This story was originally published on 13 August 2025. Star Weekly is sharing it again for you to enjoy.
Melbourne’s west will star at this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) with the premiere of Westgate, the second full-length feature from West Footscray filmaker Adrian Ortega.
Set in and shot in and around Footscray, Westgate is the semi-autobiographical tale of Ortega and his Italian-Australian single mother on a single day in 1999.
“It’s really actually my mothers story from my perspective,” said Ortega who wrote and directed the film.
“The perspective of the film is hers, but I’m telling from what I witnessed and heard and felt and saw at the time.”
At the time Ortega was 12 and so to is Julian, the the character based on him who shares a West Footscray home with Netta, the character based on his own mother.
Netta is struggling to look after Julian while confronting ghosts from her past, namely the the 1970 collapse of the West Gate Bridge, which killed scores of Italian migrants, including her own father.
“Everybody knew somebody who knew someone who died on the bridge,” said Ortega of the impact the West Gate disaster still had on the inner-west Italian community when he was growing up.
On the day in question, the 30th anniversary of the disaster is less than a year away and when a series of financial, family and health issues come to a head at once, Netta is forced to finally confront the grief she’s been running away from for nearly three decades.
Despite her central role in the film, Ortega said his mother was still waiting to see Westgate like everyone else.
“She read the script and loved it but we’ll have to wait and see how she responds to the film,” said Ortega who shot Westgate in June last year.
“There’ll be plenty of locations westies recognise,” he said, before offering his opinion on why the area is chosen for so many film shoots.
“I think people are drawn to stories about working class people and in Melbourne it doesn’t get anymore working class than the west.”
Westgate’s MIFF screenings are sold out, but Ortega is hopeful a third will be added.
Details: https://miff.com.au/program/film/westgate
