Last year Over took home a top prize at the Creative Wollongong Short Film Festival. Now the inclusively made local comedy is showing at Flickerfest 2025.
“Over is cheeky and fun and extra – it would really suit the Flickerfest crowd," director Duncan Ragg said. "It was shot by the water and it will be shown outside… it has a good sense of fun about it.”
Set to screen at Bondi Beach on Saturday, January 18 as part of Flickerfest's 'Best Of Australian Shorts' program, Over stars young actor James Carey, who plays a boy with a disability who takes a stand to save the world. After stealing his dad’s boat, he comically refuses to return to shore as his dad (played by Adam Dunn) pleads from the sidelines.
Co-directors Duncan Ragg and Anna Phillips worked alongside producer Isabella Debbage to create the inclusive and hilarious film, which focuses on father-son relationships and on-screen diversity for people with disabilities.
“We’re really proud of this one,” Duncan said.
“When making short films, the production value doesn't matter, it matters that it feels like there’s a generosity of spirit and a sense of play.
“I’ve spent years making films, often with artists with disabilities, because you tend to get much more interesting ideas from people who might not have gotten a chance to share ideas before.”
The film made its debut last September at the Creative Wollongong Short Film Festival after receiving support from Screen Illawarra, Bus Stop Films and Wollongong City Council.
“The team just grew and grew and grew,” Duncan said.
“It started with a very small idea – ‘Let’s make something with James, because James is an amazing actor’ – and then somehow it grew to having 40 extras and a team of 30-something.
“Awesome things happen when people get excited about an idea and you have a community like the Illawarra who are really keen to make things and be involved."
The chair of Screen Illawarra, Nick Bolton, congratulated the local filmmakers whose work has been selected for Flickerfest 2025.
“From over a thousand submissions, to be selected is a huge achievement," Nick said, "and clearly shows there is a thriving film ecosystem here, competing against our better resourced urban friends!"
Just over 200 local and international shorts made the final cut and will be screened from January 17 to 26 at Bondi Pavilion's lawn cinema and indoor theatre.
“I encourage readers to attend the festival," Nick said. "On a balmy summer evening at Bondi, watching the best of Australian talent under the stars is a very special experience.”
Duncan has been making theatre and films for 15 years. Through his study at NIDA and production company, The Corinthian Food Store, he has gathered a passionate group of collaborators.
“Collaborating in film is a beautiful way of following up on ideas, but also creating a really close-knit community of people who like making things together," Duncan said.
“We’ve had a lot of luck in finding really excellent people to work with – one of those people being James Carey who’s just a force of nature.”
Duncan and James's previous collaboration on the short film Mine Mine Mine was a huge success, touring film festivals all over the world.
“You make short films for many different reasons, but this one was specifically to get eyes on James’ acting talent,” Duncan said.
“Anna and I wrote a lot of [Over] with James. We had a meeting and I pitched the idea to James pretty early on.
“James spoke about wanting to save the world and the ways that he’d do it – and one of the things that came up was his hero, [singer-songwriter] Damien Leith. From those talks with James, we grew the specifics of the idea for the film.”
Over will be screened at Flickerfest on Saturday, January 18 at 4pm.
Duncan and Anna are now working on a theatre piece for MerrigongX called Public Access. The immersive work aims to transform Wollongong Library, where it will be performed in October.
Tickets for Public Access are available via Merrigong.
