'OF AGE' / Dannika Horvat, Dogmilk Films
As we head back in to lockdown, we likely won’t be able to gather for screenings for a while yet. However, to fill the gap left by the the absence of Dogmilk’s regular Degustations and Docmilk screenings (and moviegoing in general), Dogmilk Films is very proud to announce VODmilk, a free online screening series. A new digital home for thought-provoking films, video art and everything in between, VODmilk will offer a new program, completely free, every fortnight, for a fortnight only.
Dogmilk’s fifth edition, OF AGE, is programmed by Dannika Horvat, an award winning writer, director from Melbourne. Through intimate performance driven work, Dannika is drawn to telling stories that focus on young women and deals with themes of sexuality and moral ambiguity.
OF AGE offers various moments of coming of age, centring the female experience. Led by Australian and New Zealand directors, we access moments of exploration, curiosity, crystallisation, and play. Moments that may seem somewhat minor, but which shape us and inform our entry into adulthood. Ranima Monte’s Mestiza (2018) offers a question of identity. Niasari's Waterfall (2017), presents the struggle of a merging family. Alice Englert’s The Boyfriend Game (2015) invites us to join a game where lines between real and pretend are blurred, and Dannika Horvat’s Triple Swear (2019) paints the moment a sister realises her brother is not who she thinks he is.
Dogmilk Films feel very lucky to be hosting Dannika’s selection on our platform. We urge you to watch the films, and follow the accompanying ‘Support the Artist’ links to explore past works and current projects from each filmmaker.
VODmilk programs are available for a fortnight — OF AGE will be available to stream for free on the VODmilk platform until Tuesday 28th of July.
Please note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that the program may contain images and voices of deceased persons.
About Dogmilk Films and VODmilk:
Dogmilk Films is a Melbourne-based independent filmmaking collective dedicated to the promotion and production of alternative and ambitious cinema. Dogmilk’s new initiative, VODmilk, is a new digital home for thought-provoking films, video art and everything in between. Each VODmilk program is accessible for free and available for a fortnight.
Thank you for reading this article. Before you leave the page, we’d like you to take a moment to read this statement. We are asking our readers to take action and stand with the BIPOC community who fight and endure the oppression and injustice of racial inequality.
Here in ‘Australia’, Indigenous people are the most incarcerated population on Earth. Countless lives have been murdered by white police, white government policies and this country’s white history, institutionalised colonialism and ongoing racial oppression. Racial injustice continues today under the phoney, self-congratulatory politics of ‘Reconciliation’ and the notion that colonialism is something that must be denied and forgotten, an uncomfortable artefact of the past.
Feeling guilty is not enough. We must take action, pay the rent, educate ourselves and acknowledge that empathy and sorrow for past actions is insufficient if this does nothing to prevent our current reality from extending into the future.
Please consider making donations to the following organisations (the list is so small and the work to be done is so large, do your research to find more grassroots, Indigenous-lead community organisations):
Indigenous Social Justice Association - fighting to stop Indigenous deaths in custody
Firesticks Alliance - who campaign for Indigenous land management, cultural burning and looking after Country