Australian director and actor Damian Walshe-Howling is one of four winners of the international Lexus Short Films series announced at the Napa Valley Film Festival.
He will write and direct a short film to the theme of the series, Anticipation, produced by The Weinstein Company.
The competition attracted entries from more than 4,400 filmmakers from more than 100 countries. There were 355 Australian entries, second only to the US, and 50 more than from the UK.
The Australian entries were supported by the new Lexus Australia Short Film Fellowship, the largest short film cash prize in Australia worth $200,000, or $50,000 for four fellowship winners in 2016.
Sydney Film Festival director Nashen Moodley said, “The high quality of entries coming from Australia is a true testament to the exceptional filmmaking talent being nurtured here. We congratulate Damian Walshe-Howling on this fantastic achievement.
“The festival is also delighted American filmmaker Pippa Bianco has been selected among the four international winners. Her film SHARE was screened at the Festival this year.”
Walshe-Howling has made a number of short films including Suspended, which screened at numerous film festivals including St Kilda, Flickerfest, Nashville and Locarno.
The other winners were Alexis Michalik from France and Byoung-Gon Moon from South Korea.
The 355 Australian entrants are eligible for the Lexus Australia Short Film Fellowship. A shortlist will be curated by The Weinstein Company and provided to the Sydney Film Festival and Lexus Australia.
Of these, four fellows will be selected for the inaugural fellowship cash prize of $50,000 each. The four will produce their short film next year, to premiere at Sydney Film Festival in 2017.