Illawarra filmmakers are celebrating after Finding Addison, Francisca Braithwaite’s powerful tale of adoption, won Best Short Film at last weekend’s 2024 Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts (AACTA) Awards, aka ‘the Australian Oscars’.
“The AACTA Award is a stunning trophy that’s now sitting in my studio and makes me smile every time I look at it,” Francisca said.
Inspired by a true story, Finding Addison was shot at her parents’ home in Balgownie and a Berkeley Airbnb in April 2023. The 29-minute film tells of a teenage friendship, an accidental pregnancy and a woman in search of her birth mother. Split between two time lines, it's a suspenseful drama powered by themes of identity, acceptance and forgiveness.
The founder of a women-led production company called Blue Sparrow Entertainment, Francisca wrote, produced, acted in and directed the film. In an interview after Addison's nomination last year, she told the Flame, “I love these really human, powerful female-centric stories that really make people think.”
On Saturday, February 10, Francisca attended the Gold Coast awards ceremony with her family, cast and crew, and fellow filmmakers, Finding Addison’s executive producer Nick Bolton and director of photography and executive producer Jess Milne, of Ten Alphas Films.
Winning was a big surprise.
“It was honestly such an incredible and surreal moment. I think at first I was in shock, but it was such an amazing thing to hear your film’s name called. It was like magic.”
Finding Addison is a short film but it involved a lot of talent.
“We have so many people to thank!” she said.
“I think first and foremost this film would not have been what it was without the dedication and hard work of everyone involved. So our wonderful cast and crew, Faith Martin from Faith Martin Casting, Marcus Bolton and the team at Cutting Edge who were our Post Production partners, Nick Godoy from Panavision, Freya Burkhout our composer, Screen Illawarra, Grant Brown who was such a wonderful mentor, my incredible family, Chris who was also our Unit photographer, my mum, dad, and my sister Alex, who all worked tirelessly and supported me every step of the way and all the amazing people who took the time to watch our film.
“This would not have been possible without them.”
Screen Illawarra will hold a screening night soon to showcase the work. For more information, visit www.screenillawarra.com and take a sneak peek at the trailer below.
