Filmmakers across Australia and around the world have two to six weeks to finalise their submissions for the 66th Sydney Film Festival, which will run from June 5-16.
Entries are open to features, documentaries and short films (under 40 minutes). Last year more than 330 films from 66 countries were screened to an audience of 170,000.
Submissions for the Festival are being accepted through FilmFestivalLife. Closing dates are January 31 for international productions; and February 28 for Australian productions, Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films and Documentary Australia Foundation Award.
The 2019 season will mark the 49th year of the Festival’s Australian short film competition, the oldest short film competition in Australia. Since 1970, the competition has served as a launch pad for emerging Australian film talent, spring-boarding countless directors, producers and actors towards international success.
Past winners include directors Gillian Armstrong, Jane Campion, George Miller, Phillip Noyce, Rolf de Heer and Alex Proyas; cinematographers Don McAlpine and Dean Semler; and actors Bryan Brown and David Wenham.
Entries are open to features, documentaries and short films (under 40 minutes) in all categories of the Festival program, including:
•The Documentary Australia Foundation (DAF) Award for Australian Documentary. The prize is supported by Documentary Australia Foundation with a $10,000 cash partnership. Winners are Academy Award-eligible.
•The Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films Live Action Award and Best Director (the Rouben Mamoulian Award) – both winners receive cash prizes of $7,000 sponsored by Dendy Cinemas, which has supported the Awards for 31 years. Winners are Academy Award-eligible.
•The Yoram Gross Animation Award, named in memory of the pioneering Australian animation producer and director, provides a $5,000 cash prize to the best Australian animated short film. Winners are Academy Award-eligible.
•The Event Cinemas Australian Short Screenplay Award, which carries a cash prize of $5,000.
The Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films and the DAF Australian Documentary competition are open exclusively to Australian productions.
Head to: www.sff.org.au/about/submissions for full eligibility criteria and submission details.