Surrounded by family violence, ten-year old James uses the power of his imagination as a sanctuary for himself, his brother and mother from a disturbing reality.

Interview with Writer/Director Chris Busuttil and Producer Jessica Pearce

Watch Superheroes here:

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

Chris: I made this film because I always wanted to explore the deep connection a child can have with their imagination, particularly how imagination can be used as a survival tool in horrible circumstances.

Jess: I felt the film told an important story about not only children’s imagination but the duality of emotion and how we deal with that.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

Chris: I believe Superheroes has a unique approach to other films in this genre. Superheroes delves deep into the imagination of a young boy and gives the audience a visual representation of how it is used as a coping mechanism in a house dominated by family violence.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

Chris: I am lucky to have not been brought up in a family violence household, but my personal connection in this film comes in the form of a child connecting to their imagination. At times as a kid, I found it difficult to make and maintain friendships and often relied on my imagination and sense of play to keep me entertained through childhood.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

Chris: During the screenwriting phase of the film I was very fortunate to work closely with Rodney Vlais from the Luke Batty Foundation. Rodney's collaboration was not only vital in shaping the story as a whole, but particularly Rodney's experience dealing with perpetrators of violence really helped shape the challenges and the direction of the father character in the film.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Chris: The feedback thus far has been very positive, a lot of people have been commenting the unique approach of combining live action and animation elements together and how it beautifully translates to a child and their imagination.

Jess: We have been really grateful for the positive feedback we have received. It has also been incredible to watch the conversations that spark from people seeing the film. I would see that and as measure of success.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

Chris: The feedback has not surprised or challenged my or the film's point of view.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

Chris: When it comes to social issues, I think it's important to have content available for everyone to see that can challenge mindsets, stereotypes and hopefully spark effective conversation.

Jess: It is great to be on a platform that brings so many film makers together no matter their level or experience to share their work.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

Jess: We would love there to be distributors or buyers in the realm of short film release. However, our aim is to also utilise the film in educational packages.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

Chris: I would like to think that Superheroes can have the impact of conveying the possibility of change with issues surrounding family violence.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Jess: We have already seen that the film can spark debate and help bring the conversations of Family and Domestic violence to the foreground.

Would you like to add anything else?

Jess: Collaborating with Chris and working in animation has been a unique and fulfilling experience that we look forward to seeing more success for the film and more films!

What are the key creatives developing or working on now?

Chris: I am currently writing my debut feature film as well as developing some other short form projects.

Jess: Running Panda Films is working on a release strategies for our short films at the moment including Boy Saviour, Barren and Superheroes as well as multiple Feature Films.

Interview: May 2017

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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

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Superheroes

Surrounded by family violence, ten-year old James uses the power of his imagination as a sanctuary for himself, his brother and mother from a disturbing reality.

Length: 7 mins

Director: Chris Busuttil

Producer: Jessica Pearce, Chris Busuttil

Writer: Chris Busutill

About the writer, director and producer:

Director Bio:

Chris Busuttil is a Melbourne based writer/director. His short film "What's on your mind?" represented Australia at the 2015 Global Road Safety Film Festival, winning 'Best Film' in the Asian/Pacific region. It went on to screen in cinemas around Melbourne and broadcasted nationally around Australia.

In 2013 he wrote/directed his award winning animated short 'Second Chance’ screened at the Melbourne International Animation Festival and was nominated for ‘Best Animation’ at the St Kilda Film Festival.

Producer Bio:

Jessica is an internationally recognised Melbourne Based Producer. In 2014, Jessica founded the production company, Running Panda Films which began with it’s first feature film The Legend of Ben Hall. The Legend of Ben Hall is an award-winning film theatrically released in 2016 to audience praise and rave industry reviews.

Running Panda continued with web series, Waiting on Sound which garnered Official Selection at the Toronto Webfest 2016. Also receiving acclaim for their short films, Past the Second Stage which featured in multiple International Film Festivals including Cannes, Austin and Omaha. Co Production, Nathan Loves Ricky Martin was nominated for Sydney International Film Festival Dendy Award, 2016 AACTA Short Film Award and won Best Film at 2017 Peninsula Film Festival. Their most recent work Boy Saviour has been shortlisted for 2017 Lexus Fellowship and they have three more short films entering the film circuit with Barren, Superheroes and The Shadow.

Jessica and the Running Panda team are currently in development on a slate of feature and short film content including The Legend Trilogy, Bubblegum, Dee-Brief: A Comedy Web Series and The Trail.

Key cast: Noah Cochrane, Keiran Cochrane, Michala Banas, Arthur Angel

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Film Festival Director, Sales Agents, Journalists

Social media handles:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/superheroesshortfilm/

Made in association with: The Luke Batty Foundation

Where can I see it in the next month?

Sydney Film Festivalhttp://tix.sff.org.au/html/s_Superheroes.htm