Made in the West Film Festival celebrates western Sydney’s best short films

It is a film festival celebrating creatives from western Sydney who say they have to work twice as hard to prove themselves in the industry. Discover how you can support the talent in the city’s west.

Hello, My Name is Mother Nature cast and crew: Nataly Thomson, Diana Caicedo, Kasey Medeiros, Pamela Manos, Darcy Caroll, Emily Sutcliffe, Chantelle Yaa, Khoa Tran

For aspiring Casula filmmaker Pamela Manos, creating stories about the communities of western Sydney is something she’s championed for since she left university.

The Western Sydney University alumni won the audience choice award at the annual Made in the West film festival last year for her university project ‘Hello, my name is Mother Nature’ – a comedic look at the elements harming the environment.

Ms Manos said western Sydney creatives had to work twice as hard to prove themselves in the entertainment industry as people “still have a stigma on what happens out west”.

“We sometimes have more struggles out here and we have a drive to show that we can do anything,” she said.

She said growing up in western Sydney “exposes you to so many things” and created a “good storyboard” to tell stories from the coal face of the suburbs.

Hello, My Name is Mother Nature cast and crew: Nataly Thomson, Diana Caicedo, Kasey Medeiros, Pamela Manos, Darcy Caroll, Emily Sutcliffe, Chantelle Yaa, Khoa Tran

“I have a Greek background and was brought up with a lot of ethnic cultures and it creates a good storyboard of your ethnic experience and growing up as an Australian,” she said.

The festival will return to Liverpool Event Cinemas in November and showcase dozens of filmmakers and their work from across western Sydney – including Liverpool, Blacktown, Canterbury-Bankstown and Fairfield.

Still image of Hello my name is Mother Nature short film.

Ms Manos said the festival had given the community the opportunity to “see what’s created in your own backyard”.

“The event has created a great place for all filmmakers out west to come together and support and harness the talent from the area, see the experiences of living out here and put it on the big screen,” she said.

Bankstown filmmaker Kamil Domaradzki, took home the ‘Best in the West’ award last year for his film Leopard, which explored a young boy from a multicultural background coming out to his friend and the events that followed.

The 37-year-old said his project was loosely based on his friend and cousin during their time in high school at Bankstown.

Still image of Leopard short film.

He said the festival goes beyond other festivals by showing “multicultural parts of Australia and showcasing multicultural casts and crews”.

“The festival showcases the local environment. You see your local Westfield or you know the places so it’s very relatable to the audience as Australians are getting used to American shows on television,” he said.

He said it’s encouraging to see films “made in western Sydney by western Sydney”.

“People from western Sydney are some of the hardest working people in Sydney and you’re trying to cement yourself in society and I think it comes from that migrant background,” he said.

If you’re thinking about attending the festival, Mr Domaradzki said it was a chance to hear your stories finally be heard.

“It’s their stories from their own families, their friends and the community should be embracing their own stories because if no one supports (the festival) their own stories won’t be heard.

“You’ll see films you’ll never see anywhere else because without them (the film makers) the films will disappear and the stories will never be told.”