Matthew Whittet, Rosemary Myers, Jo Dyer and Gillian Armstrong.
Girl Asleep, directed by Rosemary Myers, written by Matthew Whittet and produced by Jo Dyer, has won CinefestOZ's $100,000 Film Prize.
Saturday evening's awards ceremony in Busselton also saw the festival's Screen Legend award handed out to Gillian Armstrong.
Girl Asleep was selected ahead of Jasper Jones, Spin Out and The Death and Life of Otto Bloom. CinefestOZ received more than 30 submissions for the prize, with the winner decided by a jury made up of Armstrong, producer Sue Taylor (Looking for Grace), DP Garry Phillips (The Railway Man) and actor-director Damian Walshe-Howling.
The jury watched each of the finalists with an audience before coming together to deliberate. Armstrong said the decision was unanimous.
Presenting the prize, Premier and Tourism Minister Colin Barnett announced that the WA Government had secured a new two-year deal to continue sponsoring the event.
“CinefestOZ is a great example of a home-grown West Australian event that has gone from strength to strength with State Government support,” Mr Barnett said. “Last year it attracted more than $2.73 million into the region which is important for the local economy."
Minister for Culture and the Arts, John Day, said: “Through ScreenWest, the State government has proudly supported CinefestOZ since 2009 and has seen the festival grow from attendances of about 3000 people to being globally regarded, attracting international and national filmmakers and film enthusiasts, year on year."
CinefestOZ is supported by the State Government through Tourism WA’s Regional Events Program. The festival is also sponsored by Rio Tinto and backed by ScreenWest.