The New South Wales government yesterday announced a substantial, multi-year commitment of $1.8 million to the Sydney Film Festival. The funding boost will enable the Sydney Film Festival to become the first Australian festival to have an Official Competition. This status has been granted by FIAPF, the regulating organisation for international film festivals. The Minister for the Arts, The Honourable Frank Sartor comments, ‘The NSW Government is proud to support the new international jury prize, which marks the coming of age of the Sydney Film Festival as a truly global event. I am confident this award will quickly become highly prized by the global screen industry.’
* 12 Feature Films and Gala Screenings, a 5 Member Jury and 24 Visiting Filmmakers and Industry Executives
Commencing with the June 2008 edition of the festival, the Competition program will comprise 12 feature films and be judged by a Jury of three prominent international and two Australian film industry members. The competition will feature nightly red-carpet gala screenings and culminate in an awards ceremony.
Sydney Film Festival will host guest filmmakers and industry executives from around the globe who will augment the screenings of their films with public talk sessions. They will also participate in a series of business matching events designed to build development and production opportunities in New South Wales.
* $60,000 international prize sponsored by Hunter Hall
SFF Principal Sponsor, Hunter Hall Investment Management, have pledged a $60,000 AUD cash prize to be awarded to the winning film in the ‘specialised competition’, the most significant cash prize for film in Australia.
The prize will be awarded for ‘new directions in film’, recognising movies that ‘ have emotional power and resonance; are audacious, cutting edge and courageous; and go beyond the usual treatment of their subject matter’.
‘Hunter Hall is delighted to support the establishment of an international prize for the Sydney Film Festival,’ said Chairman, Peter Hall. ‘The prize will bring a heightened level of excitement and importance to what is already a great event in Sydney’s cultural calendar and thereby support filmmaking excellence and our city’s creative development.’
In welcoming the partnership with the NSW government, SFF Executive Director Clare Stewart said ‘with an Official Competition strand Sydney will join the world’s leading film festival cities. The competition, and the significant cash prize, will enhance the breadth and depth of our existing program, increasing both the glamour and industry relevance of our event.’
* Criteria for the International Award
The Official Competition will be open to fiction films from all countries, including Australia. To be eligible, a film will be 75 minutes or longer; will not have been released outside its country of origin more than 12 months before the start date of the Sydney Film Festival; and will be an Australian premiere. Films will be selected for the Competition on the basis that they ‘have emotional power and resonance; are audacious, cutting edge and courageous; and go beyond the usual treatment of their subject matter’.
* Guidelines and Festival Dates
Competition guidelines will be available 1 October 2007 for entry in the Sydney Film Festival, 4 – 22 June 2008. For further information please contact Jillian Heggie at Gallus & Co at jillian@gallusandco.com.au or +61 (0)2 8396 6500.
[release from Gallus & Co]