Well, we’re finally coming down from our clouds and looking back at the hazy dream that was the first ever Girls On Film Festival. GOFF succeeded in ways we couldn’t have imagined and we are all so stoked by the trust you gave us – to throw the biggest feminist movie party this town’s ever seen!
Our Opening Night Party certainly fit that bill, with Modesty rocking the house before DJs Heather & Heather blew our minds, and I’d wager that our screening of The Runaways was singlehandedly responsible for the formation of at least a hundred girl bands in the hours afterwards. Local stores are now reporting dangerously low stocks of black eyeliner, hair dye, and leather jackets in the wake of seeing Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning heat up the screen, and we all got a reminder of just how awesome Joan Jett is, was, and always has been. Big thanks also to the Northcote Social Club for helping us cultivate wicked hangovers for the duration, starting with dancing in the bar til 3 on Friday night.
Saturday morning, sore heads notwithstanding, the excitement and colour of Ponyo flooded the hall, and littlies squealing with delight was a loud noise we were a-okay with hearing. Miyazaki’s girl hero will forever be a GOFF mascot and stay tuned for more animated adventures next year.
Saturday arvo we turned the GOFF clubhouse into the raddest life expo for feminists we could handle, with Girl Germs, named after one of the original Riot Grrrl zines. Girl Germs brought together live acts, Pikelet, Georgia Fields and Charm of Finches, with a zine workshop, a nail art bar (Nailed It), and a spectacular array of impressive babes (Our Wannabes – sharing pro advice with girls about what they really wannabe), all hosted by the incredible Anna Barnes, of Girl! The Ultimate Guide to Being You fame.
Then we showed The Punk Singer and changed some more lives, by sharing the guts and glory of Kathleen Hanna, and by the final scenes, there weren’t too many dry eyes in the house. I believe there were also a few new plans afoot to pick up a guitar and learn how to wail.
Anna Barnes was one of our first year Fairy GOFFmothers, including Nakkiah Lui, Cerise Howard and Sarah-Jane Woulahan, who all acquitted their GOFFmother duties with characteristic charm, wild humour and incredible insights into our movies.
SJ gave us the best introduction to The Runaways, sharing her love for Floria Sigismondi, music videos and women directors who take risks despite all the pressure not to. Cerise introduced Heavenly Creatures on Saturday evening as one of the best films to have come out of the Antipodes and a packed house agreed, even if a lot of them couldn’t really speak coherently afterwards. This situation was helped greatly by the scintillating discussion SJ and Cerise had afterwards, on one of their shared favourite films ever.
Our Saturday night Murder and Mayhem special continued with the cult classic Heathers, and fuck me gently with a chainsaw if we didn’t have a happy crowd screaming with laughter through that one.
Sunday morning kicked off with the epic Whale Rider, an often-overlooked masterpiece from Niki Caro, that also saw the Best Actress Oscar Nomination go to Keisha Castle-Hughes at the age of 13! We had a lot of convos after this screening about what happens to successful women-centric and feminist movies, and why they aren’t celebrated in the same way as mainstream hits about dudes.
Sunday afternoon we welcomed Transgender Victoria to co-present a screening of T is for Teacher, the remarkable documentary by Rohan Spong, one of GOFF’s Associate Directors. The panel afterwards with Grace Lee of TGV, Fairy GOFFMother Cerise Howard and Rohan was definitely a festival highlight for many, and for an audience to see a Q&A with a director after the film was a GOFF dream come true.
Speaking of dreams, we hosted the divine Rachael Maza for our screening of the Australian classic, Radiance, and her in conversation with Nakkiah Lui after the film was so brilliant! They brought the house down with riotous laughter, behind the scenes stories from the shoot and incisive commentary on the role of Indigenous women in Australian cinema and the arts. What an unbelievable honour it was to see those two shoot the breeze and share such an intimate dialogue with us all.
Exposed lived up to its name and exploded taboos left, right and everywhere in between, blowing the audience away and expanding people’s idea of what burlesque, performance, disability and sexuality even mean. Its rawness and honesty could only have come from within the scene and we’re lucky to get that tantalising glimpse on screen.
Our huge Closing Night number was the outrageously entertaining ensemble comedy, Nine to Five, featuring Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda in roles they were positively made for. I think a lot of the crowd had never seen it and were pretty surprised by how radical the comedy is! And those doing a rewatch might’ve forgotten how seriously good it is. There were audience groans, cheers and the inevitable singalongs, followed by dancing in the aisles, and just like that, the very first GOFF swung to a close. Complete with tiny adorable dancing pixie!
We could not have done it without you, the supporters, boosters, funders, backers, champions, lovers and girl-gang-members of GOFF. You believed in us! And our amazing sponsors, partners, friends, helpmeets, and donors, you are the most just to say the least. We’re already planning new go-rounds for GOFF, including year-round programming like Summer Sessions and travelling roadshows, as well as sinking our teeth into the preparation of GOFF15. So stick with us, gang, there’s plenty more magic to come, and you’re the reason we do it all. You’re the actual best.
Love from all of us at GOFF HQ x
Ally Oliver-Perham is graphic designer who works for the 
