Movie Extra Tropfest Australia announces that filmmakers from around the globe have just four weeks to enter the world’s largest short film festival.
The deadline for entries is Thursday 5th January 2012 at 6pm (AEDT), and Tropfest is urging film buffs to grab their camera or mobile phone and start shooting now for a chance to shine.
Tropfest is again offering to fly lucky international finalist filmmakers to Sydney to attend the three-day festival in Sydney from Friday 17 – Sunday 19 February 2012. Finalist’s films are screened to a massive live audience at events across Australia on Sunday 19 February 2012, and broadcast live to homes across the nation on Subscription TV channel MOVIE EXTRA.
Finalists walk the star-studded red carpet in Sydney and have their work judged by industry heavyweights, with past judges including Nicole Kidman, Toni Collette, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, Samuel L Jackson, Baz Luhrmann, Ewan McGregor and Elijah Wood.
Tropfest’s 20th Birthday competition will be hotly contested, with organisers predicting the biggest year ever. More than 700 entries are expected from Australia and overseas. Organisers have three days of filmmaking celebrations planned, taking the Festival from the traditional one-day event to a full Tropfest weekend. There will be parties, screenings of Tropfest gems from the past and special film industry events.
South African filmmaker Ari Kruger made the finals last year and was flown from his hometown of Cape Town for the 2011 festival where he joined 15 other finalists. His film “Focus” screened to a massive live audience across Australia as well as hundreds of thousands of viewers live exclusively on MOVIE EXTRA.
Kruger encourages filmmakers from any location to get involved, “I never imagined I’d be flown to Australia to see my film up on the big screen, it was such an unreal experience. It just goes to show that no matter where you’re from, if you’ve got a film idea,
Films must be no longer than seven minutes and, in Tropfest tradition, must contain the Signature Item – LIGHT BULB. The 20th year signature item was chosen because Tropfest is all about the importance of the central idea in film.
Tropfest is a phenomenal launch pad for young and emerging filmmakers from around the globe, and there will be some great prizes up for grabs, aside from the kudos of winning the world’s largest short film festival. Finalists compete for a massive prize pool of cash, equipment and international travel valued at approximately $100,000, along with an unprecedented level of industry interest and attention.
Movie Extra Tropfest’s mobile category, Telstra Mobile Masterpieces, is back for the third year giving filmmakers an opportunity to unleash their creativity on their mobile phones. The same rules apply as the main competition, with the winner able to enter for both the Tropfest main competition prize and for the mobile prize as well.
For the second year running, entries will be received online in partnership with YouTube making the submission process a breeze for international filmmakers by eliminating the need to submit a hard copy on DVD. Just register your details and pay the entry fee at www.tropfest.com/au and then upload your film at Tropfests YouTube channel – www.youtube.com/tropfest.
Film buffs are encouraged to stay a while on the Trop site and peruse the newly launched 20 Years of Tropfest interactive timeline. The timeline showcases never before seen photos and event footage, including famous faces such as Nicole Kidman, Will Smith, Keanu Reeves and Toni Collette, as well as media articles, Tropfest films and other interesting content drawn from the 20 year history of Tropfest, right back to its humble beginnings at Tropicana Cafe in 1993.