Photoplay series ‘It’s Fine, I’m Fine’ only Aussie production in selection at CanneSeries 2022

Photoplay’s happy/sad short-form series It’s Fine, I’m Fine is the only Australian production to be in the official selection in-competition at CanneSeries 2022.

The series follows a suburban Australian psychologist as she helps her patients explore the mess, humour, melancholy and unexpected magic of life.

It’s Fine, I’m Fine is written and directed by the multi-disciplined Stef Smith (Joy Boy, The Lost Tapes) who also produced alongside Clare Delaney, Iain Crittenden and Florence Tourbier. The project was supported by executive producers Annette Davey (Pam & Tommy, Maid), Gracie Otto (Heartbreak High, Seriously Red) and Oliver Lawrance (Sweet Country, Berlin Syndrome) with principal production investment from Screen Australia and development support from Screen NSW.

The series will receive its world premiere at CanneSeries during MIPTV 1-6 April, with its first season comprised of 12 six-ten-minute episodes. Photoplay will screen the first two episodes at the festival.

A deliberately contained ensemble production, the series explores therapy with a magical realism, black comedy twist and is written by an exciting range of emerging Australian voices including Ana Maria Belo, Arky Michael, Anna Lindner, Cecilia Morrow, Chris Bunton, Jeanette Cronin, Michael Gupta, Nick Coyle, Stef Smith and Wendy Mocke. With raining ash, delusions of grandeur and magical poo; the series asks, for all of humanity’s idiosyncrasies and flaws, how or why do we choose to persist and find the magic?

The ensemble cast includes performances from industry heavyweights including Heather Mitchell (Love Me), Andrew McFarlane (Secret City) and Arky Michael (House of Bond) alongside talented rising stars Catherine Van-Davies (Hungry Ghosts), Eryn Jean Norvill (Preppers), Wendy Mocke (Troppo) and Chris Bunton (Relic).

Says Smith: “This show melds together three things I love – happy/sad stories, magical realism & therapy. Though I don’t go to therapy nearly as much as I should (but who does!?!). As a storyteller I’m really drawn to the happy/sad moments. Look at the world around us, it’s impossible to be happy all the time. Life is too complex for that. Are we all alone in the Universe? I dunno but sometimes it sure as shit feels like it. I find embracing sadness is a really healthy and liberating thing.

“Shooting 80 pages in eight days during a pandemic was a terrifying challenge only made possible because of our amazing team. I’m a sucker for an underdog story and for our ‘little project that could’, to end up screening in a place like Cannes, is overwhelming and thrilling to say the least!”

Says Lee Naimo, head of online, Screen Australia: “A huge congratulations to this team on being selected for CanneSeries. Creator Stef Smith along with such an exciting array of writers have brought a unique, poignant and visually beautiful story to the screen and we are proud to see it premiere on the world stage.”

Says David Gordon, acting head of Screen NSW: “Screen NSW is thrilled to be a supporter of It’s Fine, I’m Fine, which is representing NSW’s talented screen industry at its world premiere in competition at CanneSeries 2022. Supported by a stellar creative team that includes the production team at Photoplay, this heart-warming short form series directed by Stef Smith gives voice to 10 emerging Australian writers covering a range of diverse stories.”

The CanneSeries Short-Form competition was created to showcase new, promising and innovative formats, which reflect current and new ways of watching series. British novelist and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz heads the Short-Form Competition jury, which also includes British actress Chinenye Ezeudu (Sex Education) and French actor, director and composer Marc Ruchmann (Plan Coeur). The Best Short Form Series award will be handed out during the festival’s closing ceremony.

The It’s Fine, I’m Fine world premiere will be on Tuesday 5 April in the Espace Miramar.

Attending the festival to represent the project will be creator/director Stef Smith, actor/writer Ana Maria Belo, actor/writer Chris Bunton, series editor Lily Davis and actress Margaret Pittas.

View the trailer here.