September 19, 2025 • 10 mins
In this Vision Australia Radio Interview Highlight from Behind the Scenes, host Chris Thompson is joined by two inspiring guests from the Focus on Ability Film Festival. Together, they explore the stories behind the festival, the incredible talent it showcases, and what audiences can look forward to this year.
As Vision Australia Radio proudly returns as a media partner, this conversation offers a great preview of the creativity and passion driving one of the most important celebrations of disability and inclusion in film.
Tune in to Vision Australia Radio for more updates on Focus on Ability Film Festival 2025.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:13):
Thanks, Chris. I've really enjoyed talking to you.
S2 (00:20):
Well, believe it or not, for the 17th year, the
Focus on Ability Short Film Festival is back. This is
the festival that invites short filmmakers or filmmakers of short films,
I should say, from all over the world to submit
their films. As long as they've got a focus on
(00:42):
celebrating the achievements, creativity and resilience of people with disability.
It's a fantastic festival. It's got screening dates all over
the country, which I'll tell you about in a moment.
But before I do, we're going to meet a couple
of the filmmakers. Our first one is Sally Newman, and
(01:02):
Sally has made a really beautiful, poetic film called Vitrified
Changes of the mind. Let's hear her talk about it.
Welcome to the show, Sally.
S3 (01:11):
Thank you for having me.
S2 (01:13):
Ah, before we talk about the film, defined vitrified for
us because understanding that word helps us understand the film. Really?
S3 (01:22):
Yeah, definitely. So vitrified is the process of sand becoming glass,
and it's the heat that we need to change the
formation of something.
S2 (01:34):
And those elements, those elements sand, glass and the nature
of change are really intrinsic to this film, aren't they?
S3 (01:44):
Absolutely. And so when I did this film, it had
a strong mental health theme, but also wanted to look
at any kind of disability. And a lot of, um,
illnesses that are generational and that can be genetic or
passed down and the, the lived experience from one generation
to the next within that. And so for me, it
(02:06):
was also a big question of adding time as an
element that those factors really define who we are. Um,
but through time and change, it can create, as you
said in your opening, that resilience as well.
S2 (02:21):
And it's a it's really a solo performance. This piece,
captured on film with some beautiful poetic language and great imagery.
Tell me about the performer.
S3 (02:34):
Thank you. So Tate Bennett is a WA actor and
one of those triple threat actors. As I as I say,
he's a very talented on stage and film and both
musically as well and dramatic performance, as you see in
The Little Short. When I approached Tate to see if
he'd be interested, I said, it's a very fluid sort
of style. We had a storyboard, but we also just
(02:54):
wanted to capture the vulnerability of not having too much
of the film laid out for him. So I was
just going to give him, giving him the emotion and
seeing where he naturally would take it. And I was
just so impressed with the, the, uh, what's the word
I'm looking for? I guess the, the depth of how
(03:15):
he could interpret feeling like he was bigger than his
body should be and having the emotions. And I guess
that that harshness of that heat within us that we
just want to explode from. Hence the representation of vitrified,
where we physically just want to break out of our
body that might be failing us.
S2 (03:33):
Yeah. Um, and I don't want to give too much
away because it is a lovely piece to watch, and
there are a couple of surprises in it. So answer
to the best of your ability with no spoilers. Sally.
Tell me about your choice to use color and not
(03:53):
color in really interesting and powerful ways.
S3 (03:58):
Thank you. Thank you for the compliment on that. I
think for me, using the breakdown of the black and
white versus the color in the film was to really represent.
I personally live with miss, and sometimes we have that
hidden disability within us as well. And it doesn't get seen.
And so for me that sort of represented the black
and white aspect of the film. And when we are
(04:19):
finally validated and we find our own strengths, then we
first have to see color around us, I suppose. So
we have to be strong enough with who we are
before we can see vibrance in our own world. And
then from there, hopefully others will see vibrance in us.
I guess that's where it came from.
S2 (04:36):
Mm. And are you going to the screening on the
18th of September in Fremantle?
S3 (04:41):
I will, I've been to a couple of screenings now
and no employment. Always do such a fantastic day for
us so we can celebrate with our peers in the
industry as well. And I think it's about the fifth
one that I've been to now in Perth. So really
excited to see some familiar faces as well, and to
to reconnect with some other local filmmakers.
S2 (04:59):
And you're an entrant in the short film category. When
do you find out the outcome of that?
S3 (05:06):
I think from memory, it's around mid-October. I think for
me to do all the screenings around Australia first, and
then they have the big awards day, which unfortunately I
can't get to this year, which is in the East Coast,
have been fortunate enough to go to one in the
very early days of my filmmaking. Um, I got to
go across and celebrate on the at the big gala,
but this year I won't be. So I think it's
(05:27):
a few weeks away yet before we find out how
we've gone.
S2 (05:29):
Ah well, fingers crossed for you, Sally Newman. Um, we're
going to talk to another filmmaker in a moment. But, Sally,
thanks for being on the show.
S3 (05:40):
Yeah, really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for
having me.
S2 (05:43):
Well, another entrant in the Focus on Ability Festival, this
time in the documentary section, um, is a film called
Unbreakable Stride by Violeta Abazu, who is on the line
to chat to us about that. Welcome to the show, Vee.
S1 (06:01):
Hi, Chris. Thanks for having me.
S2 (06:02):
Um, wow, what a really confronting but positive and uplifting film. Uh,
this is. Tell us about Baxter.
S1 (06:12):
So, Baxter. I met her through, I run, uh, I run, uh,
it's called mingle. Co their events for for the neurodivergent
community to connect and form friendships. And she happened to
attend my one of the events last year and, um,
I was talking to her and she was happy to
tell me her story or part of her story, so
(06:33):
I invited her to the podcast. At that stage, I
was looking at, um, you know, creating a community here
in Adelaide. And that's how I thought about, you know,
the podcast. She was the she was actually my first
guest when I heard her story on the podcast. I
had like goosebumps. I was excited, I was like, you
know how humans are so resilient. Yeah. And her interview
(06:58):
was so raw that it was just, yeah, I was
I had all these feelings. I was so excited. I
was like, this is beautiful. And, um, that's, you know,
through a few months later, I meet another neurodivergent lady
and she tells me about this director, Yogi. No, actually,
I did see the focus on ability. And I thought, oh,
that would be a dream for me because, you know,
(07:18):
as a child, I always, you know, I was going
to study film, um, this year, and I was like,
I would love to be there. How do I do this?
And that's how I met, um, one person to another
and got to meet, uh, Yogi York, which is a director,
and I. Yeah, I talked to Baxter about, you know, um,
(07:38):
you know, having it in a short documentary, and she
was up for it, and so was Yogi. And, you know,
I really wanted him to, uh, be my point of
view because I wanted, um, neurodivergent people to be celebrated
and to tell her story. But at the end, you know,
to be celebrated because she had come a long way
after her late diagnosis. You know, all her life she
(07:58):
had been, you know, misdiagnosed and, you know, uh, you know, misunderstood, uh,
feeling like she's so complicated and then, you know, she
finds out she has ADHD with autism. And, you know,
then she has to grieve and go through this, um,
sort of acceptance. And it was just her story was beautiful,
and I wanted other people to see that and feel
(08:20):
like they belong.
S2 (08:21):
Mm. There's a really there's a really kind of great energy, um,
in this little doco, I can't work out whether it's
Baxter herself or the story. Which one is the more compelling?
And maybe that's what makes the documentary so good, is
that those two things really come together to make that
(08:44):
story leap off the screen. Really?
S1 (08:47):
Yeah. Well, if, you know, if you meet Baxter, she
comes off as a very, just, honest person. This is
who I am. And, um, you know, as I was
talking about Neurodivergence, a lot of people are asking if
she just got to the point where, like, I'm not
masking anymore and this is who I am, and I'm
starting to love myself now, and, you know, like a
role model to other people as well. And, um, yeah,
(09:08):
she has this to me. She was she's a beautiful human,
a beautiful me and her have a really good connection. And, um. Yeah,
she's been going, you know, after the doc. Well, after
she met me, the documentary, and, you know, the podcast,
she went on to do modeling, and it's now she's
an educator and she's a really proud advocator. So, um, yeah,
we'll be working together as well with the other the
(09:29):
women's event that, um, that I host here in Adelaide. So, yeah,
I'm looking forward to see, where Dexter takes her to journey. Really?
S2 (09:38):
Well, let's keep our fingers crossed for the outcome of
the documentary award. The screenings for Focus on Ability Short
Film Festival. Um, yours is in Adelaide on Wednesday the
17th of September. We already spoke with Sally about the
Fremantle screening, uh, on the Thursday the 18th. And then
(10:00):
you've got to wait till the 7th of October for
the Melbourne screening, when we'll find out the outcome of
all those nominations. V congratulations on the film. Um, and
thanks for making the time to be on the show.
S1 (10:14):
Thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much.
S2 (10:16):
Thank you to both you and Sally.
S1 (10:17):
Thank you so much.
S2 (10:19):
Well, that's us out of time. Thanks to our guests tonight,
Helen Simonson, Gillian O'Shaughnessy, Alison Booth, Kate Grenville, Sally Newman,
Violetta Basua. And thanks to Mark Ridout for producing. Talk
to you next week. Bye.
Thanks, Chris. I've really enjoyed talking to you.
S2 (00:20):
Well, believe it or not, for the 17th year, the
Focus on Ability Short Film Festival is back. This is
the festival that invites short filmmakers or filmmakers of short films,
I should say, from all over the world to submit
their films. As long as they've got a focus on
(00:42):
celebrating the achievements, creativity and resilience of people with disability.
It's a fantastic festival. It's got screening dates all over
the country, which I'll tell you about in a moment.
But before I do, we're going to meet a couple
of the filmmakers. Our first one is Sally Newman, and
(01:02):
Sally has made a really beautiful, poetic film called Vitrified
Changes of the mind. Let's hear her talk about it.
Welcome to the show, Sally.
S3 (01:11):
Thank you for having me.
S2 (01:13):
Ah, before we talk about the film, defined vitrified for
us because understanding that word helps us understand the film. Really?
S3 (01:22):
Yeah, definitely. So vitrified is the process of sand becoming glass,
and it's the heat that we need to change the
formation of something.
S2 (01:34):
And those elements, those elements sand, glass and the nature
of change are really intrinsic to this film, aren't they?
S3 (01:44):
Absolutely. And so when I did this film, it had
a strong mental health theme, but also wanted to look
at any kind of disability. And a lot of, um,
illnesses that are generational and that can be genetic or
passed down and the, the lived experience from one generation
to the next within that. And so for me, it
(02:06):
was also a big question of adding time as an
element that those factors really define who we are. Um,
but through time and change, it can create, as you
said in your opening, that resilience as well.
S2 (02:21):
And it's a it's really a solo performance. This piece,
captured on film with some beautiful poetic language and great imagery.
Tell me about the performer.
S3 (02:34):
Thank you. So Tate Bennett is a WA actor and
one of those triple threat actors. As I as I say,
he's a very talented on stage and film and both
musically as well and dramatic performance, as you see in
The Little Short. When I approached Tate to see if
he'd be interested, I said, it's a very fluid sort
of style. We had a storyboard, but we also just
(02:54):
wanted to capture the vulnerability of not having too much
of the film laid out for him. So I was
just going to give him, giving him the emotion and
seeing where he naturally would take it. And I was
just so impressed with the, the, uh, what's the word
I'm looking for? I guess the, the depth of how
(03:15):
he could interpret feeling like he was bigger than his
body should be and having the emotions. And I guess
that that harshness of that heat within us that we
just want to explode from. Hence the representation of vitrified,
where we physically just want to break out of our
body that might be failing us.
S2 (03:33):
Yeah. Um, and I don't want to give too much
away because it is a lovely piece to watch, and
there are a couple of surprises in it. So answer
to the best of your ability with no spoilers. Sally.
Tell me about your choice to use color and not
(03:53):
color in really interesting and powerful ways.
S3 (03:58):
Thank you. Thank you for the compliment on that. I
think for me, using the breakdown of the black and
white versus the color in the film was to really represent.
I personally live with miss, and sometimes we have that
hidden disability within us as well. And it doesn't get seen.
And so for me that sort of represented the black
and white aspect of the film. And when we are
(04:19):
finally validated and we find our own strengths, then we
first have to see color around us, I suppose. So
we have to be strong enough with who we are
before we can see vibrance in our own world. And
then from there, hopefully others will see vibrance in us.
I guess that's where it came from.
S2 (04:36):
Mm. And are you going to the screening on the
18th of September in Fremantle?
S3 (04:41):
I will, I've been to a couple of screenings now
and no employment. Always do such a fantastic day for
us so we can celebrate with our peers in the
industry as well. And I think it's about the fifth
one that I've been to now in Perth. So really
excited to see some familiar faces as well, and to
to reconnect with some other local filmmakers.
S2 (04:59):
And you're an entrant in the short film category. When
do you find out the outcome of that?
S3 (05:06):
I think from memory, it's around mid-October. I think for
me to do all the screenings around Australia first, and
then they have the big awards day, which unfortunately I
can't get to this year, which is in the East Coast,
have been fortunate enough to go to one in the
very early days of my filmmaking. Um, I got to
go across and celebrate on the at the big gala,
but this year I won't be. So I think it's
(05:27):
a few weeks away yet before we find out how
we've gone.
S2 (05:29):
Ah well, fingers crossed for you, Sally Newman. Um, we're
going to talk to another filmmaker in a moment. But, Sally,
thanks for being on the show.
S3 (05:40):
Yeah, really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for
having me.
S2 (05:43):
Well, another entrant in the Focus on Ability Festival, this
time in the documentary section, um, is a film called
Unbreakable Stride by Violeta Abazu, who is on the line
to chat to us about that. Welcome to the show, Vee.
S1 (06:01):
Hi, Chris. Thanks for having me.
S2 (06:02):
Um, wow, what a really confronting but positive and uplifting film. Uh,
this is. Tell us about Baxter.
S1 (06:12):
So, Baxter. I met her through, I run, uh, I run, uh,
it's called mingle. Co their events for for the neurodivergent
community to connect and form friendships. And she happened to
attend my one of the events last year and, um,
I was talking to her and she was happy to
tell me her story or part of her story, so
(06:33):
I invited her to the podcast. At that stage, I
was looking at, um, you know, creating a community here
in Adelaide. And that's how I thought about, you know,
the podcast. She was the she was actually my first
guest when I heard her story on the podcast. I
had like goosebumps. I was excited, I was like, you
know how humans are so resilient. Yeah. And her interview
(06:58):
was so raw that it was just, yeah, I was
I had all these feelings. I was so excited. I
was like, this is beautiful. And, um, that's, you know,
through a few months later, I meet another neurodivergent lady
and she tells me about this director, Yogi. No, actually,
I did see the focus on ability. And I thought, oh,
that would be a dream for me because, you know,
(07:18):
as a child, I always, you know, I was going
to study film, um, this year, and I was like,
I would love to be there. How do I do this?
And that's how I met, um, one person to another
and got to meet, uh, Yogi York, which is a director,
and I. Yeah, I talked to Baxter about, you know, um,
(07:38):
you know, having it in a short documentary, and she
was up for it, and so was Yogi. And, you know,
I really wanted him to, uh, be my point of
view because I wanted, um, neurodivergent people to be celebrated
and to tell her story. But at the end, you know,
to be celebrated because she had come a long way
after her late diagnosis. You know, all her life she
(07:58):
had been, you know, misdiagnosed and, you know, uh, you know, misunderstood, uh,
feeling like she's so complicated and then, you know, she
finds out she has ADHD with autism. And, you know,
then she has to grieve and go through this, um,
sort of acceptance. And it was just her story was beautiful,
and I wanted other people to see that and feel
(08:20):
like they belong.
S2 (08:21):
Mm. There's a really there's a really kind of great energy, um,
in this little doco, I can't work out whether it's
Baxter herself or the story. Which one is the more compelling?
And maybe that's what makes the documentary so good, is
that those two things really come together to make that
(08:44):
story leap off the screen. Really?
S1 (08:47):
Yeah. Well, if, you know, if you meet Baxter, she
comes off as a very, just, honest person. This is
who I am. And, um, you know, as I was
talking about Neurodivergence, a lot of people are asking if
she just got to the point where, like, I'm not
masking anymore and this is who I am, and I'm
starting to love myself now, and, you know, like a
role model to other people as well. And, um, yeah,
(09:08):
she has this to me. She was she's a beautiful human,
a beautiful me and her have a really good connection. And, um. Yeah,
she's been going, you know, after the doc. Well, after
she met me, the documentary, and, you know, the podcast,
she went on to do modeling, and it's now she's
an educator and she's a really proud advocator. So, um, yeah,
we'll be working together as well with the other the
(09:29):
women's event that, um, that I host here in Adelaide. So, yeah,
I'm looking forward to see, where Dexter takes her to journey. Really?
S2 (09:38):
Well, let's keep our fingers crossed for the outcome of
the documentary award. The screenings for Focus on Ability Short
Film Festival. Um, yours is in Adelaide on Wednesday the
17th of September. We already spoke with Sally about the
Fremantle screening, uh, on the Thursday the 18th. And then
(10:00):
you've got to wait till the 7th of October for
the Melbourne screening, when we'll find out the outcome of
all those nominations. V congratulations on the film. Um, and
thanks for making the time to be on the show.
S1 (10:14):
Thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much.
S2 (10:16):
Thank you to both you and Sally.
S1 (10:17):
Thank you so much.
S2 (10:19):
Well, that's us out of time. Thanks to our guests tonight,
Helen Simonson, Gillian O'Shaughnessy, Alison Booth, Kate Grenville, Sally Newman,
Violetta Basua. And thanks to Mark Ridout for producing. Talk
to you next week. Bye.
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