Jury Prize

Winner (tied):

Buried – “This is cinematic poetry.”

Fading Fires – “A beautiful documentary which is informative and filmed with such delicate care for the image.”

Nominees: Earth (Music Video), Black Theta, Kensuke’s Kingdom, Dwindle, VIATICUM, Sweet Tooth, Show Pony

FILM

• Short Film made for less than $5,000

Don’t Tell Your Mom – Winner: Best Genre Film, Nominated: Short Film made for less than $5,000 – “I mean, give us a feature like this and we are buying a ticket! 0 this was a heap of fun.” 

Gula, Vol I. – Nominated: Best Genre Film – “Dark, and entertaining. This film excels with its use of gritty locales.” 

Float Like A Butterfly, Bite Like A Snake – Nominated: Best Actor (Charles AJ Griffin) – “A strong performance leads this film. It’s shot very nicely, and the dialogue is punchy.”

The Litterbug – Nominated: Best Actress (Dixie Hartvigsen) – “This isn’t trash – and it is very very entertaining!” 

Crown of Flowers – Winner: Best Actress (Jessica Lily) – “The film is quite impactful, and Lily’s performance is very expressive and raw.”

Show Pony – Nominated: Short Film made for less than $5,000, Best Actor (Mark Rogerson) – “Barking and rather brilliant.”

Just Like Dad – Winner: Best Screenplay, Nominated: Best Director, Nominated: Short Film made for less than $5,000, Nominated: Best Ensemble Cast – “Though there are some minor technical issues at hand with sound and the edit, this project has a solid presentation of urbanisation. The style at times borders on experimental. It feels very personal, and is a very memorable presentation of a story – largely built around a strong story structure.” 

Shift Change – Nominated: Best Screenplay, Nominated: Best Actress (Susan Louise O’Connor) – “The performance is nuanced, the screenplay intriguing.” 

Making a God – Nominated: Best Music – “This dance based film has a particular aura about it – largely built around the music.” 

Blink – Nominated: Best Editing – “An intriguing short film that explores both the medium of film and the role of a narrator.” 

At Home – Nominated: Best Editing, Nominated: Best Director, Nominated: Short Film made for less than $5,000 – “A fascinating documentary that is made with a great style and self-awareness of the artist.” 

Helldammit – Nominated: Best Director – “The montage of ghostly figures in a hotel room makes for a chilling experience. The directing is very impressively stylised. David Lynch fans rejoice!”

Pelargonium – Nominated: Short Film made for less than $5,000, Nominated: Best Actress (Vera Marchenko), Nominated: Best Actor (Vladimir Mosharov) – “This understated film depicts the domestic setting of three people with a great delicate touch.”  

The Hit – Nominated: Best Cinematography, Winner: Short Film made for less than $5,000 – “Polished, engaging and entertaining.” 

Buried – Nominated: Short Film made for less than $5,000, Nominated: Best Director, Winner: Best Cinematography – “A stunning visual style unfolds here.”

Sweet Tooth – Nominated: Best Genre Film, Winner: Best Ensemble Cast, Winner: Best Editing, Nominated: Short Film made for less than $5,000 – “This film lives by its cast. The delivery kicks a solid punch. The edit is top draw. The visuals are great too.”

VIATICUM – Nominated: Best Director, Nominated: Best Screenplay, Nominated: Best Cinematography, Nominated: Best Actor (Steve Kuzmick) – “Delivered with some fantastic appreciation for black and white photography and coupled with Kuzmick’s performance – this short is sharp and engaging… comically so.”

Fool with a Gun – Winner: Special Mention – Best Experimental Film – “Somewhat similar to the style of the Lav Dias, the auteur of the Philippines, Fool with a Gun excels in its dark style and alienation.”

• Short Film made for between $5,000-$10,000

Dwindle – Winner: Short Film made for between $5,000-$10,000 – “Produced with a great eye for detail, this startling period piece short film has an authentic feeling about it, with a flavouring of the folk Gothic feeling. This is one of the best shorts we’ve had this season.” 

Ambiguous Indifference – Nominated: Best Screenplay, Nominated: Best Ensemble Cast- “This film comes with a great feeling of locality and a community of actors who have helped bring this film to the screen.”

The Back Garden – Nominated: Short Film made for between $5,000-$10,000, Nominated: Best Genre Film – “Comical, and also quite stylish with its static performances.”

• Short Film made for more than $10,000

Until the Pit – Nominated: Short Film made for more than $10,000, Nominated: Best Actor (Erom Cordeiro), Winner: Best Director – “With a slight feeling towards an avant-garde film, this effort is moody, expressive and above all: well delivered, especially by Cordeiro, who brings a lot of force and physicality to the film.” 

Wallie’s Gals – Nominated: Short Film made for over $10,000, Nominated: Best Ensemble Cast – “This lengthy short film (practically a feature film) comes with many comical moments and some fantastic performances.”

Bastard Toadflax – Winner: Short Film made for more than $10,000 – “This very dark film is produced with great believability and style. It is a surprising and memorable effort.” 

• Feature Film made for less than $5,000

Clown ‘n Out (In Valley Village) – Winner: Feature Film made for less than $5,000 – “Though not covering any new ground, this film excels with its specific style. This is a Sin City type of delivery. With strong grading, lots of music and caricatures. The highlight of this experience is the impressive delivery despite the budget. The entire effort feels well executed and produced to a much higher standard than what the budget would have allowed for.”

• Feature Film made for between $5,000-$10,000

The Child, The Two Scoundrels and The Witch – Nominated: Best Genre Film, Winner: Feature Film made for between $5,000-$10,000 – “Dramatic, spot on with its blending of Christmas and witchcraft – and very well excuted, this film arrives as the chilly festive film no one was expecting!”

• Feature Film made for more than $10,000

Visitation Rights – Winner: Best Documentary – “Exploring in intimate detail the impact of divorce on children, this documentary provides a lot of space to the subject and how time impacts lives within these stressful periods of change.”

Black Theta – Nominated: Best Score, Nominated: Best Editing, Nominated: Best Director, Nominated: Best Genre Film – “A touch of self-awareness fills Black Theta, the type that specifically celebrates the genre (and subgenres) that the film inhabits. The script is rather cheesy, and the violence follows the same tone – making the film rather entertaining. The production values are consistent and of a high standard for an indie film of its kind.”

Danggol – Nominated: Feature Film made for more than $10,000, Nominated: Best Ensemble Cast – “Blending different genres, this film appears to be rather unexpected – shifting its tone often and style often to establish mood and different genre motifs. The cast, throughout al of this, appear to be very engaged.”

Seppuku：The Sun Goes Down – Nominated: Best Cinematography, Winner: Feature Film made for more than $10,000 – “This period piece excels with its budget, creating a large scale film on a small budget. The script also helps elevate this film, as it is aware of the era and traditions of this particular film genre. Audience expectations, built around samurai films, will be met.” 

Kensuke’s Kingdom – Winner: Special Mention: Best Animation, Winner: Best Score Nominated: Best Actress (Sally Hawkins), Nominated: Best Actor (Ken Watanabe), Winner: Best Actor (Aaron MacGregor) – “Epic in scale, and impressively designed – this animation feature comes loaded with some impressive sound design and nuanced voice performances, which enhance the emotional gravity of the film.” 

• Web series

SPECIAL MENTION 

CROMAESCOPE – Special Mention: Winner: Best Retro Project – “A passionately retro-filled project that celebrates modern filming techniques while maintaining the style of the bygone.” 

MUSIC VIDEO

Earth – Winner: Best Music Video, Winner: Best Cinematography – “The production values of this music video are outstanding – the visuals and the overall sci-fi tone are memorable and impactful.”

Happy Kelpie: BEDLAM BOYS – Nominated: Best Music Video – “An original, if not trippy, video – this style would make for an entertaining Guy Maddin-styled film.”

Tribe – Nominated: Best Editing – “An interesting image series is shown here. There’s some great editing, though the complete disregard for copyright is concerning.” 

Zombie CV – Winner: Best Editing – “How and when the edit is applied during this music video, results in some impactful and interesting moments. The use of montage here, much like Soviet Cinema, alludes to multiple meanings that an audience can derive from the collage of concepts presented. It is a very solid and interesting use of editing.” 

Orange Blues 24 – Nominated: Best Editing – “This stop motion video comes to life every time there’s a special edit applied to elevate the sequence in alignment with the lyrics or musical passage.”

Cave – Special Mention Winner: Best Animation – “This small delight carries a great sense of style and artistic beauty, and above all – a chilling ending.”

SCRIPT COMPETITION

• Best Character Arc

Winner: The Corridor – “With a strong confrontation, The Corridor answers its own questions. This is a great script with a strong character journey.” 

Nominees: La Esposa – “Comical, bloody and entertaining.”, The Age of the Empath – “A great look at the internal dynamics our relationships have, and how they shape our lives.” 

• Best Genre Script

Winner: The Sabbath of The Dead – “Never seen anything like this before. Can we watch this zombie film soon please?!”

Nominees: The End of Playtime – “Full of interesting ideas, and some captivating characters.”, His Father’s House – “Dark and engaging, this project is basically ready to be filmed as is. This would be a top draw choice for actors as well, as it has a great set up of tension.”, The Age of the Empath – “A dazzling sci fi that really takes time to relish the genre it is focussed within.”, FIDO – “Concise, but also inventive, this project appears to engage with its genre in a way that makes it very commercial and solid as a viable investment.”

• Best Micro Budget Script

Winner: Scoops – “A fantastic gem of a short.”

Nominees: Words – “This script comes with a great design for a simple concept, one which would be both cost effective and memorable with the righting production values.”

• Best Technique

Winner: Curry Sauce Ninja – “Combining some fantastically pulpy dialogue with some very creative scenarios has made this a stand out script for its ingenuity and polish.” 

Nominees: Above theBUZZ – “The style of the script, with its unusual presentation, is quite special.”, Those .p.ersnickity .P.runsNF’AS – “Continuing the unusual style, Jason Thome brings a lot of unique style to his presentation and delivery of this script.”