When cinematographer Thomas Howlett chose Stockton as the location of a new short film, he knew small-town charm would shine.
The long-time Merewether local and Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) graduate worked on Sticky Beak, now showing in the Flickerfest short film festival, with university peers.
The festival began as a local event at Balmain High School in 1991 but is now recognised as Australia's leading short film festival, with more than 1000 entries each year.
Films like Mr Howlett's are selected through a year-long process.
Sticky Beak follows an older lady called Maude through the grief of losing her husband and a community that embraces her.
"She has confined herself to her house," Thomas said. "The local community who love Maude very dearly come up with a story of a missing dog to keep Maude occupied."
The now Sydney-based film maker felt returning home to shoot would give the film a depth and warmness not found in larger cities.
"The story takes place on a street that Maude overlooks," he said. "In Stockton, we spoke with three house owners and they were just delighted."
Mr Howlett and the crew - including four Newcastle locals with younger sister Gabby Howlett among them - wanted the film to be an ode to suburban experience.
All characters in the film aside from Maude, whose scenes were shot in Sydney, were cast from local acting schools. Director Eloise Woodward first put out the call.
"We found some of the talent through young people's theatres," Mr Howlett said. "Everyone we met was so personable. You don't get that much in big places like Sydney."
Sticky Beak will plat the Newcastle's Civic Theatre on June 10 as part of Flickerfest's regional tour. The festival, now in its 32nd year, has been showing in Newcastle for over a decade.
Festival director Brownyn Kidd said returning to her home town each year for the festival tour was a highly fulfilling experience.
"There's a really wide range of films and we have been conscious of creating an up-beat program that really shows the resilience of the human experience," she said.
The tour is visiting 19 regional NSW locations, including Merimbula, Narrabri and Canowindra. Each location has a specially-curated program to best reflect the town.
"We are always really keen to look at the locations of film maker and find who audiences can relate to," Ms Kidd said. "They're telling stories of home towns on the screen."
Flickerfest has become widely regarded as an international launch pad for young film makers and is BAFTA and Oscars-recognised.
One creative vying for new opportunities is David Robinson-Smith, whose film Mud Crab has featured on an international scale before arriving in Newcastle.
It follows the story of an assaulted man and the trauma felt by a woman who watched the abuse unfold in a small town.
Hailing from Budgewoi, Mr Robinson-Smith wanted to put the experience of youth in small coastal towns on the big screen.
"The idea of someone experiencing violence and being changed by that is based on a bunch of people I knew [growing up]," he said.
"Having Flickerfest in Newcastle is just huge," he said. "There aren't many film festivals around the Central Coast and there aren't many in Newcastle.
"To have your film branching out into regional areas is really [special].
"I think the story can be felt by anyone who grew up in a regional area. It's not isolated to the Central Coast or Newcastle," Mr Robinson-Smith said.
