Daughter is an award winning short film and awareness project produced by Nexus Production Group, staring Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why) as Scarlett, Aisha Tara (Heartbreak High) as Jemma and Carolyn Rey as Alethea. Sarah Jayne Portelli, Company Director, is also writer and film director.
The film will be screened in Hall E Gateway Building, University of Malta, Msida Campus on Wednesday 20 November, starting at 18:00. There will be a panel discussion, and questions from the floor following the screening, and refreshments will be served at the end. This event is organisd by the Department of Gender Studies in collaboration with the Australian High Commission.
The film will be screened in Hall E Gateway Building, University of Malta, Msida Campus on Wednesday 20 November, starting at 18:00. There will be a panel discussion, and questions from the floor following the screening, and refreshments will be served at the end. This event is organisd by the Department of Gender Studies in collaboration with the Australian High Commission.
The main themes explored in the film are violence against women and victim blaming. The story explores what women deal with on a day to day basis as active members of society as is shown through the eyes of the three varying female characters.
The screenplay was inspired by director and writer Sarah Jayne Portelli's experiences as a woman, as well as many cases of violence against women which unfolded at the time of writing.
However, two cases which stood out the most due to a juxtaposition in the representation of female victims within the media were the tragic murders of journalist Jill Meagher in Brunswick and sex worker Tracy Connelly in St Kilda. Jill's name, face and occupation made instant headlines Australia wide, however Tracey's occupation as a sex worker was highlighted in the media headlines, making her unfairly just a murdered sex worker. Without a name of a face, just a harsh headline 'Prostitute Dead in St Kilda', which lead to Tracey's murder and personal story being sadly overshadowed. The case still remains unsolved.
These sad cases and many more acts of violence against women had writer and director Sarah Jayne asking - 'Arn't all women deserving of respect?'
And so, Daughter was born.
Sarah Jayne Portelli, Company Director, writer and film director
Sarah Jayne Portelli started her film and television career as a Production Designer in 2006. She has worked on numerous short films in various art department roles and with Australian industry heavyweights including Princess Pictures and The Boilermaker Pty Ltd. Sarah Jayne's feature film credits include the critically acclaimed Taj, the one and only Dace Decklan: Private Eye, Oddball starring Shane Jacobson, The Subjects by Instinct Entertainment, and Choir Girl by NPG and Golden Gate Productions.
In 2013 Sarah Jayne moved into writing and directing her first film, Dusk, and since then she has been predominately working as a writer, director and producer on her own projects, including Anniversary and Daughter, the latter a short film and awareness project addressing victim blaming and gendered violence. Starring Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why), Daughter has toured Melbourne and Victoria, picked up various festival awards, including Best Short Film at Women Media Arts Film Festival, a Silver Remi from Houston Worldfest, and the Grapple award at Anarco Film Festival. Daughter is available as an educational tool for Australian schools through ATOM and Beamafilm, and also globally through Amazon Prime and Vimeo On Demand.
When not immersed in the world of film, Sarah enjoys critical and creative writing, her work appearing in Huffington Post, Feminartsy, and Daily Life Mag.
Sarah Jayne recently co-directed the completely improvised features Friends, Foes & Fireworks and In Corpore with Ivan Malekin and she continues to work with Nexus as a writer/director, now living in Malta and pursuing projects in the European Film Industry.