Leslie Hornung

What happens when the only person who can forgive you, is lying on the autopsy table in front of you?

Open Up is produced by the WA Screen Academy (WASA) students, featuring the third year actors from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). 

Synopsis:

Open Up is a dark comedy that tells the story of a pathology technician who, during a routine autopsy, encounters the body of the victim of her homophobic bullying. Much to her surprise, his body comes to life, giving her one last chance to make amends, and finally be at peace with her own sexuality.

Taking place almost entirely inside a morgue, the film explores themes of forgiveness, self-identity, as well as internalised discrimination, homophobia and biphobia within the LGBTQIA+ community. 🏳️‍🌈 💗💜💙

Why THIS STORY & why NOW:

The concept for Open Up was pitched by our director Sam and upon hearing this idea of forgiveness and identity, I was immediately drawn to the film. Our writer, Sophie who identifies as queer and bisexual, transformed this concept into a prevalent and poignant story, that speaks to me and to the LGBTQIA+ community. This is a story about bisexual repression and the repercussions of how dangerous it can be to deny your authentic self. 

Internalised homophobia can be defined as "the gay person's direct negative social attitudes toward the self, leading to a devaluation of the self and resultant conflicts and poor self regard" (Meyer and Dean, 1998). This has devestating negative effects on the individual, such as depression / anxiety / self esteem issues / self-harm / suicide / substance abuse, and eating disorders.  

(revelandriot.com, 2020)

The internal struggles many bisexual individuals feel and live are very real. The 2020 LGBTQIA+ snapshot* reported that 29% of bisexual women have considered suicide, while 10% attempted suicide. 50.6% of bisexual women were diagnosed or treated for mental health disorder in the past three years, including anxiety. And 30% of bisexual women reported having self-harmed, while 31% reported thoughts of harming themselves *(lgbtihealth.org.au, 2020). 

We believe that by creating this film, we are highlighing a side of the LGBTQIA+ community that is underrepresented and often invisible in our heteronormative society. Open Up intersects drama and dark comedy, providing quirky humour with a serious message of self-compassion and letting go of self-hatred, self-loathing, internalized rage and shame. 

CAST

Domino McCathrion as Niamh Hansen

Domino McCathrion is currently completing her final year at WAAPA’s prestigious acting course. After graduation, she plans to forge a strong and bright career and to push boundaries across all mediums. Domino has starred in multiple theatre and short film productions. Her current project is The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance and Aphra Behn's The Rover.

Josh Virgona as Harry Porter

Born and bred in the outskirts of Sydney, Josh is currently finishing his BA acting course at WAAPA. In Josh's time at WAAPA, he has had the opportunity to play Manus in Translations, Yasha in The Cherry Orchard, No.8 in Tom Holloway's Love Me Tender, Ziggy in Andrew Hale's premiere adaptation of The Hope Fault, Horatio in Hamlet and Don Pedro in The Rover.

CREW

Sam Siversson - Director & Director of Photography

A recent graduate from Curtin University’s Bachelor of Screen Arts, Sam Siversson is already making a name for herself as an up-and-coming filmmaker, having directed and written the award-winning short documentary, Kia Kaha, in 2019. Sam is now undertaking her Master’s degree at the WA Screen Academy, majoring in directing.

Leslie Hornung - Producer

Leslie Hornung is a recent graduate from the University of Notre Dame, achieving a Bachelor in Communications and Media, majoring in Film and Television Production. Leslie is a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, curating the Audience-Award Winning short documentary A Safe Space For All in 2019. Leslie is currently completing his Masters at the WA Screen Academy, majoring in producing and minoring in screenwriting.  

Sophie Evans - Writer

Sophie Meryn Evans is a screenwriter, director and art-director based in Perth, Australia. After completing her Bachelor of Media and Communications majoring in Film and Video, Sophie went on to write and direct several short films such as Computer, Did We Bring Batteries? Since this production, Sophie has moved onto studying her Masters in Screen Studies at the WA Screen Academy.

Tommy Varekai - Sound 

With over 5 years of experience in post-production across audio and film as well as being a graduate of both North Metropolitan Tafe, WAAPA and SAE Institute, Tommy has recorded, mixed and mastered local and international artists across a wide variety of genres, documentaries and short films. Tommy has hybridized both passions for audio and film becoming a composer and has contributed his artistry to local video games such as Neon Flight as well as documentaries including Faceless Revenge, Atlantis and more.

Morgan Worth - Editor 

Morgan is currently completing her Masters in Screenwriting at the WA Screen Academy, with a minor in editing. A massive Dawn of the Dead fan, the franchise inspired her to leap, and she is now on the road to becoming a professional screenwriter and editor. Morgan identifies as part of the LGBTQIA+ community and aims to create content for screens to celebrate this minority group, which is why she was eager to join the Open Up team as the editor for this short film.

A few behind the scenes shots from our crowdfund shoot 

PLEASE SUPPORT THIS PROJECT & JOIN THE OPEN UP TEAM TODAY!

All funds raised by YOUR generous support will help bring the world and characters of Open Up to life

Costumes & Props - $650

Do you love fake blood and prosthetics? We do! And we need em' by the bucketload!

Location - $1000

The morgue is integral to the story of Open Up. In order to maintain the reality we need funds to secure our perfect location. 

Catering - $1100

We have a substantial cast and crew of hungry humans! We must feed them or they might DIE! Although, we do need to fill our morgue with bodies...

Steadicam Operator - $1250

We need an experienced steadicam operator who can help emphasise the claustrophobic nature of a morgue. 

THANK YOU for YOUR support and contribution in helping us bring this dark comedy and poignant tale to LIFE!

For more information check out our social pages. Drop a share and a like. Be a part of the Open Up team! 

https://www.instagram.com/openupshortfilm/

https://www.facebook.com/Open-Up-Short-Film-119136693271797