What you can expect from this year’s Flickerfest International Short Film Festival

About to enter its 27 year, Flickerfest is Australia’s number one international short film festival. As a result, it is also Australia’s leading Academy® Award supported festival. To add to its list of credentials, Filckerfest is also recognized by numerous other world famous film festivals that include BAFTA and Sundance.

The festival was founded specifically to promote and celebrate both Australian and International short films. The organizers recognized the inherent need for national events in which people can come together and celebrate art. They set up Flickerfest to do just that. Since its beginnings, the festival has grown in size and popularity, something which shows no sign of slowing.

The Flickerfest festival takes place over 10 days at Bondi Beach every January 2017. The organizers added a wonderful new feature that promises to wow film lovers from all over Australia. Every year after the festival finishes, selected highlights from the festival will go on a nationwide tour. This year, the organizers have promised to show selected films in over 50 venues around Australia. This will be known as the Flickerfest national tour. This tour will last 5 months from January until May and is aimed at generating an even bigger audience for these short films.

The 2018 Flickerfest International Short Film Festival

Celebrating its 27th birthday in 2018, Flickerfest will screen its films under the stars at the iconic Bondi Beach.  It is a 10 day cultural feast, and attracts film lovers from all over the globe.

Audience levels to the Flickerfest in 2017 were the highest ever, a healthy sign to just how big the 2018 festival is going to be. This year’s Flickfest will comprise of hundreds of short films that will be shown under 5 International programs and 7 Australian programs. All of these programs will be part of the competition awards that will take place on the final night.

So if you are a short film lover, and want to see not only the very best that Australia but the world has to offer, then Flickerfest in 2018 is for you.

How to enter your film into the 2018 Flickerfest International Short Film Festival

For those filmmakers wishing to enter their film into the 2018 Flickerfest International Short Film Festival, sadly entries are closed. Entries closed midnight October 9th unless you are one of the invited entries selected by the festival jury. If you are not sure whether you have been invited or not then you can contact the festival by the following email: coordinator@flickerfest.com.au

The good news is that you are free to submit your film for entry into the 2019 film festival as soon as entries open. This will occur straight after the 2018 film festival finished in the end of January.

How do I know if my film will qualify?

The Flickerfest International Short Film Festival issued the following rules for film submission:

  • All films must have a total running time of no more than 35 minutes
  • Format: Films must be H264 or APPLE PRO-RES FILE to allow for screening
  • All films entered into this year’s festival must have been produced within the last 2 years of entry closing date
  • All films must be in spoken English or alternatively, have English subtitles.
  • Flickerfest prefers unscreened films so they can be premiered in the festival
  • No Australian entry should have been screened in NSW with 6 months of the festival
  • International entries should not have been broadcast on Australian TV prior to the festival start

Awards & Prizes

The Flickerfest International Short Film Festival runs a series of competitions throughout its 10-day duration. These are broken into the following categories:

International Awards

  • Award for Best Short Film
  • Award for Best Short Documentary
  • Special Jury Award
  • Best Short Animation
  • Best Use of Digital Technology in a Short Film Award

Note: The International awards for best short film, best short animation and best short documentary are all Academy Award accredited.

Australian Awards

  • Award for Best Australian Short
  • Award for Best Direction
  • Award for Best Script
  • Award for Best Cinematography
  • Award for Best Editing
  • Award for Best Achievement in Sound
  • Best Australian High School/Youth Short Film
  • Best Australian High School/Youth Short Animation
  • Award for Best Australian Primary School Short Film

Note: The International award for Best Australian Short Film is Academy Award accredited.

Prizes:

Winners from all award categories will gain cash prizes that last year was worth in excess of $40,000 AUD in value. Other prizes will also be awarded to the winners that are designed to help them get further exposure for their films.

The Flickerfest International Short Film Festival will take place from Jan 12 – Jan 21, 2018, in Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia. For tickets, follow this link.