Filmer showcases ‘Mexico’

A Surf Coast filmmaker hopes to have his first official short film ‘Mexico’ accepted into the St Kilda Film Festival after a successful launch at the Australian National Surfing Museum.

Surf Coast residents Antonio Rocco and Luke Jacobson showcased their first short film Thursday, November 3, to a small crowd at the Australian National Surfing Museum.

The duo hope the film will be strong enough to enter into Australia’s longest short film festival in St Kilda.

Mexico follows Mr Kitts, a local teacher who believes all children in his classes are liars, however he is put to the test by an outrageous story from school ratbag Pip.

The film, which was shot on the Surf Coast, explores trust and honesty through children and young adults.

“It’s a kind of a tragedy and comedy story in one,” Rocco said.

“It’s all about believing or not believing, Pip tells crazy stories and the film is about letting her say the truth.

“The surf museum is the community centre of Torquay and was a great location to host the event.

“There was around 30 people at the museum for the showing and people loved the film and had great feedback.

“It felt great to hear them think I should submit it into the film festivals and the event was a great push for me to get it out there.”

Rocco has been honing his film-making skills and studying at Screen Actors Australia in Geelong since moving to Australia from Italy three years ago.

The Torquay product said when he moved to Australia, he spoke limited English, which he said was exacerbated by pandemic lockdowns.

However, he cites filmmaking as being a great way for him to gain skills which has allowed him to express himself in a creative and engaging way.

In his spare time when not making films, Rocco is a barista and hopes not long into the future that he will be working in the movie industry full time.