Catho D’Souza On Her Horror Short ‘I’m Still Here’, Premiering At Tropfest 2026

After years of absence from the Sydney scene, Tropfest is back. The iconic short film festival and launchpad for creative careers was revealed to be revived late last year, causing a healthy scramble among our city’s filmmakers to have a short ready in time for the festival’s submission deadline.

One of those filmmakers is Cathy D’Souza, a Marrickville local whose short I’m Still Here has been chosen as one of the 15 finalists out of over 700 entrants for the festival on Sunday February 22nd. Speaking to City Hub, Catho – who wrote, directed and edited her short in less than a month – says that the process behind making a film for Tropfest is delightfully different from usual.

“I think I wouldn’t have made this film if it wasn’t for Tropfest, because we sat down and came up with an idea for the festival,” she says. “It’s all about getting filmmakers out there, making and doing the things they love. It mobilises  you, because sometimes you have an idea and you sit on it, but Tropfest is all about acting on ideas. It’s a cultural moment that we’re a part of.”

A foray into horror

Although she’s created a number of short films in the past, I’m Still Here is Catho’s first foray into the horror genre, with some inspiration taken from powerhouse Australian creatives like the Philippou brothers and production company Causeway.

It follows the grief-stricken Avanya (Blessie Jemimah) after the death of her sister, attempting to impersonate her in an attempt to keep her spirit alive. In this short, the ‘Hourglass’ theme is explored through the idea that we never have as much time with our loved ones as we think.

“The core of the film deals with a specific aspect of grief and the experience of losing someone, and I really wanted to focus on that emotion,” Catho says. “My relationship with my sisters is the most unique I have in my life, and I really wanted to explore what the denial feels like in that specific type of relationship, because it is so unique.”

She continues: “I think that’s the power of horror; it just brings you viscerally into some really difficult emotions and it’s really fun. It was my first horror film, so it was really, really fun to do horror that’s rooted in really deep, real experiences.”

A new genre wasn’t the only challenge that Catho faced during the production of I’m Still Here. Compared to her past projects, this film was comparatively a whirlwind – one made more seamless by her reunion with a rock-solid creative team.

“We saw Tropfest was coming up, and we thought ‘Okay, it’s a really short timeline, I don’t know if we can do it,’” says Catho. “And then it got to the end of November, and I just kept thinking… why not? Why wouldn’t we try and do something? And I’ll take any excuse to be on set, it’s what makes me really happy!”

I’m Still Here a creatively fulfilling challenge

After a frantic week of co-ordinating with her producer Raenne Chami – “my creative soulmate”, says Catho – scriptwriting and planning the entire film, the shooting dates were set for December 29th and 30th. There were only 9 days of post-production before Catho submitted it – a non-standard approach – but she looks back on the process with extreme fondness.

“It was a great challenge, and it was hectic and difficult at times, but it’s something we’re really proud of,” Catho explains. “My producer and I have built really strong relationships and a really good community around filmmaking.

“When it came to crewing up the film, that was really easy because we have people in our network that want to do this, that feel passionate about it – the crew and set in general was just super, super collaborative, and that was such a special thing to reflect on.”

One such person is I’m Still Here’s lead actress Blessie Jemimah, who she first worked with on another short film titled I’d Never Date An Indian Girl. What began as an audition process through TikTok has transformed into a real creative partnership for Catho; when she finished this script, Blessie was the first person her mind went to.

“The odds of meeting her in this lifetime were so small, but we met and I feel like she is one of, if not the most, talented emerging actors I’ve ever worked with. Working with her again was so great because I feel like our relationship as director and actor is evolving in a really good way.”

“Tropfest [gives] people the permission to tell the stories they want”

It was only appropriate, then, that Blessie was with Catho when she got the call on February 4th that I’m Still Here was one of the 15 finalists for 2026’s Tropfest. “I was in the car with her, and I got this call from a random number. And I was like, ‘who could it be?’ But I felt like I needed to answer it,” she recalls.

“And it was John Polson on the other end, and he said ‘You got into Tropfest.’ And Blessie could hear through the phone what was happening, and she was just in the car freaking out! We had to take a solid 30 minutes to just buffer and process what had just happened. It was very serendipitous that we were literally in the car together and found out at that moment.”

Catho is undoubtedly thrilled to be a finalist at Tropfest’s first instalment in six years, but her passion for the filmmaking scene is even more palpable. She concludes: “Tropfest gives those people the permission to tell the stories they want, and a platform to be seen both within and beyond Australia. And I think creating that access for people, to allow them to turn their passions into their careers by helping them be seen, I feel that’s a really important thing.”

I’m Still Here premieres at Tropfest 2026 on Sunday, February 22nd. Register for an in-person ticket here, or watch the livestream online.