Genna Chanelle Hayes.

Victorian filmmaker Genna Chanelle Hayes has announced plans to produce her upcoming feature film Olivia in regional Victoria later this year.

Production is set to take place in Ballarat and Melbourne, with the acclaimed young director using her sophomore feature film to tackle violence against women.

“This is obviously an issue which I am deeply passionate about, and a space I have been working in for a while now. I wrote this film in 2020 after the deaths of Aiia Massawre and Eurydice Dixon on Melbourne streets, and as an independent filmmaker I couldn’t secure the finance I required. But after the continued deaths in regional Victoria this year, I decided it was more than time to tell this story.”

Olivia is the follow up to Hayes’ acclaimed debut West African Australian feature film AKONI, which premiered in regional Australia and then swept the 2022 Australian Awards Season – garnering her nominations (and a few wins) at the AACTA, ARIA, ADG, ACS and ASIN Awards.

Hayes is known for her passionate and powerful advocacy-driven storytelling, but declines to be recognised as an activist.

“I really don’t see it as advocacy, these are just stories that need to be told in order to bring about the right kind of Change. I create art intuitively and it’s a reflection of the life and society that I am experiencing, and I know that as a society, we need this film right now. We actually needed it years ago.”

The filmmaker said OLIVIA will give deeper insight into the female experience, and allow for greater understanding of the challenges women face when it comes to male violence.

The film is set in regional Victoria and Melbourne, with shooting to take place later this year.