A short film - made by a group of LGBTQI youth from outer Melbourne about the experience of coming out as transgender - has won an international award.
Marcus was written and produced by a bunch of queer and transgender kids aged between 13-20, about the way family and friends react when Marcus comes out as transgender.
The group - who met each other in an LGBT+ youth group called Be Yourself - spent a year writing the script, and based the story on their own experiences.
"Most of us are trans or gender diverse, and it was an accumulation of things that we've all experienced, but we wanted it to be positive," director of photography Morgan Kearley tells SBS.
A still from the short film 'Marcus' Source: Marcus
"There are a lot of us who have not had so great experiences with friends and family from coming out, so we wanted it to be lighthearted and we didn't want it to be difficult to watch or difficult to make.
"We sat down and said, 'okay, what are the stupid things that people have said to us that we can put in, in a way that will be shown as something stupid?'. There was a part of it that was just really cathartic to write."
The film was shot in just one day, and features appearances by well-known comedians Cal Wilson, Broden Kelly, Demi Lardner, and Lori Bell, who came on board after producer Catherine Bateman's comedian partner put the call out among their comedian friends.
Kearley says the group, who call themselves , were inspired to write the film to address a lack of positive representation for LGBT+ people, and in particular trans men, in the media.
"There's not a lot of representation in the media, or if there is, it's tragic or it's not played by a trans person," the 20-year-old budding filmmaker says.
"We're very eager to see LGBT+ representation made and performed by LGBT+ people."
The 13 minute film has been shown at a few film festivals, and has now won an award at the in Los Angeles.
It is one of just 12 films to win out of 800 international submissions.
Queer Club Films started a to raise the money needed to send Kearley and director Rowan Quinn to LA to receive the award in early October, and to attend a filmmaking masterclass at the LA Film School.
In less than two weeks they reached their goal of $7,288, with with help more than 170 supporters, including Aussie comedians Celia Pacquola, Kate McLennan, Tom Ballard, Rhys Nicholson - and even a Twitter shout-out from US actress Sarah Silverman.
"We're really blown away by the fact that we actually made something that we're proud of for a first project," says Kearley, who is keen to pursue a career in filmmaking.
"But then we're also absolutely blown away by how it's been received by people, that other people think it's good as well and helpful and educational and entertaining - and not just LGBT people.
"I'd like to think that us winning this award could show other people that that kind of stuff is actually worth watching and worth making."
The film has also been accepted into the London Queer Film Festival in November, and the group hope to use the additional money raised through their fundraiser to turn the story into a six-part web series, and to set up mentoring sessions for young people with some of their comedian supporters and film industry professionals.
