Tropfest Film Festival - An Iconic Sydney Event

The Australian Festival for Films no Longer Than 7 Minutes

Jun 22, 2009 Jo Jackson

When film director John Polson put together the inaugural Tropfest in 1993 he had no idea it would eventually become the largest short film festival in the world.

Tropfest 2010 is scheduled for Sunday 21 February 2010. The Tropfest short film festival is held annually in Sydney, Australia and is also broadcast live to Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart. It was first held at the Tropicana Café in Darlinghurst, Sydney in 1993 as an informal short film screening with the films projected onto a blank wall. It is now a major event with a live national audience of over 150,000 people.

The festival has been supported by various film personalities including Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise and attracts around 600-800 films each year. It is a film festival that is widely recognised for its contribution to the development of the Australian film industry, as it provides a unique opportunity for emerging filmmakers and new audiences for their work. Entries for Tropfest 2010 will close on Thursday 7 January 2010.

Tropfest Signature Item (TSI)

Every year an item or action has to be incorporated into the film to ensure that the entries are made specifically for Tropfest and not old work that has been rehashed. This is known as the Tropfest Signature Item (TSI) and every year filmmakers eagerly anticipate the announcement of the new TSI. Some films are based around the TSI while others may only have a small or obscure reference to it.

So far the TSI’s have been:

2010 – Dice
2009 – Spring
2008 – 8
2007 - Sneeze
2006 – Bubble
2005 – Umbrella
2004 – Hook
2003 – Rock
2002 – Match
2001 – Horn
2000 – Bug
1999 – Chopsticks
1998 – Kiss
1997 – Pickle
1996 – Teaspoon
1995 - Coffee Bean
1994 – Muffin

There was no TSI in 1993.

Tropfest Entry Conditions

The competition is open to everybody, regardless of their background and experience. The films must be made specifically for Tropfest and contain the Tropfest Signature Item (TSI), and not have had a public screening before. All films must be no longer than 7 minutes. Sixteen entries are selected as finalists from the several hundred entries and these are screened around Australia to compete for more than $A100,000 in prizes.

The screening event is a free outdoor celebration complete with live music and entertainment. Selection of the winner takes place live on the night of the festival by a panel of high profile industry and celebrity judges. In 2006 the Sydney screening was abandoned after 13 films due to severe electrical storms and although screenings in other cities were not affected the winners had to be announced two days later at a press conference.

Who Attends Tropfest?

Tropfest attracts a wide cross-section of people including actors, producers and director, but also people of all ages simply interested in film. Many people who are viewers one year enter a film of their own the next. Entrants have been as young as 8 years old, have included whole families, and people fresh out of film school - as well as those who have never heard of film school.

Past judges have included Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, Phillip Noyce, Naomi Watts, Catherine Martin, Toni Collette, Rose Byrne, Russell Crowe, John Woo, Samuel L Jackson, Baz Luhrmann, Keanu Reeves, Sam Neill, Ewan McGregor, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jane Campion, Salma Hayek, Will Smith and Tom Cruise to name a few.

The Tropfest website has full details for those wishing to enter a film, and entries for Tropfest 2010 close on Thursday 7 January 2010, with finalists screened nationally on Sunday 21 February 2010. In addition you can view past entries and winners at the Tropfest YouTube Channel. Since 2006, Tropfest has also been associated with the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

The copyright of the article Tropfest Film Festival - An Iconic Sydney Event in Film Festivals is owned by Jo Jackson. Permission to republish Tropfest Film Festival - An Iconic Sydney Event in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.