A highlight of one of Melbourne’s most important short film festivals, the Setting Sun Film Festival (SSFF), will be the screening a selection of Athens Short Film Festival (Psarokokalo) entries at the Greek Centre on 7 May.

The ninth edition of the Setting Sun Short Film Festival (5-12 May) will finally return to cinema screens in Yarraville after the last two years during which the festival was presented online because of the pandemic.

The founder and director of the festival, Ann Bourozikas, said the organisers were looking forward to the festival’s opening night at Yarraville’s Sun Theatre which was rated among the world’s 50 most beautiful cinemas.

“We are delivering an exciting and diverse schedule of films in a series of physical and online events,” Ms Bourozikas said.

“To honour our commitment to onscreen cultural diversity and the cultural roots of the (Melbourne’s) inner west, we are featuring a Greek programme with films from the Athens short film festival; an Italian programme featuring a feature-length documentary and short films; our annual female filmmakers’ programme in partnership with Women in Film and TV (Victoria) and a programme of works by filmmakers with disabilities” Ms Bourozikas told Neos Kosmos.

“We are also screening a series of films made by local Melbourne and emerging filmmakers at Kindred Studios,” she said.

Along with the Greek Centre which will host on the Athens Short Film Festival, starting at 7pm (7 May), the other two venues are will be in Yarraville.

The Sun Theatre on Ballarat Street in Yarraville will host the opening night on 5 May, and will include as one of the highlights the Oscar nominated 20-minute drama Feeling Through starring Robert Tarango the first-ever deaf and blind actor to star in a film. Doug Roland directed the film which was produced by Marlee Martin, the hearing-impaired actress who won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in the 1986 film Children of a Lesser God.

The Sun Theatre will be the venue for the Italian Programme (6 May) and The Rouge – female filmmakers’ programme (8 May)

Kindred Studios on 3 Harris St, Yarraville will screen programmes by local and emerging film makers: The Banksia programme (starting 7pm) and The Dahlia (from 8.45pm) are showing on 9 May. The Palm (7pm) and The Bridge (8.45pm) will be presented on the evening of 11 May. The Bridge Programme includes Slanted Gutter, a 10-minute film directed by John Kokkinias.

Free online festival sessions will be held on 12 -16 May. The online programme is divided into four sections: International, Youth, Access Cinema and The power of Art to Heal.

The Youth programme includes a diverse series of films made by secondary school students, including Alanah Tsiolkas’ We Need to be Sneaky.

The Power of Art to Heal programme features a selection of films that show the effect art can have in healing people and includes a 26-minute film by Greek-Australian director Stella Dimadis whose work The Art in Healing explores the positive role of creativity and art in the lives of people affected by personal trauma or natural disasters.