We are so proud to announce that MFA student Andrea Benge, known for ANDiLAND, has been awarded the Best Experimental Film award at the Sydney World Film Festival for her short Desert Air. In addition, Benge received a Tarkovsky Grant.
ANDiLAND 🐰 is a multi-media artist 🎨 working in the realm of sex 👄 & violence. 🔪 Raised in the plastic 💋 wonderland of Southern California, 🌸 her work ✨ has been shown all around the country 💗 including Slamdance Film Festival, Oxford Film Festival and Sydney World Film Fest. 🌈
Desert Air is a dark journey down the rabbit hole of a turbulent female adolescence.
“The theme this year was inspired by the incredible resilience and creativity evidenced by our community and our team over the past few unprecedented months,” said Slamdance president and co-founder Peter Baxter. “The shared journey ahead for Slamdance’s filmmakers, alumni community, and organization is to ‘Greenlight Yourself’ and triple down on not only who we are, but how we can continue expanding the many ways we support the filmmakers who are the future of independent filmmaking.”
In addition to the U.S., this year’s selection of films comes from Australia, Finland, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Lithuania, Romania, the UK, and Taiwan.
The festival’s new program featured 22 short films from up-and-coming disabled filmmakers, feature actors with disabilities, or highlight the conversation of disabilities in today’s world.
Unstoppable is entirely programmed by disabled artists and the program’s mission is to amplify the contributions of the disabled community and advocate for their rightful inclusion in our industry.
Congratulations Andi, this award was well deserved!
Learn more about Desert Air!
Artist Statement:
My work 🐰 invites viewers 🤗 through the looking glass of reality 🌈 down the rabbit hole 😈 of my personal female 👄 psyche, a dreamworld 🍭 otherwise known as 🔪 ANDiLAND. 🧨 Working in several media, my campy paintings🎨, kitschy 💗 sculptures and mischievous ✨ videos create a whimsical 🧨🐇💋💗🌸💉🍩 wonderland 🌸 of immersive sensory overloads. 🐇 I interrogate 💄 the idea of women and violence ⚔️ through the lens of popular culture 💘 utilizing the language of 🎉 entertainment & simulacra. Exploiting 💉 the female “grotesque” 👄 I examine the superficial 🌈 construct of reality 🍩 and play with the voluptuous 🔥 danger lurking beneath the sticky 💋 sweet surface 🍰.