SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL SUBMISSIONS CLOSE IN ONE WEEK

Filmmakers across Australia and around the world have just one week to finalise their submissions for the 63rd annual Sydney Film Festival (8 – 19 June 2016).

Entries across all categories, which must be submitted through FilmFestivalLife, will close at 17.00 AEST on Friday February 26, 2016.

Festival Director Nashen Moodley said, “Whether it be a feature film debut, the latest short, or an immersive documentary, The Festival encourages all interested filmmakers to submit their films for consideration ahead of the deadline.”

“Selecting the best entries to screen at the 63rd Sydney Film Festival is something the Festival very much looks forward to each year. Entries have come from far and wide, with strong submission numbers seen across all categories including features, short films and documentaries,” said Moodley.

Each year Sydney Film Festival presents an extensive selection of diverse films from Australia and around the world. In 2015 over 250 films were screened to an audience of 176,000.

Entries are open to features, documentaries and short films (under 40 minutes); in all categories of the Festival program, including:

• Documentary Australia Foundation (DAF) Award for Australian Documentary $15,000 cash prize. The prize is supported by Documentary Australia Foundation with a $10,000 cash partnership and an additional donation of $5,000 from a Sydney Film Festival Director’s Cut Patron. 2016 is the 7th year of the Award.

• Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films (the Dendys), three awards selected from 10 finalists. The three awards, with a $5000 cash prize each are: Dendy Live Action Short Award, Rouben Mamoulian Award for Best Director, and the Yoram Gross Animation Award for best animated short film, to honour the Australian animation producer and director. Sponsored by Dendy Cinemas for 27 years, winners of the Live Action Award and Yoram Gross Animation Award are also eligible for Academy Award consideration.

• Event Cinemas Australian Short Screenplay Award $5,000 cash prize for an Australian short film screened at the Sydney Film Festival. 2016 is the 3rd year of the Award.

Both the Dendy and DAF Australian Documentary Awards are open exclusively to Australian films.

2016 marks the 46th year the Sydney Film Festival has presented the Australian short film competition, now known as the Dendys. Launched in 1970, the Awards are the oldest short film competition in Australia, and have served as launch pad for emerging Australian film talent, spring-boarding countless directors, producers and actors down a path to international success.

Winners have included Chris Noonan, who went on to write and direct international cinema smash Babe; Don McAlpine, who received an Academy Award nomination for Moulin Rouge; and Jack Thompson, who has starred in numerous Australian classics including Sunday Too Far Away, The Man From Snowy River and Breaker Morant. Acclaimed filmmakers Phil Noyce, Jane Campion, Rolf de Heer, Alex Proyas, and George Miller can also be found on the Australian short film competition’s honour roll.

Festival organisers urge all entrants to read the submission requirements closely before entering to ensure their submissions meet premiere status and broader eligibility requirements. A small entry fee applies to all submissions.

The submission portal FilmFestivalLife provides a state of the art process for submitting films to Sydney Film Festival. With HD secure screeners, festival and film rating tools, social features and the fastest growing community of film professionals online to share with, FilmFestivalLife is the platform filmmakers go to be discovered.

DEADLINE: Friday 26 February 2016

SUBMISSIONS: http://www.filmfestivallife.com/Sydney-Film-Festival
Amber Forrest-Bisley, Publicity Manager, Sydney Film Festival