[Press Release by Short Sited Film Fest]
Festival Director, Tom Subjak can confirm that the 2009 installment of the Short Sited Film Festival, the illawarra’s largest and longest running film festival since 1996, is gearing up with full cooperation and funding support from the NSW Film and Television Office.
What does the upcoming festival have in store for entrants and patrons alike?
“With 2008’s sci-fi theme a success,” say Subjak “It only makes sense to go in a spookier direction, if only to compliment the distinction of this upcoming festival being its 13th year. So dream up the possibilities of viewing … or entering the special category of Horror All Ages with Short Sited the 13th!”
Subjak continues, “Horror is such a fascinating genre for any filmmaker to tackle. They have to use every trick in the filmmaking book in order to create the unsettling atmosphere that can make an audience members skin crawl. It might be a reaction to an extreme camera angle, a low musical note played, the creepy makeup application, what the lighting is hiding… many of today’s Hollywood directors earned their skills by producing a low budget horror film with their friends in the backyard. I don’t see why that backyard can’t be here in the Illawarra!”
It has actually happened.
Former Short Sited runner up and Illawarra resident Phillip Middleton, currently in development of his $4 million debut old school horror feature The Disappearing, having won film awards in Los Angeles and screenings at Cannes, now has Hollywood agents now knocking at his door with project offers.
Short Sited the 13th will look to be the most ghoulish festival yet staged.
For filmmakers and patrons who jump at shadows, the festival will still accept and screen successful entries from all genres such as drama, comedy, documentary, animation et all. It just wouldn’t be a Short Sited Film Festival without a range of strange and wonderful films from the Illawarra and the nation.
As a special treat for local residents and wider exposure for filmmakers, also in the pipeline is a Short Sited the 13th free DVD giveaway in conjunction with Wollongong City Council Cultural Services and the Illawarra Mercury which will be made available a few weeks after the festival.
Currently, anyone can see what’s in store for Short Sited the 13th by going into a participating Video Ezy store across the Illawarra and South Coast and exclusively rent a copy of the [SHORT_SITED_v12.0] Special Edition DVD, a 2-disc set containing all of the 2008 finalists and a ton of DVD extra bonus features!
Start howling at the moon, Short Sited the 13th is creeping out from the shadows. Enter your film now. The deadline chopping block is February 11 2009. The festival will scream Friday March 13, 2009 at University Hall UOW. For entry details or more information visit www.shortsited.org or call 0420 844 475.