BEST AUSTRALIAN (LIVE-ACTION) SHORT FILM, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST ACTOR & AUDIENCE AWARD
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Dusty
Jeremy Lindsay Taylor | 2024 | 16m | Australia | Australian (Live-Action), Director, Actor
After the death of his best friend, we follow Dustin on a grief-induced bender for one. Amidst the chaos, he accidentally mixes her ashes with a fat slug of cocaine, and to his utter confusion, Ashleigh appears. He realises the more ashes he combines with the ever-growing quantity of drugs, the more vivid Ashleigh becomes, and the longer she stays. They proceed to have the time of their lives. Dusty goes to great lengths to keep her memory alive, taking his mind and body to places they were never meant to go.
Credits
Director
Jeremy Lindsay Taylor
Writer
Travis Jeffery
Producer
Travis Jeffery
Jeremy Lindsay Taylor
Elizabeth Sarah Middleton
Valentin Lang
Cast
Travis Jeffery
Shannon Ryan
Susie Porter
Interview with director Jeremy Lindsay Taylor and actor Travis Jeffery
This recording includes mild coarse language
Reviews
Written by Jack McKenzie
Flinders University Bachelor of Creative Industries (Film and Television) Student
Dusty, directed by Jeremy Lindsay Taylor and written by and starring Travis Jeffery, is an unforgettable short film that pushes the boundaries of grief, love, and self-destruction with raw honesty and fearless creativity. The film’s daring premise, a man accidentally snorting the ashes of his deceased best friend, only to have her reappear, could have easily veered into absurdity, but under Taylor’s direction, it becomes something moving and deeply human.
It's no surprise Dusty swept awards for Best Director, Best Australian (Live-Action), Best Actor, and the Audience Award. Taylor’s direction is masterful, balancing surreal humour and emotional devastation in perfect harmony. His visual storytelling captures both the chaotic energy of addiction and the fragile beauty of grief, creating a tone that’s both disorienting and poetic. The result is a film that feels alive, pulsing with humour and heartbreak.
Travis Jeffery delivers a powerhouse performance as Dusty. His portrayal of a man unravelling in the wake of loss is visceral and fearless, seamlessly shifting between euphoria and sorrow. Equally captivating is Shannon Ryan as Ashleigh. She embodies both the comfort of memory and the pain of letting go, making every scene between her and Jeffery electric with emotional tension. Ryan’s nuanced performance elevates Ashleigh beyond a vision, feeling heartbreakingly real. Jeffery’s chemistry with Ryan gives the story its emotional core, grounding the fantastical premise in authentic emotion.
Beyond its technical brilliance, Dusty resonates because it understands the messy ways we cling to the people we’ve lost. It’s tragic, funny, and tender, even sometimes all at once. The audience’s overwhelming response makes its Audience Award win inevitable. Simply put, Dusty is an extraordinary short film. Every accolade it received was richly deserved.
Written by Tom Venus
Flinders University Bachelor of Creative Arts (Screen) Student
Dusty was a clear standout at this year’s edition of AIFF and certainly deserved the awards it received. A combination of very high production value, strong performances and talent behind the camera creates a film that is emotionally touching and a stylistic approach that brilliantly mirrors the emotional state of the film’s protagonist, Dusty. Which is convincingly performed by Travis Jeffrey, who delivers an authentic performance of grief and exhaustion.
Mourning the loss of a close friend, the film follows Dusty in the immediate aftermath of the funeral, which he has not attended. Turning to cocaine and alcohol, Dusty discovers that cocaine has the supernatural effect of bringing his deceased friend back to life. The more he consumes, the more time he gets to spend with her, allowing Dusty to reminisce and briefly share his regrets about their friendship, but not before his friend disappears again, requiring more cocaine to bring her back.
This allows for euphoric montages of them reuniting (Paul Kelly’s Dumb Things is used to brilliant effect here). Overall, on a stylistic note, the film is very impressive. The camera moves freely, and the editing is frenetic, both in line with Dusty’s increasingly unstable and frenetic mental state. The cycle continues until Dusty runs out of his supply, unable to talk to her anymore. The film ends on a relentlessly bittersweet note, with Dusty having lost his friend permanently and beginning to confront his grief. This, I found, was the core message of the immovable nature of grief. Given the film’s all-round technical and aesthetic strength, it would perhaps have been difficult to deny it a place at this year’s edition of the AIFF. Among other strong local films submitted to this year’s festival, it was nice to see such a strong Australian contender.