Amissa Anima
Four boys survive on the seedy night streets of St Kilda’s red-light district in the 1980’s.
Interview with Tatiana Doroshenko, David Markin, Katrina Mathers, Bernie Clifford, Julian Pocock
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
The authors grew up together in St Kilda, so they are close to this story, witnessing the long-term effects of child-abuse and neglect across generations. This project is a voice for those silenced by shame, ignorance and pain. We made this film to bring attention to these crimes as many people are silenced. As with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, we hope there will be further investigation into this period of Australia’s criminal history. There was a large media and police response at the time which is reported in the book ‘Rockspider’ but nothing significant has surfaced since the 1980’s. The Book’s author also encountered walls of silence at the time of publishing in 1999.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
We hope audiences gain understanding and emotional empathy for children and people who live on the streets, and how they experience and cope with exploitation. To gain an intimate understanding of how a child is exploited and how this unfolds, and the nature of people who commit the crime.
We also hope that people will perceive the dignity of these children, and the complexities of the struggle to gain control of their lives
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Themes of bonding and trust are explored. The boys only have each other. There are no trusted adults in their world so, like kids in “Lord of the Flies” they are forced to make their own rules.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The core story was written by David Markin, and then Tatiana Doroshenko co-wrote the screenplay. Tatiana developed the cinematic vision and style, adding magical elements, fuelled by David's content and strong sense of story. Script editor, Charlie Carman was a key player in triggering the writers to bring the character dynamics to the fore. The adult-themed material with a lead child cast, meant we had to work with the child employment office on every aspect of the script, and that also meant sections of the script that were contained in the original version of the screenplay (which had attracted some screenplay awards prior to filming), had to be edited or removed. It was a difficult and painful process but we’re so grateful to our cast and crew for their incredible flexibility to help bring the story to life.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Amazing responses and support all round. The best feedback so far, has been from people who have experienced this kind of abuse, first hand. People have shed many tears on watching it, letting us know how authentic the film is, from their POV. Hence we set warnings for triggering content at screenings.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Not really. If anything it’s been validating and satisfying to have such encouraging feedback. We hope that films like ours open up further debate and discussion about both the issues they raise, and the long-term effects on survivors and their families.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We’re obviously eager to draw more awareness of these crimes into the public eye. Hopefully having the film reach wider audiences around the world too will help to restore dignity to the children, now adults, who experienced it, and those children experiencing it now.
As producers, we believe that film can be used as a powerful tool in the fight against child pornography, sexual abuse and worldwide exploitation, as it offers an accessible way for people to emotionally connect with individual stories, and therefore consider the impacts of these experiences.
We’d like for our film to be used in educational contexts, at conferences and talks where social justice activities are focussed on research and support networks to help disadvantaged, displaced and abused children.
Being able to provide some written background and context via a platform such as this, we think will help to add value to peoples’ understanding of the film.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
To be honest, we’re interested to hear from anyone who thinks they may be able to help us get the film seen (to MA15+ audiences and older). We’re not in a position where we can ever have the film freely available online, due to the adult nature of the content, and having a child cast means we’re under strict privacy guidelines. We are not able to release images or names of any of the child-cast for example. For their protection! (Which in many ways is such a shame, as they were so incredibly good in the film. They really bonded beautifully and you can see their camaraderie on screen. They’re all much older now, but still, we do hope that other directors, casting directors, producers and worldwide production companies will see their work and cast them in other productions).
We of course also welcome contact from any festival directors, distributors, buyers, sales agents or journalists who would be interested in talking with us.
The other area we’d like to hear from is anyone working in the welfare field, counselors and researchers etc who might encounter people who’ve been through this - we would be pleased to host Q&A filmmaker discussion sessions and private screenings upon request.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
We’d like the film to contribute toward global awareness of the long term issue of child exploitation. One of our associate producers continues to work directly in researching and campaigning for social justice and education in this area and so we hope it is useful as part of this process.
“Amissa Anima” in latin, means ‘lost soul’ and we hope we can also simply connect with those who might simply appreciate the film as a self-contained story. It’s not an easy film to watch. While the content is unsettling, the film itself has a strong visual aesthetic. The historical content meant Tatiana called for classical, black and white visual execution, and we were honoured to have the highly experienced, and renowned Ellery Ryan ACS as our DOP. Every frame Ellery composes is full of beauty, and complexity.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
“Amissa Anima” is an unconventional film, covering a difficult topic, based on true events, developed and told with authenticity. We hope that people are reminded that St Kilda in Australia does have a dark past, and sadly, though around the world the way the abuse unfolds may have changed due to technology, the issue is profoundly seeded in both our history and current day.
Would you like to add anything else?
Please do like and follow our Facebook page to stay in touch with us and to track any upcoming screenings or news. facebook.com/AmissaAnimaFilm
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Tatiana has two feature scripts and some shorts in development. David has written further short screenplays, and one is currently in pre-production. The producers all have a range of new projects in various stages of production and development, and Bernie, one of the producers has also since launched a unique multi-discipline arts and music venue in Richmond in Melbourne called POME.
Interview: August 2021
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. 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
Amissa Anima
Length:
15:20
Writer
Story by David Markin. Screenplay by David Markin and Tatiana Doroshenko
DAVID MARKIN has written poetry and made experimental films. He has several screen projects, including a feature in development, and is in pre-production on a new short.
Director
TATIANA DOROSHENKO’s short films and screen works have screened around the world. Highlights include EMAF, VAD Spain Transmediale Berlin, HollyShorts; and she wrote a Tropfest finalist screenplay.
Producer
KATRINA MATHERS has been writing, producing or directing short form content and animations for many years. BERNIE CLIFFORD has also been producing shorts for years.
Key cast:
Jim Daly (Bill), Justin Hosking (Irvin), David Kara (Paul)
Looking for:
sales agents, journalists, distributors, film festival directors, buyers, producers
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AmissaAnimaFilm
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TatianaTatyas
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/tatiana.doroshenko
Hashtags used:
#amissaanima #amissaanimafilm
More info:
Where can I watch it:
Catalina Film Festival/USA - Sep 2021
HollyShorts Film Festival/USA - Sep 2021
Sedicicorto International Film Festival/Italy - Oct 2021