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ASEXY is the first film by, for and about asexuals (or 鈥榓ces鈥�) and is based on the real life experiences of asexual and transgender writer and director, Kylie Aoibheann McDonnell and 鈥渋s a groundbreaking story of intimacy, desire and growing up.鈥�

A short film about two 鈥渁ces鈥� and their journey of discovery of themselves and each other, ASEXY was a finalist in the 2020 Queer Screen鈥檚 Pitch-Off, with plans for release around the middle of this year.

17c起草社区 had a chat with up and coming filmmaker Kylie about what it takes to put a short film together, especially compared to the times before COVID-19 changed our lives and we were heartened to hear that certain things have actually improved in the film industry, particularly in terms of finding people to collaborate with and with the more mainstream acceptance and utilisation of services like Skype and Zoom.

鈥淪urprisingly, it鈥檚 kind of easier to get a team together, especially since there actually aren鈥檛 a lot of productions going ahead, it鈥檚 actually kind of a bit easier to get people on board.”

听We were also keen to know what goals the production team had for this project once it was finished. And if the film festival route was their next step.

鈥淥ur goal for ASEXY, we鈥檒l be sending it to some international festivals particularly those with a queer focus like BFI Flare (an 17c起草社区IA Film Festival in London) or in Australia like Melbourne Queer Film Festival and Queer Screen because our real goal is that queer audiences both here in Australia and internationally can see it. That鈥檚 obviously my dream that asexual people and queer people can see more ace characters on our screens but after its had its festival run it will probably be made available online just so it鈥檚 more accessible. But in the long term we鈥檙e hoping it can also be a pilot for a larger web series, so we鈥檙e also in development for a full season of that!鈥�

Representation On Bojack

Being a huge fan of the animated series听Bojack Horseman on Netflix, which features the first reoccurring asexual character in a mainstream series, I was curious to know how the asexual community reacted to that representation in mainstream media (last year’s Pride discussions not withstanding).

鈥淚t really did have a valuable impact on the asexual community to finally have a person who defies those stereotypes of an asexual either being just socially awkward or a villain etc. [The fact] that they are treated as a character with their own desires and with their own flaws, and while it鈥檚 , it was a massive step forward for the asexual community and you鈥檒l find loads of aces who are really grateful that we finally have a character to see ourselves in鈥�

Fund The Arts!

If you鈥檝e got a bit of cash to spare and you always wanted to support the arts in some way but didn鈥檛 know how, here鈥檚 the perfect opportunity to contribute to a real world project. ASEXY has a crowd funding page through Australian Cultural Fund () and while most of the budget has been raised via private funds, the crowd funding campaign is about raising the last little bit to get them over the line.