F.Y.I.

New short film festival launches created by women for women

The Australian Women’s Film Festival is set to launch on March 15 – a new short film festival by women, for women.

The announcement:

AUSTRALIAN WOMENS FILM FESTIVAL TO LAUNCH IN MARCH 2020

The Australian Women’s Film Festival (AWFF) is a brand-new short film festival created by women, for women. The inaugural event will be held on Sunday 15 March 2020, at Event Cinemas AACTA Bar and Cinemas at Bondi Junction in Sydney, in line with International Women’s Day.

AWFF will support, encourage, and ultimately celebrate female storytellers and leaders within the film industry by giving them the platform to showcase their talent both in front and behind the camera. The program will include a VIP red-carpet event, curated discussion with the AWFF judging panel, screenings of the finalist films followed by an award presentation.

The all-star female judging panel includes Rachel Griffiths (Actor & Director) Sue Maslin (Producer – The Dressmaker) Teresa Palmer (Actor – Ride Like A Girl), Jane Hastings (CEO Event Hospitality and Entertainment Limited).

During the Festival, AWFF will also honour legendary editor Jill Bilcock with the AWFF Trailblazer Award (a woman who has blazed a trail for other women filmmakers and made an extraordinary contribution over her career) and the Bruna Papandrea with the AWFF Groundbreaker Award (a woman who has made an extraordinary impact in the industry in the previous year).

Entries close at midnight on 9 February 2020, and tickets go on sale to the general public today – 7 February 2020.

AWFF is the brainchild of Australian producers and filmmakers Kelly Tomasich and Tahyna MacManus.

“AWFF was established to demonstrate the talent of female filmmakers by proving a platform for them to showcase their talents. A condition of entry to AWFF is that 3/5 key creatives (Writer, Director, Producer, DOP and Editor) must be female. This is designed to encourage the inclusion of women in an industry traditionally dominated by males. Men are not excluded from entering AWFF, but they must be willing to work with women.”

A condition of entry is that if the film must pass the Bechdel test. The Bechdel test is a measure of the representation of women in fiction. It asks whether a work features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. “The Bechdel Test was included to encourage filmmakers to consider their portrayal of women in film and transcend traditional character stereotypes.”

Actor, Teresa Palmer said: “It is such an honour to be part of the inaugural AWFF, a beautiful festival to celebrate and champion women in film whilst providing them with a platform to showcase their talents both in front of and behind the camera. I couldn’t be more proud to be on the judging panel with not just my peers, but women in film I have looked up to and been inspired by my entire career, and I’m truly excited to see the submissions and support up-and-comers in the Australian industry.”

Actor & Director, Rachel Griffiths said: “I am so excited to be a member of the AWFF judging panel in its inaugural year. It is an amazing opportunity for filmmakers to showcase, and audiences to celebrate, the phenomenal work being done by women both in front and behind the camera.”

Producer, Sue Maslin said: “I am delighted to join the judging panel for the inaugural AWFF. A new and exciting major event celebrating excellence from women and shaking up what we see on our screens.”

CEO, Jane Hastings said: “Celebrating and highlighting film talent across all aspects of the industry is important and this festival does just that. We are excited to be encouraging more female talent to the industry to showcase stories that better reflect our communities.”

Awards will be given for Best Drama, Documentary, Comedy and Animation with the major prize awarded for Best Film.

Joining the AWFF as major sponsors are Event Cinemas and Canon Australia, with the latter providing a new Canon EOS C200 4K cinematic digital camera as a category prize to enable high-quality outputs to match the outstanding creativity and storytelling of Australian female filmmakers.

Other sponsors include QT Hotels, SUNSTUDIOS, Spectrum Films, AFTRS, The Glenlivet, Mad Hatter Beverage Co.

Source: AWFF media release

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