This year’s Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) will include the richest feature film competition in the Southern Hemisphere, with the establishment of a $140,000 Best Film Award.
Supported by the Victorian Government via Film Victoria, up to ten films will compete in official selection for the prize, which is open to all genres of feature-length productions.
In order to be eligible, competition films must be Australian premieres of directors’ first-or-second-time feature-length works. The winning film will be decided by a jury of prominent international and Australian guests.
The inaugural MIFF Film Competition will also feature the Australian Innovation Prize, recognising an outstanding Australian creative whose film is playing in the MIFF program. The Audience Award will also return for the festival’s 70th edition.
MIFF artistic director Al Cossar said this year’s event would be “truly unmissable”.
“The competition will recognise and amplify the new, the next, the breakthrough and the best in-screen from Australia and across the globe, bringing incredible films and filmmakers to Melbourne,” he said.
The introduction of the competition means MIFF is the only Southern Hemisphere film festival to include a film competition; a screen content financing market for creatives, producers, and investors (37º South Market); a commissioning fund (MIFF Premiere Fund) and talent escalator programs (MIFF Accelerator Lab and MIFF Critics Campus).
MIFF chair Teresa Zolnierkiewicz said the addition of the competition and its prize pool promised to be “one of the most transformational projects in MIFF history”.
“MIFF welcomes the Victorian Government’s vision of a thriving screen culture in Melbourne – evidenced here with its support enabling MIFF to award a film prize of global significance to an independent filmmaker of substance.”
The announcement was welcomed by some of the country’s most prominent filmmakers, including Nitram director Justin Kurzel, who said the competition would help foster emerging creative talent.
“This competition will play a crucial part in nurturing and supporting innovative and bold artists, which in combination with the festival’s highly successful Accelerator Lab program makes MIFF the leading festival for new cinematic voices,” he said.
Adam Elliot, director of the Oscar-winning Harvie Krumpet and upcoming MIFF Premiere Fund-supported Memoir of a Snail, said the value of recognising filmmakers could not be understated.
“Looking back, it is the awards that gave me the courage, confidence, and conviction to keep pursuing my urges to be an independent filmmaker,” he said.
“It is great to know that MIFF, one of the world’s oldest and most respected festivals, is celebrating the work of emerging filmmakers with this new competition”.
Victorian State Government Minister for Creative Industries Danny Pearson said the state government’s investment in the competition was part its plan to deliver growth, jobs and opportunities to our creative industries workforce.
“Victoria is a film powerhouse offering cutting-edge production facilities, iconic destinations, and world-class creative talent – this competition celebrates the milestone of a much beloved festival and will further cement our state’s reputation as Australia’s creative destination,” he said.
The 70th Melbourne International Film Festival will be held August 4-21.