The second feature from writer/director Adrian Ortega (Cerulean Blue) is a quietly intense drama set in Melbourne's west at the end of the 1990s. Single mother Netta (Sarah Nicolazzo) is drowning: a sick child, a business bankrupting her before it has even begun, and a landlord pounding at the door. When Julian’s (Max Nappo) father cancels their long-promised weekend together, everything begins to unravel. Determined not to let her son down, she clings to the one thing she can still control: getting Julian to his final year footy presentation. But as her life unravels, so does her grip, and her promises. Rough-edged and unfiltered, Westgate is a portrait of a woman who refuses to be softened, a child who sees too much, and a city that has never made space for them.

Adrian Ortega is an award-winning filmmaker based in Melbourne, who will be in attendance along with lead Sarah Nicolazzo for a Q&A after the Thursday December 18th screening of Westgate.

“Westgate is a deeply personal film about my mother and the women I grew up with, their strength, pride, and quiet battles. Set against the backdrop of the 1970 West Gate Bridge collapse, it explores the lives of working-class migrant families in Melbourne’s west. Growing up in a single-parent household in the ’90s, toughness was survival, and this film is my reckoning with what resilience truly means. Shot on a micro-budget, Westgate captures the raw, unfiltered spirit of the place I call home.”