NELSON Bay local Molly O’Sullivan is reaching for the top spot in the REELise Film Festival, a competition all about powerful stories told by young Australian storytellers.
Molly’s short film, titled “The Strength of Small Trees”, talks about the challenges of living with autism.
It started as a university group assignment gone wrong before taking on a life of its own.
“It meant a lot to me to be able to tell my story and my truth to the people who I believed did not understand who I was and the challenges I face,” she said.
In her film, Molly describes how to accept yourself and find success in a world that is not empathetic to the needs of people with autism.
“It always seems to be people like me having to spend hours or days of their time going to appointments and having to work on themselves to be able to live, instead of able-bodied people just taking two minutes of their day to try to be kinder and more understanding,” Molly said.
Molly’s lengthy and successful creative journey is proof that she is not defined by the things that she struggles with.
Starting as a six-year-old making music videos on her iPod Touch all the way to her current studies in Media and Communication at the University of Newcastle, Molly has already been a category winner in REELise’s 2024 edition, and she featured in ABC’s documentary show The Assembly, as a student journalist.
“REELise is very important because there really aren’t that many platforms for young people to express themselves so vulnerably like they can with this festival,” she said.
“With social media still being so popular despite the ban for under 16s, so many of us are still subject to so much bullying and unrealistic standards, so it is important to have a safe place to talk about these issues without fear of judgement.”
“The Strength of Small Trees” is a finalist in REELise’s 2026 Film Festival, and can be found on their YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4HsWiythCY) alongside all the other entries and instructions on how to vote.
By Nico LOMBARDO
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