Tender reveals the nuances and tender sides of the communities of Western Sydney through four individual but interconnected documentary films by multidisciplinary artists. In Sharon Mani’s work, At The Heart of it, local memories and stories are shared from those who call Western Sydney home.

"Am I Australian? I stumble at the answer, I um and ahh. Am I from Western Sydney? ‘Of course’, there’s no hesitation in my voice. At The Heart of it is a documentary interviewing various people about the sweet and deep memories they have in connection with Western Sydney. But, it’s also an invitation, ‘Come out, West’ You’re not from here so there’s hesitation, a resistance - ‘But isn’t it dodgy that way? Won’t you get stabbed? I heard a guy my cousin’s sister’s father in law once worked with got mugged out there.’ And I’m telling you, the food’s good, the people are warm and the air is different. If you’ve looked out into a crowd of people at Bondi beach and never seen anyone who looks like you - get on the T2 or T3 Cumberland Line to Leppington and I promise you, you’re going to hear 8 different languages in the one carriage and one of them might be the language your mum speaks to you at home but whispers when she’s in public. Out west, there’s a lot we don't have but what we do have you can’t find anywhere else. That’s what the subjects find themselves coming back to again and again, there’s something special about Western Sydney - when you’re on these streets, you know you belong. There’s not much else to it - it's just real people, their memories and an invitation. Will you take them up on it?"

Creative credits

Director
Sharon Mani

Producer
CuriousWorks
Sharon Mani

Cast
Emmanuel Asante
Bhima Gotyal
Zig Annor

DOP
Sivani Yaddanapudi

Camera Assistant
Kobra Sayyadi

Sound recordist
Shawn Spina

Editor
Jeremiah Nickols

Sound designer
Zion Garcia

Colourist
Jashwin Prasad

Typography/titling
Huy Nguyen

Creative and Technical Director
Elias Nohra

Production manager
Samantha Barahona, CuriousWorks

Production Consultant
Miranda Aguilar, CuriousWorks

Communications Officer
Jenny Trinh, CuriousWorks

Special thanks
Campbelltown Library

This work was produced by Curiousworks, under the creative and technical direction of Elias Nohra. It was commissioned by Sydney Opera House and supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Sharon Mani is a creative producer, an emerging filmmaker and just another girl from Western Sydney. Guided by a profound passion for storytelling, she strives to capture both the authentic and whimsical nature of life in her work. She understands the importance of people seeing themselves in films but she knows people don’t want to simply be seen - the power of stories is they present the opportunity to be understood. That opportunity, for understanding, is what sits at the heart of her creative endeavors. Her video producing work spans across corporate work with companies like ELMO and the RBA to crafting original short films and documentaries. She presently works as a content producer for the social enterprise, Tomorrow Architects and is responsible for filming short documentaries on their thought leadership programs.