Xanthe Dobbie’s (Master of Arts Screen, 2019) graduate work, Elagabalus, will have its international premiere at the 32nd annual NewFest, New York’s largest showcase of LGBTQI+ film and media. The short will screen in the festival’s first-ever virtual edition as part of a stellar lineup boasting over 120 films and series from 29 countries, panels and conversations, virtual live events and drive-in screenings.
Still from ‘Elagabalus’ | Dir. Xanthe Dobbie | Photo by Alexis Talbot-Smith
Directed and edited by Dobbie as their Master of Arts Screen capstone project, Elagabalus, a drag-ball retelling of the past set in the future, was made by a team comprised mainly of recent Master of Arts Screen and Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production graduates, writer Samuel Herriman (with story by Xanthe Dobbie and Samuel Herriman), producer Alexis Talbot-Smith, cinematographer Sidat de Silva, composer Jorde Heys, production designers Lily Bennet and Max Boutwell Draper, costume designer William Tran, sound designer Rowan Yeomans, sound recordist Tahira Donohoe-Bales, first assistant camera addition camera Petra Leslie, first assistant director Archie Chew, second assistant director Didi de Graaf, production assistant Alicia Easaw-Mamutil assistant editor Hannah Smith and pre-production VFX supervisor Andrew Brown.
Streaming online across the United States from Friday 16 October, Elagabalus will appear in the ‘Dream a Little Dream With Me’ short film session. The selection follows the film’s world premiere at this year’s CinefestOZ in August, alongside a stack of other student and alumni works.
NewFest runs from 16-27 October and features three drive-in screenings, 24 narrative features in competition, 14 documentary features in competition, three full-season episodics, one global episodic showcase, and 10 shorts program screenings. See the full lineup here.