Press Release from Tsuki
With the deadline for 2011 DigiSPAA fast approaching, filmmakers have only three more months to enter their films into Australia’s premier digital filmmaking competition. This year the competition boasts a prize pool of $15,000 cash, $20,000 worth of post-production, a guaranteed screening of the winning film on the Movie Extra channel and a return airfare and free registration to the prestigious CineMart International Film Festival Rotterdam, in Netherlands.
Applications close at 5pm on Friday 16th September 2011. Eligible films are feature length, with a running time of at least 70mins, digitally produced and completed to advanced post-production stage no earlier than 30 August 2010, and independently funded.
DigiSPAA embraces the importance and growing prevalence of digital filmmaking in the industry and aims to support filmmaking that is affordable, creative and appealing to audiences. The competition encourages filmmakers to enter their independently-funded digital feature films and last year received a record 28 entries.
Previous winners have enjoyed exceptional success since winning the grand prize of the ‘SPAArtan Award’. The 2010 winner was Little Sparrows from Writer/Director/Producer Yu-Hsiu Camille Chen, Producer Eva Di Blasio and Executive Producer Peter Thomas. In 2011 the film won Outstanding Drama at the WA Screen Awards, was selected for the 17th London Australian Film Festival and the Dungog Film Festival, has been picked up for distribution internationally and was recently released through Luna Palace Cinemas in Perth.
2009 winner Mother Fish (previously Missing Water) from Writer/Director/Producer Khoa Do had its national theatrical release in 2010 through Titan View. The 2007 winner Men’s Group from producer John L. Simpson went on to win Best Feature at the 2008 Inside Film Awards, and had a national theatrical release in November 2008, to much acclaim and was released on DVD through Madman Entertainment.
DigiSPAA is a creative project of the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA), an industry body that represents Australian independent film and television producers on all issues affecting the business and creative aspects of screen production.
For full details, application form and guidelines go to www.digispaa.org.au