Shiny.
Daniel Campos and Spencer Susser (Hesher) were the winners at Tropfest last night with stop-motion animation Shiny.
Judges Mel Gibson, Simon Baker, Rebecca Gibney, Don McAlpine, Jocelyn Moorhouse and Maya Newell awarded first prize to Shiny despite it running for less than four minutes (Tropfest allows seven). It also won two Tropfest Craft Awards for Sound Design and VFX.
Nick Baker and Tristan Klein won second prize for the animated Postcards to Ulay, while third prize went to Rick Donald for The ATM.
A $3,000 prize donated by Nicole Kidman for best male actor went to Rick Donald for his role as Frankie in The ATM, and to Natalie Bassingthwaighte as best actress for her performance as Sarah in Why Would I Lie?
Andrew Kennedy and Tim Chatfield's Jeff Harding, a documentary about Australia’s first World Light Heavyweight Champion, won the Nikon DSLR Film category.
John Polson said: “I congratulate Daniel Campos and Spencer Susser on taking home the Tropfest trophy this evening. Tonight’s turn out shows Tropfest is more alive and relevant than ever. It’s thrilling to see so many supporters of short film come out to celebrate grassroots storytelling. Tropfest’s ability to celebrate the phenomenal talent of these filmmakers with film industry heavyweights and such a huge national audience is the part of the magic that has taken many of our winners to the next level of their careers.”
“The last few months have been an incredible – at times very difficult – journey. Just a couple of months ago, I truly believed there would never be another Tropfest because of what happened. But thanks to CGU Insurance, here we are, having screened 16 incredible finalist films to hundreds of thousands of people all over Australia and the world. It’s hard to put into words what we owe CGU Insurance for keeping this uniquely Australian event on the tracks. It’s a wonderful feeling knowing Tropfest – and the many small businesses that rely on us every year – will continue".
Tropfest‘s Craft Awards returned for the first time since 2012, recognising Viv Scanu Acs for cinematography; Josh Grom for editing; Andy Scott for scoring; Nick Baker for screenwriting; Daniel Campos and Spencer Susser for VFX and Derek Vanderhorst for sound design.