Calling the Shots

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NITV’s Around the Traps report on the launch of Calling the Shots at ACMI in 2015.

Delivering one of the most significant community arts and cultural development programs in the Mildura region, Phunktional connected young people from diverse backgrounds with film-making professionals to create three broadcast-quality short films.

Between 2010 & 2015, Artistic Director Gerard Veltre and professional guest artists travelled to Mildura on a regular basis to facilitate ongoing arts workshops and provide artistic expertise. Project participants included youth from indigenous, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD), and non-indigenous backgrounds in the Mildura region. The social issues explored during the project included bullying, depression, racism, drug use, risk-taking behaviour and relationships in marginalised rural settings.

The Calling the Shots program included:

• Skills development workshops in dance, music, script writing and drama
• Season of live performances
• Making of three short films: Ankle Breakers, For Stacey & Picking the Musical

Calling the Shots supported the creative self-expression of otherwise marginalised young voices, and supported the development of confidence and skills in the participants in a way that no other program in Mildura had done before. The project also supported the development of positive relationships between the young participants and their wider community.

On May 2nd 2015, these films were showcased at ACMI and the event was opened by Noel Tovey AM with Wesley Enoch as MC and panel host. Additional screenings of the films at ACMI were on May 16th and May 30th, 2015.

Since then, the films have featured in numerous international film festivals and have won international awards. They are now available as part of Virgin in Flight Entertainment Network:

	Official Selection ‘Picking the Musical’
	Award Winner ‘For Stacey’ 2015 Merit Award of Awareness
	Award Winner ‘Picking the Musical’ 2015 Winner for: Best expressing the sweetness of life
	Official Selection ‘Ankle Breakers’
	Official Selection ‘Picking the Musical’
	Official Selection ‘Picking the Musical’
	Official Selection ‘For Stacey’
	Official Selection ‘For Stacey’, ‘Ankle Breakers’, ‘Picking the Musical’