The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize.
As of 2023[update], the festival's director is Nashen Moodley.[1]
History
Influenced by the experience of Australian film makers with the Edinburgh Film Festival since 1947 and the festival connected with the annual meeting of the Australian Council of Film Societies held at Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria in 1952, later Melbourne International Film Festival, a committee sprang from the Film Users Association of New South Wales to establish a film festival in Sydney. The committee included Alan Stout, Professor of Philosophy at The University of Sydney, filmmakers John Heyer and John Kingsford Smith, and Federation of Film Societies secretary David Donaldson.[2] Under the direction of Donaldson, the inaugural festival opened on 11 June 1954 and was held over four days, with screenings at Sydney University. Attendance was at full capacity with 1,200 tickets sold at one guinea each.[2]
By 1958, the festival attracted its first international sponsored guest, Paul Rotha, and advertising into the festival catalogue. The following year, the program expanded to seventeen days and by 1960 exceeded 2,000 subscribers with the introduction of the Opening Night feature film and party.[3] Censorship difficulties arose in the mid-1960s and continued until such time as the festival was granted exemption from censorship in 1971.[4]
From inception until 1967, the University remained the annual home of the festival. The following year, the festival moved to the Wintergarden in Rose Bay where it remained for the ensuing five years. The historic State Theatre became the home of the festival in 1974,[2] and remains one of the festival venues to date.[5] In 2007, the festival introduced a series of live gigs, shows and cabaret-style screening at the nearby Metro Theatre.
Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, the 2020 festival staged a reduced, online-only version, and in 2021 was delayed to open on 3 November with the audience limited first to 75 per cent capacity, increasing to 100 per cent from 8–21 November. The films were also available online.[6]
Although a small number of prizes existed from the mid–1980s, prior to 2007, the Sydney Film Festival was classified by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) as a Non-Competitive Feature Film Festival. On 10 September 2007, the Festival announced it had received funding from the New South Wales Government to host an official international competition, which rewarded "new directions in film". The FIAFP has since classified the Sydney Film Festival as a Competitive Specialised Feature Film Festival.[10]
As of 2024[update] the total prize pool was worth A$200,000. Prizes were awarded in the following categories:[11]
Sydney Film Prize (awarded to the most "audacious, cutting-edge, and courageous" film in the Official Competition; endorsed by FIAPF): A$60,000 cash prize
Sydney UNESCO City of Film Award (for a filmmaker based in New South Wales "whose work stands for innovation, imagination and high impact"): A$10,000 cash prize
Documentary Australia Award for Australian documentary: A$20,000 cash prize
Sustainable Future Award: A$40,000 cash prize
First Nations Award, supported by Truant Pictures (new in 2024; the largest cash prize for Indigenous filmmaking in the world, open to First Nations filmmakers from around the globe): A$35,000
Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films:
Dendy Live Action Short Award: A$7,000 cash prize
Rouben Mamoulian Award for Best Director (named after Armenian-American film and theatre director Rouben Mamoulian,[12] who first presented the award in 1974): A$7,000 cash prize
Yoram Gross Animation Award (sponsored by Sandra and Guy Gross in honour of Yoram Gross): A$7,000 cash prize[11]
GIO Audience awards (announced in the week after the festival):[11]
Audience Award for Best Australian Feature
Audience Award for Best Documentary
Audience Award for Best International Feature
Audience Award for Best International Documentary
Past awards have included:
The CRC Award for Best Australian Feature-length Film with a Multicultural Perspective (presently sponsored by the Community Relations Commission For a Multicultural NSW) – established in 1992[12]
Peter Rasmussen Innovation Award – established in 2009[13]
Gillan, Edward (designer) (1993). An Oral history of the Sydney Film Festival: 40 years of film. Sydney: Sydney Film Festival. p.32. ISBN0-9596235-1-5.
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