Sydney Film Festival calls for submissions

Sydney Film Festival logoEntries are now open for the 62nd Sydney Film Festival, which is set to immerse Sydneysiders in the world of cinema from Wednesday 3 June until Sunday 14 June 2015.

The 2014 Festival saw the introduction of two new award categories; the Documentary Australia Foundation Award for Australian Documentary and the Event Cinemas Australian Short Screenplay Award. Last year, out of around 2,500 films submitted, 192 films were invited to the Festival, screening to an incredible 156,000 attendees.

2015 will mark the 45th year of the Festival presenting its Australian short film competition, making it the oldest short film competition in Australia. Since 1970, the competition has served as launch pad for emerging Australian film talent, spring-boarding countless directors, producers and actors down a path towards international success.

Past winners have included film luminaries from across Australia’s creative landscape including Chris Noonan, who went on to write and direct international cinema smash Babe; Don McAlpine, who received an Academy Award nomination for Moulin Rouge; and Jack Thompson, who has starred in numerous Australian classics including Sunday Too Far Away, The Man From Snowy River and Breaker Morant.

Other past winners Phil Noyce, Jane Campion, Rolf de Heer, Alex Proyas and George Miller, have all managed to carve acclaimed careers for themselves within the film industry, both domestically and abroad.

“As we prepare for the 62nd edition of Sydney Film Festival in June 2015, we invite filmmakers to submit their films to the Festival for consideration,” says Festival Director Nashen Moodley. “The programming team looks forward to viewing these submissions and presenting a selection of the very best films at the next Festival.”

Entries are open to features, documentaries and short films (under 40 minutes) in all categories of the Festival program, including:

  • The Documentary Australia Foundation Award for Australian Documentary (cash prize $10,000).
  • The Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films Live Action Award and Best Director – both winners receive cash prizes of $5000 sponsored by Dendy Cinemas.
  • The Yoram Gross Animation Award (cash prize $4,000).
  • The Event Cinemas Australian Short Screenplay Award (cash prize $5,000).

Dendy Cinemas have been proud to sponsor the Awards for 27 years, and the winner of their Live Action Award is now eligible for Academy Award consideration. Also eligible is the winner of the Yoram Gross Animation Award. Yoram and Sandra Gross have sponsored this Award since 1987.

Whether it be a feature film debut, the latest short or an immersive documentary, Sydney Film Festival invites filmmakers to submit their films now for the 2015 event. Both the Dendy Awards for Australian Short films and the Australian Documentary Competition are open exclusively to Australian films.

Submissions for the Festival are being accepted through FilmFestivalLife and will close on Friday 27 February 2015. A small fee applies with the submission.

Before entering, Festival organisers urge all entrants to read the submission requirements closely to ensure that all entries meet premiere status and broader eligibility requirements. For more information, visit: www.sff.org.au/public/about/2015-film-submissions for full eligibility criteria and submission details.

Image: courtesy of Sydney Film Festival