The annual Australian Shorts showcase is always one of the highlights of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, but also - like any anthology - a very mixed bag. The most slapdash productions are winnowed out: the least appalling of which are then screened in the 'Celluloid Casserole' session, which I've never attended (I sat on the MQFF programming committee for seven years; I know just how dire some of those films can be...). Despite this selection process, however, the quality of the Oz Shorts can still sometimes leave a little to be desired. But enough preamble - on with the show! LOOK SHARP ( Dir: Amy Gebhardt, Australia, 2006, 35mm, 9min) This tautly made, simple film is shot in a single room and features three actors. They play an older female photographer, and two of her young male students (ostensibly sharpies , although their haircuts are wrong) with whom she is sleeping. The queer focus of the film is the sexual rivalry/tension between the two young men. While crisp...
