Flickerfest is an international short film festival held annually in January at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia. It is an Academy and BAFTA recognised short film festival for both international and Australian film makers.
History
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.
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.
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.
In 2013, Flickerfest received Academy accreditation for the Australian competition and in 2014 the Documentary section of the festival received Academy accreditation.
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.
In 2020 Flickerfest was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Flickerfest Canberra was due to run in April but was postponed.
Bondi Flickerfest 2021, the 30th anniversary event is scheduled for 22–31 January. It will be run in a COVID-19 safe manner.
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.
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. 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.
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.
Entry requirements and eligibility For films to be eligible to be shown in Flickerfest they must meet the entry requirements are:
All short films should not exceed 35 minutes. The film must be completed within two years of the closure of the entry date. Films must either be in English or be provided with English subtitles. All films must be compatible with the H.264 or ProRes format. With exception to other Australian festivals that are Academy qualifying, Flickerfest favours Australian films that are Australian premieres. International short films are favoured if it is their Australian premiere. Before the beginning of the competition, all films must not be available to access on the internet or broadcast throughout Australia.
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.
Best of Australian – The category showcases the films short listed for the Academy accredited award "Best Australian Short Film". In 2018, there were seven separate screenings of the competition, ranging between seven and nine individual films every screening. Best of International – The category shows international films in competition for the awards; Best Short Animation and Best Short Drama which are both Academy accredited awards. In 2018, the programme was separated into five parts, premiering seven films in each screening. FlickerKids – This section of the festival is non-competitive. It showcases films that are "delightfully entertaining" and that will "appeal to the kid in everyone”. In 2018, 11 films were shown in this category with only one screening. Best of Documentary – The category showcases the films short listed for the Academy accredited award "Best Documentary Short Film". In 2018, there were two separate screening of the competition, with seven films being shown in each individual screening. Best of EU Shorts – A non-competitive section of the festival. It showcases shorts that are "moving and entertaining" that are drawn from within the European Union. In 2018, the programme was showcased in two sections with seven films shown in each part. Short Laughs Comedy – This category of the festival is non-competitive. It showcases international "hilarious off-kilter" shorts. In 2018, the section was shown in two sections with ten films shown in each section. FlickerUp – This category showcases the finalists of the national competition for primary and secondary school aged students or individuals under the age of 18. In 2018, the section consisted of 22 short films. Rainbow Shorts – A non-competitive section that celebrates international LGBTQI stories. The section premiered in 2018 with seven films in the programme.
Tour
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. Flickerfest showcase short films at 50 venues throughout Australia. The Adelaide showing is at the Mercury Cinema.
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". The Newcastle Herald talks of local filmmaker's work being "brought to the big screen." The Illawarra Mercury writes on the local Kiama short film Buoy being selected to be shown in the Flickerfest Tour. 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".
Awards
International Competition Awards A listing of the awards given for international competition: Flickerfest Award for Best International Short Film: Academy Accredited Special Jury Prize: Best International Short Film Yoram Gross award for Best International Short Animation: Academy Accredited SAE Creative Media Institute Award for Best Use of Digital Technology in a Short Film Flickerfest Award for Best Short Documentary Film: Academy Accredited Special Mention for Documentary European Union delegation in Australia Best EU Short Film
Australian Competition Awards Australian-focused awards include the following: Virgin Australia Award for Best Australian Short Film: Academy Accredited Media Super Award for Best Screenplay in an Australian Short Film Canon Award for Best Direction in an Australian Short Film Yoram Gross Award for Best Australian Short Animation John Barry Award for Best Cinematography in an Australian Short Film Avid Award for Best Editing in an Australian Short Film Flickerfest Award for Best Performance in an Australian Short Film Rebel8 Award for Outstanding Emerging Female Director
Previous winners
International Awards +Winners of the Flickerfest Award for Best International Short FilmYearFilmDirectorNationality199781Stephen Burke199881Stephen Burke2002In Search of MikeAndrew Lancaster2003Golden Gate (Palace II) Kátia Lund, Fernando Meirelles2004MalcolmBaker Karim2005The ScreePaul McDermott, Justine Kerrigan2007Small BoxesRene Hernandez2008Pop Foul Moon Molson2009DennisMads Matthiesen2010The Six Dollar Fifty ManMark Albiston, Louis Sutherland2011¿Donde está Kim Basinger?Edouard Deluc2012Je pourrais être votre grand-mère Bernard Tanguy2013Tiger BoyGabriele Mainetti2014Summer VacationTal Granit, Sharon Maymon2015Oh LucyAtsuko Hirayanagi,2016BalconyToby Fell-Holden2017Ungar (Cubs)Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir2018The World in Your WindowZoe McIntosh2019Phone DutyLenar Kamalov +Winners of the Yoram Gross Award for the Best International Short AnimationYearFilmDirectorNationality2010The Cat PianoEddie White, Ari Gibson2011The External WorldDavid O'Reilly, 2012It's Such a Beautiful DayDon Hertzfeldt2013Edmond Was a DonkeyFranck Dion, 2014MiniyambaLuc Perez2015Symphony No. 42 Réka Bucsi2016He Who Has Two Souls / Celui Qui a Deux ÂmesFabrice Luang-Vija2017Mr. MadilaRory Waudby-Tolley2018SogJonatan Schwenk2019Flowing Through WonderJoana Lurie and Jean–Marc Bouzigues +Winners of the Flickerfest Best International Short Documentary FilmYearFilmDirectorNationality2010WagahSupriyo Sen2011The Lucky Ones (Szczesciarze)Tomasz Wolski2012Cutting LooseAdrian McDowall, Finlay Napier2013Crossed OutRobert Duarte2014SloMoJosh Izenberg2015Shipwreck Morgan Knibbe2016A Tale of Love, Madness and DeathMijael Bustos2017Więzi (Close Ties)Zofia Kowalewska2018Hello SalaamKim Brand2019The UnconditionalDave Adams
Australian Awards +Winners of the Virgin Australia Award for Best Australian Short FilmYearFilmDirector2010Celestial AvenueColin and Cameron Cairnes2011The Lost ThingAndrew Ruhemann, Shaun Tan2012The PalaceAnthony Maras2013YardbirdMichael Spiccia2014The Kingdom of DougVictoria Thaine2015Grey BullEddy Bell2016SlingshotDavid Hansen2017BeastCarl J Sorheim2018On HoldJake Nielsen2019Yulubidyi - Until the EndNathan Mewett and Curtis Taylor
+Winners of the Yoram Gross Award for Best Australian Short AnimationYearFilmDirector2015Bush MechanicsJason Japaljarri Woods, Jonathan Daw2016The OrchestraMikey Hill2017Fish with LegsDave Carter2018After AllMichael Cusack2019Della Mortika: Carousel Of ShameMarisa Martin +Winners of the Canon Award for Best Direction in an Australian Short FilmYearFilmDirector2015SnowblindSean Kruck2016Red RoverBrooke Goldfinch2017Dream BabyLucy Gaffy2018Second BestAlyssa McClelland2019Tangles and KnotsRenée Marie Petropoulos
Other notable films Some other notable short films honoured in other awards categories include: A Black and White World (2005) The Last Dog in Rwanda (2006) Spider (2007) Hole in the Paper Sky (2008) The Six Dollar Fifty Man (2009) Bear (2011) Little Hands (2011) Julian (2012) Dumpy Goes to the Big Smoke (2012)
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."
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.” 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.”