Orlando's Heart is a short film from Katoomba High School, Australia (2023), presented in the Focus on Ability International Short Film Festival. The film explores themes of blindness and sensory disability alongside inclusion, community and individual achievement. Quiet moments and everyday skills such as knitting are used to suggest care, motivation and connection without relying on spectacle. School and hospital contexts sit alongside family and peer relationships to give a sense of the worlds young people navigate. Thoughtful and humane, this student work offers a small, hopeful portrait of how support, love and practical creativity shape identity and belonging.
Hi, my name's Orly, I'm 18 years old and I go to Katoomba High School. I got vision impaired when I was 7 years old. I got diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of 7 which involved implanting a VP shunt in my head to drain the excess CSF fluid from my brain to my tummy. I had to go to the hospital a lot for lots of operations and I wanted something to do with my hands so I asked mum if I could start knitting and I just started from then. I love to knit, knitting is something I do for enjoyment time while I'm at home and even at school when I have free time because it's just relaxing and soothing. For Winter Magic this year, of course, it is all about love. I am knitting these stuffed love hearts and they're going to hang down the shop window in Katoomba called the Granny Square. Miss Grochovac, one of our big art teachers, she's a really big fan of my knitting so she thought why not involve me in the Winter Magic. Ah, look there, he's just down in the hospital now getting scans. Hello, my name's Matt and I'm Orlando's very proud father. Unfortunately, today he can't be here. He has to go for an operation, not a major one, hopefully it's all good. He's very, very chuffed to be able to display his artisan work. She just wanted me to be a part of the community. Now I'd like to welcome Trish to announce the winners of the year. Okay, and in third place, for a piece called Fragile Hearts, Katoomba High School. Yay! Um, in second prize, Farmer's Way. Okay, in third prize, for a piece called In first prize, the fabulous Stitcher of Time, Orlando Sabanc. Woo! Well, I won first prize in a Winter Magic for my artwork, Love One Stitch One, which I'm very proud of. Yeah, because I had to have a shunt revision because the line leading to my tummy on my neck, the line snapped. Which involved me going to the hospital and having a new line put in. But I've recovered really well and I'm back at school. The heart symbolises connection, love, friendship and happiness. Love is like, when somebody says I love you, that means it's like they care for me. And they're thinking about me. My mum and my great-grandmother. She used to be. The first thing I ever knitted was a scarf for my dad.
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Orlando's Heart by Katoomba High School (2023)
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Orlando's Heart
by Katoomba High School - SCHOOL DOCUMENTARIES
