Yeah The Boys
2024 · 8m · Australia
Directed by Stefan Hunt
Tones: melancholic, surreal, tense
Six young Australian men sink beers over an afternoon and into the night, emoting only through choreographed movement — lewd gestures, chokeholds, crowd surfs, and shoeys — saying everything without uttering a word in this dialogue-free exploration of Australian masculine identity and drinking culture, scored by The Avalanches.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Six bogans, no dialogue, choreographed shoeys, Avalanches scoring it, the steadicam op as seventh dancer — this is the kind of formal gimmick that either becomes iconic or unwatchable, and I'm betting iconic. Won Flickerfest, earned it.
Hunt's dialogue-free choreographic approach with the steadicam operator as seventh dancer is exactly the sort of formal commitment that earns serious attention, scored by The Avalanches no less. Flickerfest Best Australian Short confirms the formal gesture has resonance.
Won Best Australian Short at Flickerfest and the Innovation Award at St Kilda — eight minutes, four long takes, no dialogue, and an Avalanches score doing the emotional work while the steadicam operator essentially becomes the seventh dancer. That's the kind of formal swing I'd watch immediately.
Reviews
In collaboration with his wife, choreographer Vanessa Marian, Hunt has created a work that is as touching and unexpected as anything you'll see this year.
It's fun to watch at first, and then it's engrossing and uncomfortable. Aussie larrikinism is humorous — until it's not.
Festivals
- Flickerfest International Short Film Festival 2024, Best Australian Short Film
- St Kilda Film Festival 2024, Innovation Award, Best Original Score
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2024