DOG WHISTLE (Graduate Student Film)

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Hi, my name is Moo Renzaho and I am a third-year Film and Television student at the Victorian College of the Arts and this year I am writing, directing, and producing my graduate DOG WHISTLE.

Have you ever had that awkward moment where you go to meet someone for the first time only to realise that you've already met?

Now imagine that person is a n*zi.

THE FILM :

DOG WHISTLE is a 12-minute satirical mockumentary that follows MATT, a student director who sets out to film a daring exposé documenting the inner workings of an Alt-right political club, the Conservative Australian Men's Party, or C.A.M.P for short, operating out of his university after hearing rumours that the club is planning a racially motivated political demonstration on campus.

However, when Matt goes to meet the infamous members of C.A.M.P he makes a shocking discovery about the club's President, JACK BEHRINGER...

He realises they've already met.

Not only have they met, but they know each other...more intimately...than Matt would like.

The film explores themes of masculinity, identity, morality, and the rise of fascist ideology in present-day politics, all wrapped up in a fun C.A.M.Py comedy.

DOG WHISTLE is Borat meets The Thick Of It meets What We Do In The Shadows, with a little something in it for everybody.

WHY DOG WHISTLE?

I came up with the idea for this film 3 years ago, in my first year of university.

I knew I wanted to make something political, taking inspiration from some of my favourite films including Borat and Wag the Dog and Soy Cuba, and being the only black person in my class I knew I have a unique opportunity to tell a story nobody else could, from a perspective nobody else had.

However, I didn't want to be lazy and just make a film about how bad fascism is. I wanted to make something that forced people to ask questions; that made people reflect on their own lives and experiences.

So much of my life as a black person, especially a black gay person, is being exposed to normalised casual racism, racism so normalised it feels like I'm the only one who notices it. So, when I sat down to write my graduate film I wanted to write something that didn't just point the finger at right-wing ideology and tell people what is good and what is bad, but instead show people right-wing ideology and ask challenge them to think for themselves.

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

The film will be shot over 4 days in the beginning of August, on the University of Melbourne's historic Parkville campus.

The film crew is largely made up of POC, WOC, and LGBTQIA2+ people (including myself), as well as being offered as an opportunity for people who are interested in learning film production who otherwise don't have the means to.

This was a purposeful decision made by myself to offset the all-white, all-male cast of the film and to use my project as means of uplifting others in the industry who have similar experiences (and disadvantages) to me.

[KANDICE (2022) a short film written by Silver Fitzgerald and directed by Moo Renzaho starring Cleo Evans-Jones, Francis Williamson, and Nina Seeburg]