2013 is shaping up to be a big year for Tropfest. With the festival moving to Centennial Park and to a new sunny December date, the Tropfest Signature Item (TSI) is, appropriately, ‘Change’ which has already led to some interesting interpretations.
One entrant for this year, Natahnee Veitch with Co-Producers Therese Phillipa and Chris Kosmer, have been working on a short documentary about vendors of The Big Issue in Sydney, focusing on how their job, thanks to the global Big Issue initiative, is changing their lives, one magazine at a time. It’s a poignant interpretation of the theme – and one of many different angles that audiences are sure to see on December 8.
Another entrant and familiar face, Harri Gilbert, has been a finalist in Trop Jr twice already and has won runner up prizes two years in a row. But thanks to the passing of time, Harri is now eligible to enter Tropfest at the age of 16.
His film A Seed of Hope won the Trop Jr Fearless Filmmaking prize in 2011 and he’s hoping to bring his charming style to the big screen at Tropfest 2013, where he’ll join a generation of young filmmakers who are offered the opportunity of national exposure for their creativity and passion.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of filmmakers entering the competition and there’s a lot of creative ways people are incorporating the TSI into their films,” says Henry Kalaf, the Film and Entries Manager for Tropfest. “It’s a broad theme so the competition will be great.”
The move to a larger-capacity venue might see 2013 host the biggest Tropfest live crowd yet. And better still – Tropfest finalists will also have their films screened live around the country on SBS 2, thanks to a five-year agreement with Tropfest’s new broadcast partner, SBS.
As well as the kudos of having their film screened to hundreds of thousands nationwide, finalists are in the running to win some incredible prizes - a brand new Toyota, a Nikon D800 DSLR plus $2,000 RRP worth of Nikkor lenses, $10,000 thanks to Kennedy Miller Mitchell and a film immersion trip to Los Angeles, where the winner will meet with industry executives, courtesy of Motion Picture Association and Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft.
Following its immense popularity in February 2013, the Nikon DSLR Film category will also return this year. 1 in 4 films submitted into the February competition were shot entirely on DSLR cameras and Kalaf says it’s easy to understand why.
“We created the Nikon DSLR category as we noticed filmmakers were increasingly using these tools to tell their stories. The limitations of budget and portability in filmmaking are overcome with DSLR cameras, so it’s a no-brainer that filmmakers are embracing the significant advancements in DSLR technology.”
The winner of this category will take home a Nikon D600 plus $3,000 RRP of Nikkor lenses and all films submitted into the DSLR category will also be considered as part of the main competition.
Songwriters, producers, DJs, composers and musicians can also get involved with Tropfest by entering
APRA Tropscore! This unique competition provides Trop fans with an opportunity to write music to accompany a short film provided by Tropfest. There’s $5000 up for grabs for the winning composer, courtesy of APRA AMCOS.
Information on how to enter as well as tips and tricks on how to write music for film can be found at tropfest.com/au/tropscore .
Established in Sydney over 21 years ago, Tropfest has become the world’s largest short film festival. In Australia – and increasingly overseas - Tropfest is recognised for its enormous contribution to the development of the film industry by providing unique platforms for talented filmmakers.
Visit www.tropfest.com/au for festival details, screening venues and regular updates on all things Trop!
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