CHRISTIAN MUSHENKO

Longing: A Tale of Lost and Found

Single-channel short film 9mins 31sec (10mins 38sec w/titles) 2017 Hotel Etico @ Mount Victoria Manor

A disconnected, wealthy businessman has everything in life, except the one thing that matters most. Finding a letter from his deceased father, he learns of his father’s regrets, and his hopes for his son’s life. Through the letter and a series of coincidences, a shared moment with a stranger reveals an unexpected connection, that illuminates their emptiness, and longing for connection.

Longing is Christian’s cinematic and directorial debut, as well as his thesis film for the MPS Directing at the School of Visual Arts, New York (SVA). This course completed a Master of Art begun at COFA, Sydney in 2012. Longing received an Award of Excellence in the One-Reeler Competition; won a London Independent Film Award and Best Student Film at The Big Apple Film Festival (2017) screening at the SVA Theatre, New York. It was also shown at LA Shorts - an Oscar-qualifying film festival in Hollywood. Screenings at other festivals include New York Zero, Sydney Lift-Off Online, Toronto Cityflix, NYC Independent Film Festival at The Producers Club in Manhattan, and New Filmmakers L.A. Longing was also awarded Best Feel-Good Film in the Sydney Indie Film Festival in 2018.

Forelsket

Single-channel video, soundscape by Tim Parsons (© 2015) 1min 25sec (looped) 2017

Hotel Etico @ Mount Victoria Manor

Norwegian for 'the ineffable feeling when you first fall in love', this work is about the moment of liminal interaction between yourself, your sense of self, an outside inspiration,  influence, or love. The threshold moment of losing yourself, your boundaries, your understanding of what defines you, followed by transcendence to a broader sentience.

Christian Mushenko is an award-winning photographer and film director with a rich family heritage. His great-grandfather, a balloonist in the Tzar's army, escaped from the Ukraine and migrated to Massachusetts, where he started an apple orchard and raised his family. Christian grew up in this orchard, and his early connections to nature developed in him a deep sensitivity to his environment. In a camera and film, he found a vehicle to illustrate his sensory consciousness and wonder. Christian has a Bachelor of Science Honours (Class 1), Macquarie University; an Associate Diploma in Fine Arts (Sydney Institute (TAFE)), and a Master of Art (UNSW Art & Design). He has exhibited in group shows in Sydney, New York, Miami and Brazil, and was awarded 1st Place Outstanding Achievement in Fine Art, at the 7th Annual Photography Masters Cup in 2014. He won a Gold Lotus Award at Adfest in 2009, and the People’s Choice award in the 2007 HeadOn Alternative Portrait Competition. His works are in private collections in the USA, UK and Australia. He is represented in New York by June Bateman Fine Art.

www.christianmushenko.com @christianmushenko