How do we stay human in a world ruled by content and consumption? It’s a question that seems to circle everything these days, including the now ever-evolving and existential questions about the potential for AI to permanently disrupt the purity of human creativity. And nowhere else are these questions more focused or receiving more public scrutiny than in the film industry, who are becoming, it seems, the yardstick for how far studios are willing to go to take advantage of new technologies for increased profits. The film industry is thrumming with activity, keen to satisfy the bottomless appetite of its audiences. With the rise of AI looming large over the industry and an implosion of content saturating the market, the question for the modern filmmaker is this: how do you stand out in the age of information?

A small group of Sydney-based filmmakers are pushing back against these trends and returning to what they believe is the human heart of filmmaking: the art of celluloid and the printed image. Writer-Director Mark Wills, and his producers, actors Rahel Romahn and Mojean Aria (recipients of the prestigious Heath Ledger Scholarship award) have turned a love affair with celluloid into a calling.

Together, they have teamed up with producer and Head of WIFT (Women in Film & Television), Yolandi Franken, to deliver The Horn, a short film shot of 16mm film stock about the deteriorating relationship between a mother and a daughter, and the former’s obsession with a horn sound she hears bellowing from the sky. It’s been accepted into this year’s Melbourne Film Festival (MIFF), and its Wills’ second short shoot on film, following 2019’s Blood Orange – a surreal tale of revenge captured on 35mm. It’s a commitment to film the trio has attempted to stick to throughout their creative collaboration.

“For us,” says Wills “it’s about going back to the purity of caring about our images. With the rise of content at almost a ‘junk-food’ level of availability, it’s more important now than ever to put out films that are considered in all aspects of a film’s design. A big part of that for me are the visuals.”

For the director, shooting on film is a crucial reminder of our humanity. “The beauty of film is its imperfection. For me, film is the colour of memory. When I see a film, I want to be taken out of reality. I want to be transported away. That’s what I think celluloid does on an unconscious level.”

“The workflow of shooting on film is something that I think forces filmmakers to care about their image in every single way,” adds Aria. “It forces them to care about the image in terms of light, in terms of framing, in terms of how much they can shoot, in terms of practicality. The nature of shooting on film requires so much more discipline. And I think having that discipline and having that care of the image and not just, what we call, spraying and praying, is a workflow that I think is more conducive to creating better stories. Not that you can’t have that discipline shooting digital, but in film you’re forced to.”

“There is a risk and satisfaction in shooting on film stock,” notes Romahn. “It’s very exciting when a filmmaker wants to shoot on film and is requiring their story to be shot on film, because they’re giving themselves that challenge.”

Wills and Romahn grew up together in Sydney and bonded as teenagers over their love of cinema. Later, in early adulthood, they joined forces with Aria and discovered a mutual desire to explore what it means to be an Australian filmmaker today and navigate the industry as outsiders. “We’re all immigrant, first-generation kids who grew up in Australia,” says Aria. “We have a shared experience of feeling on the outside, of trying to define our Australian-ness, of finding our voice.” Their Thai, Kurdish and Iranian heritage is something that’s shaped their commitment to telling diverse narratives, of elevating those stories by consecrating them to celluloid, and in doing so, helping to find acceptance within themselves and their work.

“I think as someone who is half-Thai, half-Australian, who never quite knew which side of the fence I sat on, something about film resonated with me,” explains Wills. “Shooting on film allowed me to stand out from others. Which is something I did by default when I was young due to who I was, but this makes me feel like I can stand out in a way that is good, that isn’t at a disadvantage to me.”

“We have known each other since we were young teenagers and have always gravitated towards each other artistically,” tells Romahn. “We love to go head-to-head with discussions around filmmaking and this leads to exciting deliberations about the creation of future projects. I think all of us are inspired by collectives like Blue Tongue,” (a production company founded by Australians, Joel & Nash Edgerton, among others) “seeing the success they’ve had in building a collective is something that I think has deeply inspired us.”

The team hope to spend the rest of their careers shooting on film, however, there are some barriers to realising this dream due the absence of a processing lab in Australia willing to develop feature-length films. This means sending the dailies to a lab overseas – a white-knuckle experience for any filmmaker. However, the trio believes the demand is there for an Australian lab, who have been in contact with Kodak’s Vice President and Head of Motion Pictures, Vanessa Bendetti.

“Kodak has made it clear that we’re not the first group of Australians who have reached out to them, who has wanted to make a feature film, in Australia, on film,” says Aria. “At the moment, Kodak is in a position where it really wants to support a lab in Australia, and they are actively looking for Australians to partner with, to make that lab a possibility.”

“It’s sad to think that Australian stories can’t partake in that medium, but also can’t be a part of that legacy of shooting on celluloid,” says the group. “If you read this and feel like you’re the right partner or know the right partner to support Kodak in making a lab in Australia, please reach out. It’s happening right now. This is a call to action.”

Wills hopes to shoot his debut film, Women of Mist on 35mm film. It’s a Thai-Australian horror based on Hungry Ghost spirits and paranormal Buddhist folklore that he has been developing with Georgia White and Timothy White of Southern Lights films. It’s a narrative that is close to his heart and one that embodies the spirit of their collective. “Women of Mist is a film that honours our parents and the hardships they went through but told through the lens of a genre-horror. At its core, it’s about all the invisible stories of immigrant families that can sometimes stay hidden behind the mist.”

Although the future of a film lab in Australia is uncertain, Wills is optimistic. “Of course, there are still hurdles to cross with shooting Women of Mist on film in Australia, but there are always challenges to face. We’ll just take this challenge as another one we’ll overcome.”

Watch The Horn at the 2024 Melbourne Film Festival, running 8th-25th August. Tickets here: The Horn.