We arrived at Raine Square bright and early for Day 2 of the WA Made Film Festival - Short Documentary Showcase. The newly constructed Palace Cinema is intimidatingly modern, the foyer accommodating a themed photo wall and bar from which we were given free iced coffee for the early morning start.

The cinema goers, film crew and supporting family and friends accumulated gradually in the foyer, chatting among themselves, the excitement and anticipation growing with the volume of their conversations.

Upon entry the cinema was small and intimate, inviting the crowd to squeeze in together as if they were in a family lounge-room watching a home movie.

Peregrinations of a Citizen Botanist was the first short documentary to be shown and frankly the most intriguing. It follows the production journey of an exhibition charting a French botanist’s voyage to Western Australia in the 18th century. Through the unique story telling of the artist, her quirky vision evolves itself into a breathtaking recreation of the sublime qualities of Western Australia’s landscape.

Another stand-out film was With You Forever, made by students currently studying film at Murdoch University. The short documentary follows filmmaker George Butterworth on the quest to learn the process of getting a tattoo. In my opinion, this film draws on the early 2000’s style of Michael Moore, causing the audience roll through a variety of high and low emotions while stylistically retaining a distinctive charm and humour throughout the film.

Shortly after the screening, a Q&A session began to form, with one representative from each film prompted to stand at the front of the cinema to engage in topical questions from the host and the audience. This was a great opportunity for the audience to engage with the creators and weed out interesting information about both the creative processes and meaning behind the short films.

The winner of the audience choice award was With You Forever - very well earnt I think. George and his crew are extremely well equipped to move up in the film industry, with a daring yet comfortably familiar stylistic approach to documentary filmmaking. I am excited to see where they end up within a year from now.

Overall, this experience was something to remember, and I encourage those of you who did not go this year to set your calendars for next year’s festival. It pays so much recognition to up and coming filmmakers in Perth while the short documentary topics touch on interesting, personal and educational subjects for the audience’s enlightenment.