Finding beauty’s true depth

Grant Scicluna’s subtle, gay-themed drama, Neon Skin, has made quite an impact on the queer and short film festival circuits despite its running time being only a few minutes.

Starring Luke Mullins and Martin Sharpe, the film has now screened in countries such as Australia, Denmark, Switzerland and the USA, where audiences seem attracted to its simplicity and the questions it raises about the way young men see themselves.

Scicluna describes Neon Skin, only his second live action short, as an almost experimental film about the senses.

“It’s about two young men, one blind, one with full sight, who both deny they’re out on a date but you get the feeling there might be something there, and they basically have a conversation about how they see the world,” he said.

One of the major themes of the film is how the men see themselves in relation to their bodies, a concept the 30-year-old filmmaker said was inspired by his own experiences growing up as a gay man in a culture that silently equates self-worth with bulk muscle.

“You’re always acutely aware of how you measure up to other men. I wanted to explore these notions of masculinity in the film and the ludicrous idea that you’re so much more attractive the bigger you are,” Scicluna said.

Scicluna said he’s always known he wanted to make films, having written scripts since he was 12 years old which he’d turn into amateur movies recorded on VHS tapes.

It’s only over the past five years that he’s really focused his attention on directing as well as writing, recently completing a director’s internship with prominent Australian director Bruce Beresford on Mao’s Last Dancer.

“I was with him all the way from casting in China through to the post-production in Sydney, and he’s just such a master. I really felt like I was a student of his, just learning constantly through osmosis,” he said.

Based in Melbourne, the writer/director now splits his time between filming in Sydney and Melbourne. He is currently in pre-production on a Film Victoria-funded short based on Janette Turner Hospital’s short story Golden Girl, and is putting the finishing touches on the development of his first feature, Scratch the Surface, a thriller with gay themes.

info: Visit www.happeningfilms.com

Photo: Brent Lukey