’re doing is helping move you forward, but I do think festivals give you the validation, and the confidence, to keep going.
I actually think that’s really important, particularly I think for us, who do second-guess ourselves a lot and like don’t always have the confidence to believe in ourselves as much as we should.”
Annelise
“To be honest, I didn’t feel like my voice mattered. And having our film play at Tribeca and other film festivals has taught me that actually my voice does matter. So that’s a great feeling internally – and externally, it’s connected me to a lot more people who have similar life experiences or connect to the story, from all different parts of the world.
The story is about someone living in between, being an outsider. And what’s great about the film is it’s meant that I’ve connected with other outsiders. And that’s beautiful.”
Hafekasi went on to screen at MIFF, BFI London, Hawaii International Film Festival, Palm Springs, BIFF, St Kilda, CSFF, Cinefest Oz, Stellar Film Festival and others.
