Shortwave is a short film commissioning program from Sydney Opera House, which invites Australian artists to explore their relationship with the screen. Each Shortwave film centres on the interplay between art, performance and screen, showcasing radical, innovative and experimental approaches to filmmaking.

‘A BEING, OF COURSE’ by Fetle Wondimu Nega and Kalu Oji examines the concept of non-finite grief; the ways in which it is held, processed, and transformed. Shot on 16mm film, and with a soundscape consisting of analogue synthesisers, live coding, field recordings, and voice, this work merges intimacy and abstraction. Both an ending and a beginning, a breaking and remaking of spirit. ‘A BEING, OF COURSE’ is an experimental meditation, interrogating the way grief rearranges us, and how it is during this process of reflection that we find the shape of ourselves once more.

Directed by Kalu Oji
Music composed by Fetle Wondimu Nega
Director of Photography Gabriel Francis

Fetle Wondimu Nega
Fetle Wondimu Nega is an Ethiopian-Australian sound artist, vocalist and live coder* whose work blends non-Western musical traditions, improvisation and Afrofuturism. Using the live coding program Sonic Pi and her vocals, she creates immersive sonic worlds, weaving elements from ambient, jazz, R&B and electronic music.

Performing under the alias Nū, she has played sold-out shows across Melbourne/Naarm, supported HTRK and Floodlights, and featured at festivals including ArtsHouse BLEED, A3, and Sonder Music Festival. In 2024, she toured Asia, with performances in Kuala Lumpur and at the International Conference for Live Coding in Shanghai. Following the release of her debut EP TECHNIFRO-185 (via Highly Contagious Records), she embarked on an international tour across Sydney/Eora, New York, London, Brighton, Berlin, and Hobart for Dark Mofo. This August, she will perform at the Now or Never Festival and Phoenix Central Park’s Season XVII.

Fetle is currently expanding her practice into sound for film and installation, exploring how her sonic language can evolve through new mediums and collaborative forms.

*Live coding is the real-time programming or manipulation of code to generate sound and/or visuals.

Kalu Oji
Kalu Oji is a filmmaker and writer whose practice is rooted in process-driven collaboration and the exploration of memory, place, and identity.

His short films have screened at festivals including BFI London Film Festival, Palm Springs ShortFest, and Chicago International Film Festival, and have received awards from Flickerfest, Sydney Film Festival, and Atlanta Film Festival.

In August 2025, Kalu’s debut feature, ‘Pasa Faho’, will premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival. Alongside his artistic practice, he also works across education and facilitation spaces at both institutional and community levels.