Best of Bloodfest Shorts 2025

Freak by Asha-Lucy Davies. Cast: Katoomba High School.
Asha-Lucy Davies is a filmmaker based in the Blue Mountains. She is the founder of Little Omen Pictures, which aims to provide a space for artistic youth to enter into filmmaking and other areas of the creative industry. Asha-Lucy often explores themes of alienation, magic realism, and experimental storytelling. 

Violent Ends by Max Cadzow-Smith and Sam Parker
Max attended AFTRS and has directed 10 short films.  His short Holiday won an Honourable Mention in the Hallucinea Film Festival, Paris. His film Shut Up and Leave Me Alone screened in the Bloomsday Film Festival, Dublin. 

Hermione by Bella Merlino 
Bella has had great success in filmmaking since a very young age. Her documentary Dementia, created when she was in Year 12, won in 46 film festivals worldwide.  

Blood will have Blood by Stella O’Brien and Toby Makeham
Stella and Toby attended Newtown High School of the Performing Arts. Blood will have Blood was a finalist in Smart Fone FlickFest in 2023. Toby is an actor and filmmaker who turns his dreams (and nightmares..)  into movies! Awarded the Mcilwain scholarship for arts in 2023, he is currently studying film at UTS, where he makes anything from short dramas to odd music videos.

Livestream by Michael Odewahn-Oxley
Michael is an AFTRS graduate and working professional creative. He loves trying out new creative mediums and has a deep love for bringing stories to life.

Blood Call by Asher Harris-Cohen 
Blood Call (working title ‘Satan the Slaughterer) was created when Asher was in Year 10 at Newtown High School of Performing Arts and was highly influenced by the slashers of the 70s and 80s, primarily the work of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci. Asher completed the BA Screen Production at AFTRS and continues to work on creative projects. 

The Social Body by Hamish White
Hamish is a multi-disciplinary artist from Launceston, Tasmania, currently based in Sydney. Graduating from WAAPA in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts (acting), Hamish has dabbled in everything from performing in children's theatre to avant garde horror filmmaking. Hamish has a passion for the horror genre, and is especially interested in the use of abstract movement within more conventional narrative filmmaking.  

Pins and Needles by Lilian Harris
Lilian is an emerging writer and director based in Sydney. She recently completed a Bachelor of Screen Arts at AFTRS.
She has worked as a Director's Assistant on Season 3 of Heartbreak High and continues to freelance as a director and editor.
Lilian is particularly drawn to female and LGBTQI+ stories that have yet to be explored on screen. She is also interested in the evolving intersection of film/TV, social media, and gaming.

Pa by Annabelle Richens and Tisya Sharma
Annabelle’s graduate work from her Bachelor of Screen Production at AFTRS, Consume has been selected for multiple international LGBTQ+ and genre festivals including MQFF, GAZE and FFA. She has worked as a Production Co-ordinator on Spaceboy’s Souvenir as part of the Screen NSW Short to Feature Fast Track initiative and her 2022 documentary ‘House Lights Down’ debuted on SBS OnDemand. Most recently as the in-house Producer at Cosmo Productions, Annabelle facilitates the creation of high-end documentary style content for global companies leading the renewable energy transition.
Tisya is an avid movie lover with a particular love for horror. She enjoys exploring how films creatively express complex themes. Tisya currently works as a crisis supporter at Lifeline, an experience that deepens her appreciation for storytelling and the ways it helps us process the human experience.  

Green Smoothy by Alyson Rudlin
Alyson is an emerging Australian actor and filmmaker. She starred as 'JJ' in Backlash (2025) and will lead as 'Kira Andrews' in the upcoming feature Rules of the Game. She also has multiple projects in the making, ranging from short films to Netflix. Creating short films since high school, including a full-mark HSC project, she has continued to develop her craft through university studies in media, acting, and film, establishing herself as an upcoming talent in the industry. She is represented by Phoenix Talent.

Little Windows by Leonardo Saul
Leonardo is an independent filmmaker from the small island off the coast of Auckland, Aotearoa. He graduated from Yoobee College of Creative Innovation with a Diploma in Film and Content Creation and a Certificate in Creative Media. Little Windows was selected to screen at the MCA in Sydney as part of GenNext in 2018.
His film passion started at an early age with stop-motion Lego movies (usually with a gruesome theme) but his true love of horror was born when he saw his first David Lynch movie - a director that is still a big inspiration. Leo’s work focusses on atmosphere, emotion and unsettling story-telling.  
Leo is about to embark on a nature conservation degree where he intends to integrate filming into wildlife management.  

Purged by Etti Davis, Zoe Richardson, and Niharika Desai. Cast: Josie Ritter.
Etti, Zoe, and Niharika are young filmmakers from Newtown High School of the Performing Arts who have a passion for creating, directing and bringing ideas to life. Purged is one of the many films they have made, which explored the horror in the mundane, creating terror at the normal. They look forward to creating more work inspired by the everyday.

Raw by Mia Wolczak
Mia is currently a freelance video editor, with a focus on social content.  She has worked as Junior Creative at Fox Sports and she attended Newtown High School of the Performing Arts.

Onni and Annie by Asha-Lucy Davies
Asha-Lucy Davies is a filmmaker based in the Blue Mountains. She is the founder of Little Omen Pictures, which aims to provide a space for artistic youth to enter into filmmaking and other areas of the creative industry. Asha-Lucy often explores themes of alienation, magic realism, and experimental storytelling.