‘A Field Guide to Being A 12-Year-Old Girl’ (Photo: Nat Rogers)
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) today launched #SocialShorts, its national online short film competition.
#SocialShorts – this year presented in partnership with MINI – runs for two weeks across Drama, Comedy and Open categories, with the winner of each to be announced July 29. Audiences can watch all participating films on the #SocialShorts website.
Many of the films in this year’s comp have achieved acclaim already, including Shelly Lauman’s Birdie, which was acquired by Fox Searchlight after screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, Julie Kalceff’s First Day, which has been turned into a full series for the ABC, and Tilda Cobham-Hervey’s A Field Guide to Being A 12-Year-Old Girl, which was awarded the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film at Berlinale in 2018.
Corrie Chen (Mustangs FC, Homecoming Queen, Five Bedrooms), Lucy Gaffy (Dream Baby, Nursery Rhymes), Mirrah Foulkes (Judy and Punch, Animal Kingdom), and Luke Eve (I Met A Girl, High Life) are this year’s #SocialShorts’ ambassadors, and will provide support and mentorship to the winning filmmakers, reflecting on their own short filmmaking experiences and careers beyond.
Winners of each category receive tickets to the 2019 AACTA Industry Luncheon, a $500 Cash Prize, a mentoring session with a #SocialShorts ambassador, and their film will be shown at an AACTA public and industry facing event in Sydney in late August.
“With audiences actively viewing and sharing more online and short form content than ever before, it’s a very exciting time to be an emerging filmmaker in Australia. The opportunities for collaboration and audience growth associated with #SocialShorts presented by MINI are invaluable to creatives as they launch into the next stage of their screen careers,” said AFI | AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella.
The voting audience also has the chance to win a double pass to the 2019 AACTA Awards Ceremony & Official After Party held at The Star Event Centre in Sydney this December.