Two Tasmanians in final stage of global film festival

Joshua Lowe’s Dodge This has made it to the final stage of Giant Step’s Focus on Ability Film Festival, which is specifically for children on the autism spectrum.

Giants Steps Tasmania is a not-for-profit autism school and therapeutic centre at Deloraine. 

The film features a unique mix of characters coming together for a game of dodgeball.

While there are no shortage of light-hearted moments across the four minutes, the film still manages to carry important themes of inclusiveness and fair play.

Joshua, 11,  said he was inspired by the work of fellow Giant Steps student Frankie, whose film Trophy Trout Tournament was also selected as a finalist in the School Entrant Short Films category of the festival.

“I saw the pictures he had got and it made me want to do something, too,” he said.

“I picked dodgeball because it’s a game I really like and everyone can play it.”

After spending two weeks completing the story line, Joshua enlisted some of his Giant Steps classmates for a two-day shoot, before taking another two days to edit the final version.

Joshua said he enjoyed having control over the footage.

“The best bit of filming was getting to choose where the story went,” he said.

Films in the festival have been viewed in 168 countries and been voted on by more than 700,000 people.

Voting for this year’s festival closed on Tuesday, with the 2018 winners to be announced online on September 7.