Private Project

Red Kite

Piper, an 8-year-old girl, faces the most confronting juncture of her childhood when her single mother is forced to leave her under the care of her estranged grandfather, Albert, so that she can seek medical attention in another city for a couple of weeks.

The young girl finds herself planted right in the middle of a stranger’s world. At first, she is frightened and alone, with nothing but a small gift from her mother, a white kite, to comfort her. However, she soon learns that the mysterious old man she had once been afraid of has nothing but kindness to offer her. Albert, who spends his days painting in the shed of his countryside property, introduces Piper to the world of art and it is from this that the pair starts to form a special bond. Weeks pass and although Piper has become comfortable in the once unfamiliar environment, she still struggles to overcome the absence of her mother.

It is when Albert receives an unexpected phone call one morning that Piper soon learns the truth about her mother’s return.

  • Susanna Van Aswegen
    Director
  • Brock Taffe
    Producer
  • Charlotte Stent
    Key Cast
    Don't Tell (2017)
  • Joe Feeny
    Key Cast
  • Kelly Maree Joyce
    Key Cast
    One Afternoon in the City (2005), Power the Kid (2015) and Frenzy (2015).
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 55 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 30, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    13,000 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Arri Alexa
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • Griffith Film School Awards
    Brisbane
    Australia
    Private Screening
    High Distinction Short Film
  • Chicago CineYouth Festival
    Chicago, Illinois
    United States
    May 13, 2017
    International Premiere
  • International Young Directors' Festival

    China
    June 13, 2017
    Asian Premiere
  • Brisbane Backyard Film Festival
    Brisbane
    Australia
    May 27, 2017
    Australian Premiere
  • Brisbane International Film Festival
    Brisbane
    Australia
    August 22, 2017
  • Down Under Berlin
    Berlin
    Germany
    September 13, 2017
    German Premiere
Director Biography - Susanna Van Aswegen

After her debut short film ‘Retrace’ in 2015, ‘Red Kite’ will be the second short film that Susanna van Aswegen has written and directed and will be the first to undergo a festival run. Throughout her years at university, Susanna, although having taken on roles in a range of different departments, has always been drawn to the world of acting and the power of raw, emotional performances.

Susanna is currently completing her Bachelor of Film and Screen Media production at the Griffith Film School and continues to work as a cinematographer and editor at Tailored Media as well as a freelance filmmaker. She wishes to continue making short films and is currently developing a new script for a short drama film which she plans to direct in the near future.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Most people, if not all people, have had a seminal moment in their lives that has had a significant impact on their present life and their identity. The film conveys the importance of family and the power of love and how it can have a significant impact on a person’s life. Everybody has had a childhood and has experienced some form of loss in their lives. Each of the characters in the film has experienced a loss in their lives.

I hope that by creating the film from Piper’s perspective, a child, the audience can relate to and emotionally invest into her innocent character and her journey as she tries to deal with the absence of her mother and form a relationship with her estranged grandfather.

My true intention with this film was to create a simple story that feels real, untouched and unconstructed. Minimalism plays an important role in each department of the film.

My aim, as a director, was to entrench the actors in an environment that appear real and unrestricted that would allow them to give their most natural performance.