Hafekasi

What is the story?

Hafekasi is a short film about a 10 year old mixed-race Polynesian girl and her white Mum, navigating identity and belonging in white suburbia during the 90’s.

About the writer / director

My name is Annelise Hickey and I’m from Naarm (Melbourne). I’m a director of music videos, content and commercials and am so excited to make a short that I am very passionate about!

This story is very dear to my heart as it has many auto-biographical elements woven into the story and it’s something I’ve tried to write for most of my adult life.

When I was a kid, like many kids, all I wanted was to fit in. I dreamed of looking like the stars on Neighbours and the Billabong models I saw in Dolly magazine. It has taken me a long time to embrace my thick black frizzy hair, my round nose, my wide feet, the colour of my skin and to fully comprehend how wonderful my Tongan heritage really is. This story is a realisation of belonging and becoming.

Since coming back from a recent trip to Aotearoa (NZ), I realised how important it was to share in the hopes that other mixed-race / Polynesian kids can see themselves reflected on Australian screens (something that was lacking in the 90’s).

Where will funds go?

Our aim is to shoot and finalise the short film to submit it into MIFF 2023. In order to make this short film come to life, we need to raise funds to assist in covering:

All donations are deeply appreciated and every dollar will be put to very good use!

Crew

We are lucky enough to have an incredible team on board including;

Director - Annelise Hickey

Producer - Josie Baynes

Production MGR - Justine Pitcher

DOP - Matt Chuang

Production Designer - Francesca Carey

Editor - Grace Eyre

Casting Directors - Peta Dermatis and Lauren Mass of Studio P

Production Company - Wildebeest

Executive Producer & Director of Wildebeest - Jarred Osborne