CANBERRA-made, horror-satire film “Sissy” has been invited to premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, during March.

The festival, which runs from March 11-19, celebrates innovation and emerging talent from behind and in front of the camera, and inclusion in its programming, Screen Canberra says, is a huge coup for the movie.

“Sissy”, described as a “thrill-a-minute” movie, was produced and filmed at Film Plus, a non-profit collaborative workspace run by Academy of Interactive Entertainment in Canberra.

Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes co-wrote and co-directed the script, with Barlow also playing a leading acting role.

The film also features established and up-and-coming, on-screen talents, including Canberra-raised Emily De Margheriti, Aisha Dee, Daniel Monks, Yerin Ha and Lucy Barrett. Producers John De Margheriti and Lisa Shaunessy formed Highway Films for the production, which was also co-produced with Jason Taylor and Bec Janek.

Academy of Interactive Entertainment was responsible for the visual effects and worked alongside Andrew Marriott and Rohan Taylor from SilverSun Pictures to do the post production.

Shaunessy says: “We couldn’t be more thrilled to premiere ‘Sissy’ to an international audience at SXSW’s renowned Midnighters Section. It’s a perfect festival home for the film and a testament to the hard-working Canberran film community, as well as the broader team from all over Australia.”

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