Molly Haddon, graduate from the Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language and Literature, has been nominated for an Australian Directors' Guild Award 2023 for her debut feature film The Longest Weekend.
The Australian Directors’ Guild is a renowned industry association representing the interests of screen director members working across film, television, streaming and digital media. The annual awards program celebrates the craft of directing and aims to shine a light on emerging new directing talent. The Longest Weekend is nominated in the Best Direction in a Feature Film (budget under $1M) category.
Molly graduated from a Bachelor of Arts Media (Screen Production) in 2015 and went on to complete a Graduate Certificate in Cinematography at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) before studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in the Directors Studio program. Over the past few years, Molly has celebrated great success with multiple award-winning short films such as A Conversation. In 2022, Molly premiered her debut film The Longest Weekend at the prestigious Sydney Film Festival with two sold-out sessions. The film was also featured at Darwin International Film Festival, Brisbane International Film Festival, Mardi Gras Film Festival and was the Australia Feature of the Year at Melbourne Queer Film Festival.
The Longest Weekend follows three disconnected siblings who find themselves living together under the same roof once again. Filmed in Sydney’s Inner West, the film is a raw and tender queer-positive debut about the healing power of truth telling and finding a way to move on from your circumstances.
“The Longest Weekend was made on a micro-budget of under $50,000. Despite this, it has gone on to be part of some very exciting festivals and nomination for an Australian Directors' Guild Award is the cherry on top,” says Molly. “It is exciting to have my work recognised by the guild and colleagues. Directing can be very insular as you are never (or very rarely) working with other directors, so it is nice to know that others appreciate your art and to see and recognise theirs as well.”
“The screen practice and production degree provides opportunities for several filmmaking roles, which is very helpful to directors who need to know what everyone on the crew does in order to direct them as well as Molly is doing,” says Karen Pearlman, Associate Professor in Screen Practice and Production. “The degree provides a foundation for skills in in creativity, communication, and collaboration and it is wonderful to see Molly using these to move from strength to strength in her career in the industry.”