The Song of Colour won the coveted “Best Feature Film” award for writer and director, Ashley Dighton, cast and crew at the 5th Brisbane Indie Film Festival at the New Farm Cinemas last night.
The feature film was shot over nineteen days, mainly at Doc Brown Café at Buchanan Street, West End.
The film tells the story of the comings and goings of regulars at the café. The Narrator (Chris Slater) brings a quirky link between the audience and the story. [He’s also a member of Crackermilk. Look it up.]
The barista, Joseph (Nic Angelosanto), shares a piece of trivia with each customer to intrigue them and lighten their day. He is on a quest to make the perfect coffee.
The focus is on regular Ivy (Mia Gundwald), a thirty-three-year-old woman trying to make sense of a life lived in the messy, human mix of study and relationships. She’s intelligent, articulate and happy to share her struggles.
She is confronted by Liam “an adorable young idiot” (James Dyke), hoping to score. Then, in the aftermath of this brutal encounter, Gladys (Barbara Lowing) offers to debrief and send Ivy back into the world whole. It’s a wild ride.
Ash Dighton (Babel Creative) wrote the dialogue-rich, award-winning script. It is a beautiful antidote to the world lived mainly through social media, tucked away in our rooms. The story moves us from the disappointments arising from the social expectations we adopt and the limits we place on ourselves, through to the joy of living each moment, one at a time.
Ken Kimura worked closely with Ash to get the film shot and made in Brisbane. Ash said, “We spent weeks in the cafe, prevising the film and working out its visual identity in a way we hoped would keep the audience feeling connected to the space without feeling trapped, and also shooting it in a way that would bring us progressively closer to Ivy’s actualisation.” His camera work captures the magic that happens as Ivy’s world grows bigger.
Kristie Yates (Creators of Awesome) produced the film. Tim Dighton was the Executive Producer.
Brisbane production companies made this film happen. Babel, Serve Chilled TV, Creators of Awesome and Tasty Pictures contributed to its success.
If there’s anything I’d like to change, one would be to bring the title of the movie much closer to the beginning of the film. The other would be to have it run in cinemas throughout Brisbane and beyond.
Highly recommended.
Indie Film Festival, New Farm Cinemas 9th and 10th January, 2026
