Mulling over my personal statement for the AFTRS application. I need to sell myself to the examiners in a 3 minute video presentation. Why me, and not one of the other hundred applicants? I have to get them excited about my prospects. I need to convince them that I have the drive and vision to be a successful director. I must be charismatic, exuberant, confident and inspirational. All the things we idealise in youth. What will I say to the camera? Perhaps a little something like this?

My name is nereis, I was born in Australia 25 years ago, to Malaysian-Chinese immigrants. I grew up in Melbourne and Sydney, living in the suburbs but spending most weekends on the family farm. I went to an Agricultural high school and did well enough to receive a Co-op scholarship in Business Information Technology. But my favourite subjects at school were English and visual arts, and even as I was studying Business and Information Systems I was writing filmscripts and reviewing films for the student paper. I was two years into my degree and working fulltime at the Stock Exchange as a computer programmer, when I saw Hal Hartley's Trust and decided to change course. I was quite unhappy at the time. I was attending uni at nights, and writing my scripts on the train to and from work. Despite the prestige of the scholarship, I felt I wasn't getting the exciting and collegiate university experience that I wanted. But most of all, it was the fact that Hal Hartley worked in a construction company for two years before enrolling in filmschool and becoming a filmmaker, that made me realise it wasn't too late for me to become one too.

So I gave up my scholarship and switched to Arts to follow this dream. Out of all the artistic mediums, I feel film excites the most senses, it best captures the mind's eye. I've been writing and making short films for 5 years now, and whilst I'm still not a great filmmaker, I feel I have the persistance and dedication to become one. I want to make films that create transcendental moments, moments of joy, moments that make others want to tell their stories. I hope to craft romantic, humanistic stories, like that of the Italian and Japanese neo-realists, but with the inventive, playful style of the French new wave and Hong Kong action flicks. My key issues and themes revolve around globalism and cultural conflict - the displacement and struggle of individuals to negotiate some measure of happiness in a rapidly changing world. But I'd also like to explore more universal concepts of desire, duty and destiny - how these divergent forces create compromised identities and dramatic chains of events.

I want people to fall in love with my characters, and be moved by the transitory beauty of the images I create. I want to surprise them with ideas and emotions, thrill them with imaginative associations and stylistic leaps of faith. Above all, I want to tell stories with sincerity. I think this is one of the great strengths of Australian cinema - the honesty and integrity we bring to our films. There is a sense of love and pride in each movie we produce. These are not mere works of entertainment but expressions of our culture and ability. Each Australian film has a sense of its own importance - there's a reverence that resonates even in our most commercial films. However, as a young country with a boutique film industry, we have a lot of room to grow. Our prospects are fantastic. Globalism and multiculturalism have had a massive social impact on our culture and identity, creating many questions that need to be investigated, new stories that need to be told. We have yet to document many aspects of this cultural sea-change, and I think it is this need that will drive an exciting new wave in Australian filmmaking.

I have a long way to go before I can contribute to this industry. I have yet to learn how to block a scene effectively, get the most out of my actors and master the technical aspects of this craft. I hope AFTRS can help me achieve these goals, by providing me with mentors and collaborators that I can learn from. In 5 years time I hope to be making my first feature, exhibiting my work at film festivals around the world, and helping others make their films. Or at the very least, earning enough money to support my writing and filmmaking projects. For me, that would be happiness.