Press Release
Sydney Film School is excited to announce that the 18th Sydney Film School Festival will take place on the 10th and 11th of July. Over two days, the festival will present short films (dramas and documentaries) produced by students, feature an industry pitching session with Academy award-winning producer Emile Sherman as a guest judge, celebrate its international community, feature special guests such as keynote speaker David Jowsey and hold an awards ceremony.
Keynote speakers are invited by Sydney Film School to present at each festival and are known for their ability to inspire passion and for their insight into the realities of the film culture of Australia. David Jowsey is a former Commissioning Editor and Executive Producer for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He has just produced Ivan Sen's latest film Mystery Road starring Hugo Weaving and has recently produced Satellite Boy which screened at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival and is currently screening in cinemas across Australia.
The student films are screened across the duration of the festival and many of those screened in the awards night program go on to have a life at film festivals internationally. Most recently the film Authentic, which screened at the 17th Sydney Film School Festival, has since gone on to screen at
the largest short film festival and market in North America – the Palm Springs International ShortFest.
A growing number of Sydney Film School graduates have been successful professionally and are now working in the film and television industries, in Australia and abroad.In conjunction with the SFS Industry Alumni Board (IAB) the 18thSFS Festival will host the IAB Pitch Competition.
Emile Sherman (The King’s Speech; Oranges and Sunshine; Rabbit-Proof Fence) will be a guest judge at the IAB pitching panel for 2013. In this session, three SFS graduate finalists will pitch their projects to prolific industry members and the audience. This year, industry panelists will listen to
film pitches regarding, a man who loses everything and digs himself out of an emotional hole (Hole); a world where books are banned and digital information can be traced („The Age of Spiritual Machines‟); and a fan‟s obsession with a rockstar (A Romantic Death).
Alumni Board (IAB) Pitch Competition provides career pathways for SFS Alumni. The winner, voted by the panel and the audience, will walk away with a $5,000 cash production budget. The “International Perspectives” session celebrates the diversity of world cinema. This year‟s featured country is Mexico. The film featured, Lucy Contra los Límites de la Voz (Lucy vs the Limits of Voice), is the story of seven-year-old Lucy who wants to know if a person´s voice can run out and if that could be the reason why her grandpa stopped talking. To find the answer she decides to perform a risky
experiment, in defiance of her Aunt Rosa‟s strict rules.
At the culmination of the festival an Awards Night (11th July) will be held, showcasing the student films. Honoured guests, Sydney Film School friends, family and industry professionals are invited to join the red carpet celebrations. The evening recognises students‟ and graduates‟ contributions across all areas of the filmmaking process in a post screening award presentation, with generous prizes provided by industry sponsors. Each category is judged by the teaching staff and outside industry professionals particular to each discipline.
The Sydney Film School Festival is an opportunity to acknowledge the success of the students and showcase their work with the wider community.
The Festival is free and open to the public. Reservations are required for the Awards Screening Night.