Flickerfest

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Flickerfest is an international short film festival held annually in January at Bondi Beach, Sydney. It is an Academy and BAFTA recognised short film festival for both international and Australian film makers. [1]

Contents

Flickerfest opens at Bondi Pavilion on 11 January 2013. Flickerfest (8370430026).jpg
Flickerfest opens at Bondi Pavilion on 11 January 2013.

History

Isabelle Cornish at the festival's opening night with Bondi Beach in the background. Isabel Cornish (8370418478).jpg
Isabelle Cornish at the festival's opening night with Bondi Beach in the background.

The festival originated as a small, local festival at Balmain High School in 1991. It has premiered an increasingly broader range of international short films since its establishment. [1]

In 2003, Flickerfest was recognised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science to qualify for Best Animation and Best Short Film categories of the Academy Awards. [1]

In 2010, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) recognised that if a film from the UK won a category at Flickerfest, the film then became eligible for a BAFTA nomination. [1]

In 2013, Flickerfest received Academy accreditation for the Australian competition and in 2014 the Documentary section of the festival received Academy accreditation. [1]

Since 1991, Flickerfest has grown substantially. By 2018, the festival had grown to include 22 programmes shown, over 2,500 entries and 100 international shorts being showcased at the event. [2]

In 2020 Flickerfest was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Flickerfest Canberra was due to run in April but was postponed. [3]

Bondi Flickerfest 2021, the 30th anniversary event is scheduled for 22–31 January. [4] It will be run in a COVID-19 safe manner. [5]

Management

Bronwyn Kidd is the festival's director as of 2018. Kidd curates several hundred short films for the annual event, and the following national tour. She has also contributed to the curation of international film festivals such as the former London Australian Film Festival at The Barbican. [6]

Flickerfest's production and tour manager is Shane Rennie, who has been involved in the production of Flickerfest since 2000. Rennie is involved in web population, technical presentation, festival production, and festival photography, and is also a member of the Flickerfest selection committee. [1] Since 2005, he has organised the Flickerfest National Tour, working directly with venues that the tour will be held at to establish dates, media and online strategies, programme suggestions, and logistics. [7] [1]

Leigh Russell is the Industry Liaison and primary coordinator of the 2018 Flickerfest jury and FlickerUp, a nationwide competition for primary and high school students. [8]

Entry requirements and eligibility

For films to be eligible to be shown in Flickerfest they must meet the entry requirements are:

Programmes

Throughout the duration of the festival, short films are showcased that are of a competitive and non-competitive nature. These films are presented in eight different categories.

Tour

Gigi Edgley at Flickerfest launch night in the Bondi Icebergs Club. Gigi Edgley (8243304987).jpg
Gigi Edgley at Flickerfest launch night in the Bondi Icebergs Club.

The Flickerfest national tour was established in 1995. The tour consists of the central competitive programmes of the festival which include Best of Australian Shorts, Best of International Shorts and Shorts Laugh Comedy. The tour travels to rural, regional and metropolitan areas, to showcase the shorts. [18] Flickerfest showcase short films at 50 venues throughout Australia. [18] The Adelaide showing is at the Mercury Cinema. [19]

The Flickerfest Tour has been publicised in regional and rural local newspapers. The Clarence Daily Examiner writes that the tour brings a "new arsenal of hilarious entertaining and thought-provoking micro cinema from across the country". [20] The Newcastle Herald talks of local filmmaker's work being "brought to the big screen." [21] The Illawarra Mercury writes on the local Kiama short film Buoy being selected to be shown in the Flickerfest Tour. [22] The Wauchope Gazette reports the tour visiting Port Macquarie, the article primarily focuses upon the animation Lost Property Office and short film Miro, an Aboriginal Western film, describing the short to be "delightfully quirky and creative". [23]

Awards

International Competition Awards

A listing of the awards given for international competition: [24]

Australian Competition Awards

Australian-focused awards include the following: [24]

Previous winners

International Awards

Winners of the Flickerfest Award for Best International Short Film
YearFilmDirectorNationality
199781 Stephen Burke Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland [25]
199881 Stephen Burke Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland [25]
2002In Search of Mike Andrew Lancaster Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia [26]
2003Golden Gate (Palace II) Kátia Lund, Fernando Meirelles Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil [27]
2004Malcolm Baker Karim Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden [28]
2005The Scree Paul McDermott, Justine Kerrigan Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia [29]
2007Small Boxes Rene Hernandez Flag of the United States.svg USA [30]
2008Pop Foul Moon Molson Flag of the United States.svg USA [31]
2009Dennis Mads Matthiesen Flag of the United States.svg USA [32]
2010The Six Dollar Fifty Man Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand [33]
2011¿Donde está Kim Basinger? Edouard Deluc Flag of France.svg France [34]
2012Je pourrais être votre grand-mère Bernard Tanguy Flag of France.svg France [35]
2013Tiger Boy Gabriele Mainetti Flag of Italy.svg Italy [36]
2014Summer Vacation Tal Granit, Sharon Maymon Flag of Israel.svg Israel [37]
2015Oh Lucy Atsuko Hirayanagi Flag of Japan.svg Japan,Flag of the United States.svg USA [38]
2016Balcony Toby Fell-Holden Flag of the United Kingdom.svg UK [39]
2017Ungar (Cubs) Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir Flag of Iceland.svg Iceland [40]
2018The World in Your Window Zoe McIntosh Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand [41]
2019Phone Duty Lenar Kamalov Flag of Russia.svg Russia [42]
Winners of the Yoram Gross Award for the Best International Short Animation
YearFilmDirectorNationality
2010The Cat Piano Eddie White, Ari Gibson Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia [33]
2011The External World David O'Reilly Flag of Germany.svg Germany, Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland [43]
2012It's Such a Beautiful Day Don Hertzfeldt Flag of the United States.svg USA [44]
2013Edmond Was a Donkey Franck Dion Flag of France.svg France, Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada [45]
2014Miniyamba Luc Perez Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark [46]
2015Symphony No. 42 Réka Bucsi Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary [38]
2016He Who Has Two Souls / Celui Qui a Deux Âmes Fabrice Luang-Vija Flag of France.svg France [39]
2017Mr. Madila Rory Waudby-Tolley Flag of the United Kingdom.svg UK [40]
2018Sog Jonatan Schwenk Flag of Germany.svg Germany [41]
2019Flowing Through Wonder Joana Lurie and Jean–Marc Bouzigues Flag of France.svg France [42]
Winners of the Flickerfest Best International Short Documentary Film
YearFilmDirectorNationality
2010WagahSupriyo SenFlag of Germany.svg Germany [33]
2011The Lucky Ones (Szczesciarze)Tomasz WolskiFlag of Poland.svg Poland [34]
2012Cutting LooseAdrian McDowall, Finlay NapierFlag of the United Kingdom.svg UK [47]
2013Crossed OutRobert DuarteFlag of Sweden.svg Sweden [45]
2014SloMoJosh IzenbergFlag of the United States.svg USA [46]
2015ShipwreckMorgan KnibbeFlag of the Netherlands.svg The Netherlands [38]
2016A Tale of Love, Madness and DeathMijael BustosFlag of Chile.svg Chile [39]
2017Więzi (Close Ties)Zofia KowalewskaFlag of Poland.svg Poland [40]
2018Hello SalaamKim BrandFlag of the Netherlands.svg The Netherlands [41]
2019The UnconditionalDave AdamsFlag of the United States.svg United States [42]

Australian Awards

Winners of the Virgin Australia Award for Best Australian Short Film
YearFilmDirector
2010Celestial AvenueColin and Cameron Cairnes [33]
2011The Lost ThingAndrew Ruhemann, Shaun Tan [34]
2012The PalaceAnthony Maras [48]
2013YardbirdMichael Spiccia [49]
2014The Kingdom of DougVictoria Thaine [46]
2015Grey BullEddy Bell [38]
2016SlingshotDavid Hansen [39]
2017BeastCarl J Sorheim [40]
2018On HoldJake Nielsen [41]
2019Yulubidyi - Until the EndNathan Mewett and Curtis Taylor [42]
Winners of the Yoram Gross Award for Best Australian Short Animation
YearFilmDirector
2015Bush MechanicsJason Japaljarri Woods, Jonathan Daw [38]
2016The OrchestraMikey Hill [39]
2017Fish with LegsDave Carter [40]
2018After AllMichael Cusack [41]
2019Della Mortika: Carousel Of ShameMarisa Martin [42]
Winners of the Canon Award for Best Direction in an Australian Short Film
YearFilmDirector
2015SnowblindSean Kruck [38]
2016Red RoverBrooke Goldfinch [39]
2017Dream BabyLucy Gaffy [40]
2018Second BestAlyssa McClelland [41]
2019Tangles and KnotsRenée Marie Petropoulos [42]

Other notable films

Some other notable short films honoured in other awards categories include:

Partners

Screen Australia is Flickerfest's major government partner, while other industry partners are the SAE Institute Australia: Creative Media Education, Create NSW, Sydney City of Film, Canon, European Union's Delegation to Australia and Virgin Entertainment. Touring partners in other states and territories are Screen Territory, Screen Queensland and Screen West. Award Partners include the SAE Institute, Virgin Australia, Canon, Yoram Gross Films, the EU Delegation to Australia, John Barry Sales, Avid, Media Super and Parker's Juicery. Flickerfest's media partners include TimeOut, Brag magazine, The Beast Magazine, 2ser 107.3, Concrete Playground, City Hub and Film Ink.

Media reception

The Sydney Morning Herald conducted an interview with festival director Bronwyn Kidd in relation to gender parity. Kidd states "When I started out, female directors were a rare breed. Now hopefully we're encouraging a whole new generation to come into the industry." [50]

Broadsheet, Sydney gave a synopsis of the festivals proceedings, stating "Australia's a great country of storytellers. The list of films on show [at the festival] has been narrowed down from over 2500 to 110.” [51] The article also highlights the benefits of short film writing “[Short films are] so contemporary. A feature can take seven years from start to finish, [for] a short you can grab a camera and in two weeks you make a statement.” [51]

The Brag wrote that "Flickerfest is unique in that the judging process doesn’t take the entrant’s budget into consideration – films are instead judged against the strength of the storytelling and the authenticity of the director’s voice." [52]

Opening night photos from the 2013 event:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "| History". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  2. "| Directors Welcome". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  3. "Flickerfest postponed until later in the year". bmamag.com. BMA Magazine. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  4. "Programme 2021". flickerfest.com.au. Flickerfest. December 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  5. "COVID-Safe". flickerfest.com.au. Flickerfest Pty Ltd. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  6. "The London Australian Film Festival At The Barbican". Australian Film Commission (archived). Screen Australia. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  7. "| Tour". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  8. "| FlickerUp". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  9. "| How To Enter 2019". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  10. "| Best Of Australian 1 – 2018". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  11. "| Best Of International 1 – 2018". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  12. 1 2 "| FlickerKids 2018". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  13. "| Best Of Documentary 1 – 2018". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  14. 1 2 "| Best Of EU Shorts 1 – 2018". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  15. 1 2 "| Short Laughs Comedy 1 – 2018". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  16. "| SAE FlickerUp 2018". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  17. 1 2 "| Rainbow Shorts 2018". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  18. 1 2 "| Tour". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  19. "Adelaide". Flickerfest. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  20. Apps, Lesley. "Flickerfest to light up Saraton's big screen". Grafton Daily Examiner. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  21. Gregory, Helen (11 February 2018). "Flickerfest celebrates homegrown success". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  22. Savage, Desiree (19 March 2018). "Kiama shark tale Buoy tours Australia with film festival: video". Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  23. "Flickerfest film roadshow heads for Hastings". Wauchope Gazette. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  24. 1 2 "Flickerfest 2018 Hands Out the Awards | FilmInk". www.filmink.com.au. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  25. 1 2 81 , retrieved 23 October 2018
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  34. 1 2 3 "Flickerfest winners announced". IF Magazine. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  35. Je pourrais être votre grand-mère , retrieved 23 October 2018
  36. Tiger Boy , retrieved 23 October 2018
  37. "| 2014 Flickerfest winners". The Music. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  38. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "| 24th FLICKERFEST AWARDS ANNOUNCED". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  39. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "| WINNERS OF THE 25th ANNUAL FLICKERFEST 2016 AWARDS ANNOUNCED". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  40. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "| FLiCKERFEST 2017 Awards Announcement…!". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  41. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "| 2018 Awards". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  42. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "| 2019 Awards". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  43. The External World , retrieved 23 October 2018
  44. It's Such a Beautiful Day , retrieved 23 October 2018
  45. 1 2 "Yardbird wins 2013 Flickerfest Award for Best Australian Short Film". IF Magazine. 21 January 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  46. 1 2 3 "| Flickerfest 2014 Awards Announced". flickerfest.com.au. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  47. "Anthony Maras' The Palace wins Best Aus Short Film at 2012 Flickerfest Festival". IF Magazine. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  48. The Palace , retrieved 23 October 2018
  49. Yardbird , retrieved 23 October 2018
  50. Elphick, Nicole (16 January 2018). "Long-running short film festival Flickerfest beats Hollywood to gender parity". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  51. 1 2 "Flickerfest Short Film Festival Launches in Bondi This Friday". Broadsheet. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  52. "Flickerfest is nothing less than a bona fide Australian institution". Brag Magazine. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2018.