IT was the teenage filmmaker’s first media interview and he was excited to share news of his success.
Lachlan Fielding, 17, recently won the Best in Fest (Local) Award at this year’s Ipswich Film Festival.
“I’ve made shorts [short film clips] that I’ve posted on social media but this was my first actual short film,” he said.
“I’ve always been creative and have been working out what I want to do as a career.
“My parents said I should get a trade so I have something to fall back on and I did that through pathways offered at my high school.
“A trade is not really something I want to do long term and I really enjoy filmmaking.”
Lachlan’s now award-winning film is entitled ‘Kendrick’ and is about a boy who is trying to find his fit in the world.
“It starts with an interview where I am telling someone that I don’t know what I want to be or do with my life,” he said.
“There is a lot of pressure on young people to figure things out when they have little life experience.
“The concept of the film was to make a visual interpretation of how I feel and what it is like to feel pushed into something you don’t want to do.
“I explained it visually using doors and each door represents a career path.”
In the film, he is told to be an electrician and goes through that door then discovers he doesn’t know where he is or where he is going.
“In the middle of the film, I am running and trying to get away from that pathway,” he said.
“Towards the end of the film, I am sprinting towards a door. I go through it and meet up with myself and discover it’s where I am meant to be.”
The film has parallels with real life because he’s still figuring out what makes him happy.
“I enjoy film making and it’s certainly something I want to pursue long term,” he said.
“My parents bought me an entry level film camera and some of our close friends are helping with script writing and advice.
“I am working as an NDIS support worker while I figure out how to break into the film industry and what my next move will be.”
Ipswich City Council Economic and Cultural Development Committee Chair Cr Pye Augustine said the films were screened on the big screen at Hoyts Ipswich.
“For the past 12 years, Ipswich Film Festival for Youth has given budding filmmakers like Lachlan a platform to showcase their works,” she said.
“This year’s theme ‘Future in Focus’ attracted159 nominations and showed that young people in Ipswich and beyond are invested in the conversation about the world we live in and enthusiastic to express themselves through original and authentic visual content.”
The winners were selected by a four person judging panel of industry professionals and announced at a ceremony on October 18 with each taking home a prize.
Lachlan’s prize for winning Best in Fest (Local) was a $650 prepaid gift card.
