14-sec trailer The Perfect Boy Myth | Played by Samantha Tolj

The Mother symbolises the perfect maternal figure - a fairy godmother, stunningly beautiful and ethereal. The Orphans, suspended in their desire for her and with eyes glinting like wolves; wait on the edge of their seats for her promised arrival. But she only has eyes for one...

The Perfect Boy Myth is an award-winning art video written and directed by Liberté Grace, shot by Australian cinematographer Joel Peterson, with performance-maker Kate Sherman in the lead role. The work brought together a creative team of more than 100 people from around the world to create a dark fairy tale about a small, racist society of orphaned children ruled by a charismatic boy who promises to “Protect them from evil” and “Bring the great mother back to life.”

Drawing on historical references to Nazi Germany, a chilling story from the Vietnam War, and the 2005 Cronulla Race Riots in Sydney, Australia, The Perfect Boy Myth plays with familiar fairy-tale archetypes while turning their idealism inside out. The work examines how cultural programming can embed ideas of purity, belonging, authority and protection within stories that appear innocent on the surface.

The Perfect Boy Myth was selected for the Cannes Film Festival and the Art Basel Film Program in Hong Kong, and was presented in Times Square, New York.