Certificate of DISTINCTION - Australian Film
Short Film AFIN 262
2020 VISION
Directed by 
Lisa Smithies
AFIN 2025 Nominee
- 2025
- 14m
-
Australia - English
- M
- Comedy
- Dance
Stills
4 frames
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Credits
Produced by
Starring
Synopsis
2020 was a clusterfluff of a year that had a lasting impact on our kids. One brave Aussie dance school decided to do something about it! 2020 Vision goes behind the scenes as they create a glittering routine to honour the year 2020. Sure, it’s wildly inappropriate to celebrate bush fires, a pandemic, and race riots through dance, but how else are these kids going to make sense of our crazy world?
Director's Statement
As Whitney said, "I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way." But how the hell are we supposed to help them make sense of our complicated world, when we don't really understand what's going on ourselves. So we thought, maybe dance is as good a way as any to make sense of it all. We wanted the routines in the film to be a glittering celebration of dance, highlighting the innocence of childhood, but also creating a pretty big disconnect between the kids' joy and the serious content they attempt to tackle. As the film progresses, the initial premise - that dance is a good way for kids to process trauma - is questioned over and over, to a spectacular but inconclusive end.
What makes this one special
- Nominated for Best Australian Short Film
- A first-time filmmaker
From the Judges
From the Judges
It lands with real buoyancy, colourful and light on its feet, and leaves you grinning. The mockumentary framing struck them as a genuinely novel way back into a year of lockdown and upheaval in Australia, with sharp, committed choreography and inventive costume design carrying every performer. Vibrantly graded and played by a cast wholly in tune with the film's style, it holds its tone from start to finish.
Director's Biography
Lisa Smithies Director
Lisa Smithies is co-creator of Punch Buggy Pictures, with her sister Nyrée Alexander. We've been writing film and TV projects for years, but 2020 Vision is our first production together and we went B.I.G.!! Lots of kids, lots of heart, lots of costumes, and a little bit of catastrophe. Funny-sad is our usual vibe when we write. We love female-centred film projects with lots of laughs, love and the occasional gut-punch of reality.
Lisa is based in Melbourne, Australia.
Trailer
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2020 VISION was an official Nominee for Best Australian Short Film at the AFIN International Film Festival 2025, a Top 100 Best Reviewed and IMDb-qualifying festival.
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