Top Screen: Screening and Meet the Filmmmakers

Filmed in 2025 across the landscapes of Lutruwita/Tasmania, Embers of the Past follows an individual moving through the remnants of a fading culture. Shaped by traces of memory and loss, the film adopts a reflective, speculative tone, offering only fragments rather than clear answers. Through sparse imagery and quiet observation, it invites viewers to consider what endures when time has stripped everything away, and how small sparks of remembrance continue to shape our collective understanding.

VCE Media 2025, Padua College

LUCKLESS is a short comedy about a young man on his way to a date. However, his simple journey quickly unravels when everything that could go wrong, does go wrong. Set in suburban Melbourne, this film offers a wholesome yet humorous glimpse into misfortune and resilience, inviting audiences to laugh at the chaos of the young man’s adventure.

VCE Media 2025, Beaconhills College

Fish Soup tells an absurd story of a fish named Newton who seeks a way to quench his thirst after desperately needing water during class. The hand-drawn digital animation highlights his desperation as he moves through the madness of real and imagined worlds.

VCE Media 2025, Methodist Ladies’ College

In BlackBoxWarrior, a persistent and precarious protagonist finds themselves in the midst of a tantalising tale. Meticulously puppeteered by an unnamed figure, contorted and conformed, the protagonist is lost in their own dwindling mind as the stakes rise around them. BlackBoxWarrior tells a tale of individuality, confusion, and forced conformity in a society that insists on their citizens fitting the 'norm'.

VCE Media 2025, Nazareth College

A teenage boy scours the internet to find answers to a mysterious phenomenon after he himself experiences disturbing and unsettling symptoms. As the symptoms worsen, the boy finds a digital trail left by another afflicted individual, which suggests that he is not alone.

VCE Media 2025, Balwyn High School

Set in an interrogation room, Willowshade follows a detective and prisoner through a tense psychological battle to uncover the whereabouts of a missing child. Truth, control and power constantly shift and alter.

VCE Media 2025, Donvale Christian College

When a young girl goes missing, a police officer is called into the forest to search for her. However, night has fallen, and the forest has no plans to let the officer go home. Beckoned forward, he is at the whim of a dark stalking presence, which is more than happy to play with its food.

VCE Media 2025, Bass Coast College

Two brothers fight over who gets to eat the last cookie in the jar. What begins as a simple argument about who deserves the final bite escalates into a showdown that grows to absurd extremes. With many references to classic action films and popular culture, A Disagreement aims to highlight the futile nature of conflict through petty sibling rivalry.

VCE Media 2025, Sacred Heart College

Two teenage brothers from a struggling home take a risky job with the local mafia to earn money for their mother. The job quickly spirals into a dangerous test of loyalty, fear and survival, in a world of betrayal and shifting power.

VCE Media 2025, Parkdale Secondary College

Set in a modern-day city where class division is extremely prominent, Alley tells the story of a young woman's first night after being kicked out of her home. She is represented by a cat.

VCE Media 2025, Notre Dame College

Mr. Bop is a comedic short film about legacy, identity and aging, told through breakdancing and nostalgia. The film follows a former teenage breakdancer who, forty years later, is dragged back into the spotlight by his old manager and lifelong friend, blending heartfelt character moments with stylised, retro visuals and a bold comedic tone.

VCE Media 2025, Prahran High School

A mundane evening of watching television has erupted into a supernatural jigsaw for lonely little Agnes, as she navigates through the masked strangers' film world. Emulating the metafictional elements of Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard and David Lynch's uncanny cinematography, Final Cut offers a metaphorical narrative of the filmmaking process, conveying the ethical horror of obsession and perfection in achieving the final cut.

VCE Media 2025, Ashwood High School

Set in the surreal landscape of a teenage girl’s mind, Siren Song navigates her distorted reality as shaped by Generalised Anxiety Disorder. Designed as a subjective, immersive experience, the piece ultimately gestures toward recognition, acceptance and seeking help.

VCE Media 2025, Trinity Grammar School

An unlikely friendship is formed between two creatures when they are thrown into a bizarre journey through differing realities. Each world brings a different shape, substance and scenario, creating a surreal yet endearing atmosphere with the dynamic technique of stop motion animation.

VCE Media 2025, Footscray High School

When 12-year-old Kai’s older brother Quinn loses interest in their imaginary fantasy games, Kai struggles to accept the growing distance between himself and his sibling. As he tries to imitate Quinn's 'grown up' teenage world – including his relationship with his girlfriend – Kai finds himself caught between childhood and adolescence. Ultimately, Grow Up is less about leaving childhood behind and more about reflecting on why we feel pressured to ‘mature’ ... and what gets lost in the process.

VCE Media 2025, St Michael’s Grammar School