Newtown Flicks Short Film Festival
Encyclopedia
Newtown Flicks Short Film Festival is held annually in and around the Sydney
suburb of Newtown
, Australia
. Established as a non-profit organization
in 2006, Newtown Flicks became a national film festival in 2009.
The festival was the brainchild of Martin Kelly, Bill Jordan and Spiros Hristias who discovered a mutual love of film while operating equipment in the bio box of New Theatre
, a live performance venue in Newtown
. Over coffees in local cafes they developed the festival’s name and logo, its aims (to support emerging filmmakers and showcase their works) and awards categories. After setting up the enterprise with their own money, they looked for outside sponsorship. The major sponsor since 2006 has been JVC
Professional, donors of filmmaking equipment. The JVC encouragement award is presented to a filmmaker showing potential not yet fully realised. Cash prizes are offered in the other categories together with bags for audio-visual accessories made by Crumpler
and statuettes made by a local arts collective. The 2009 festival was supported by a City of Sydney
cultural grant.
There are no entry requirements except a maximum length of 20 minutes. The aim is to screen all films submitted over the three-day festival. Apart from the Directors' Choice and Most Popular categories, entries are judged by a panel of film professionals. Past judges have included director Bruce Beresford
, critic Garry Maddox, writer Phillip Gwynne, stuntman Grant Page
and actors Mark Lee
and Genevieve Lemon
. Design of the statuettes and posters changes with each festival.
----
Winners
Winners
Winners
.
Winners
• Bruce Beresford
- director (Driving Miss Daisy
, Puberty Blues
, Double Jeopardy
, Mao's Last Dancer).
• Mark Lee
- actor (Gallipoli
, Sahara
).
• Grant Page
- stuntman (Mad Max
, The Pact
).
• Genevieve Lemon
- actor/singer (The Piano
, Holy Smoke
, Billy Elliot
).
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
suburb of Newtown
Newtown, New South Wales
Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the local government areas of the City of Sydney and Marrickville Council in the state of New South Wales, Australia....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Established as a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
in 2006, Newtown Flicks became a national film festival in 2009.
The festival was the brainchild of Martin Kelly, Bill Jordan and Spiros Hristias who discovered a mutual love of film while operating equipment in the bio box of New Theatre
New Theatre
New Theatre or New Theater may refer to:In the United Kingdom* The New Theatre , Wales* The New Theatre * The Noël Coward Theatre, London * New Theatre , The University Of Nottingham's student run theatre...
, a live performance venue in Newtown
Newtown
-Australia:*Newtown, New South Wales*Newtown, Queensland *Newtown, Queensland *Newtown, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong*Newtown, Victoria , a locality near Ballarat-Ireland:* Newtown, County Cork* Newtown, County Laois...
. Over coffees in local cafes they developed the festival’s name and logo, its aims (to support emerging filmmakers and showcase their works) and awards categories. After setting up the enterprise with their own money, they looked for outside sponsorship. The major sponsor since 2006 has been JVC
JVC
, usually referred to as JVC, is a Japanese international consumer and professional electronics corporation based in Yokohama, Japan which was founded in 1927...
Professional, donors of filmmaking equipment. The JVC encouragement award is presented to a filmmaker showing potential not yet fully realised. Cash prizes are offered in the other categories together with bags for audio-visual accessories made by Crumpler
Crumpler
Crumpler is a bag company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and Berlin, Germany, with global offices in Brooklyn and Cologne. It began as a messenger bag company, but has since expanded its range, notably into laptop bags and camera bags.- History :...
and statuettes made by a local arts collective. The 2009 festival was supported by a City of Sydney
City of Sydney
The City of Sydney is the Local Government Area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia...
cultural grant.
There are no entry requirements except a maximum length of 20 minutes. The aim is to screen all films submitted over the three-day festival. Apart from the Directors' Choice and Most Popular categories, entries are judged by a panel of film professionals. Past judges have included director Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 40-year career.-Early life:...
, critic Garry Maddox, writer Phillip Gwynne, stuntman Grant Page
Grant Page
Grant Page is an of Australian stuntman who worked mostly during the seventies and eighties. Page was the stunt coordinator for the popular Australian action movies The Man from Hong Kong and Mad Max, as well as other Australian and overseas films including the cult horror flick Death Ship...
and actors Mark Lee
Mark Lee
Mark Lee may refer to:*Mark Lee , Australian actor and director*Mark Lee , American novelist, playwright and journalist*Mark Lee , former NFL player...
and Genevieve Lemon
Genevieve Lemon
Genevieve Lemon is an Australian actress who has appeared in a number of soap operas – as Zelda Baker in The Young Doctors, Marlene "Rabbit" Warren in Prisoner and Brenda Riley in Neighbours...
. Design of the statuettes and posters changes with each festival.
----
2006 Festival
Held at the New Theatre between 15–17 AprilWinners
| Award | Winning Title |
|---|---|
| PICK OF THE FLICKS # 1 | Tackle |
| PICK OF THE FLICKS # 2 | The Chess Set |
| DIRECTORS CHOICE # 1 | Birthday Present |
| DIRECTORS CHOICE # 2 | Europe |
2007 Festival
Held at the Newtown Theatre between 30 March - 1 MayWinners
| Award | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| BEST STUDENT FILM | Still Life | Tahnee McGuire |
| BEST INDEPENDENT | Transient | Craig Boreham |
| BEST TREEHOUSE | Wally | Tonnette Stanford |
| DIRECTORS CHOICE | The Death of an Official | Natalie Lopes & Marlene Palmeiro |
| JVC AWARD | Not Sitting Still | Sarah Antill |
2008 Festival
Held at the Pact Theatre between 20 May – 1 JuneWinners
| Award | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| BEST STUDENT FILM | Modern Primitives | Kate Witchard |
| BEST INDEPENDENT | Playground | Eve Spence |
| BEST TREEHOUSE | Floating | Chih-Kuang Tu |
| DIRECTORS CHOICE | The Cypriot | Vincent Taylor |
| JVC AWARD | One Shoe Billy | Aiden Koegh |
2009 Festival
In May 2009 Newtown Flicks Short Film Festival returned to the New Theatre, where the judging panel was led by twice Academy award nominated director Bruce BeresfordBruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 40-year career.-Early life:...
.
Winners
| Award | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| BEST STUDENT FILM | Reach | Luke Randall |
| BEST INDEPENDENT | Fade | Vincent Taylor |
| DIRECTORS CHOICE | Burden | Ben Field and Liam Doyle |
| JVC AWARD | Mercury Vapour | Zoe Barnes |
Notable Participants
In addition to showcasing the future of the Australian film industry, the following industry personalities have been involved with Newtown Flicks :• Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 40-year career.-Early life:...
- director (Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy is a 1989 American comedy-drama film adapted from the Alfred Uhry play of the same name. The film was directed by Bruce Beresford, with Morgan Freeman reprising his role as Hoke Colburn and Jessica Tandy playing Miss Daisy...
, Puberty Blues
Puberty Blues
Puberty Blues is a 1981 Australian film directed by Bruce Beresford. The film is based on the 1979 novel Puberty Blues, by Gabrielle Carey and Kathy Lette, which is a proto-feminist teen novel about two 13 year-old girls from the Sutherland Shire in Sydney, Australia...
, Double Jeopardy
Double jeopardy
Double jeopardy is a procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same, or similar charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction...
, Mao's Last Dancer).
• Mark Lee
Mark Lee
Mark Lee may refer to:*Mark Lee , Australian actor and director*Mark Lee , American novelist, playwright and journalist*Mark Lee , former NFL player...
- actor (Gallipoli
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
, Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
).
• Grant Page
Grant Page
Grant Page is an of Australian stuntman who worked mostly during the seventies and eighties. Page was the stunt coordinator for the popular Australian action movies The Man from Hong Kong and Mad Max, as well as other Australian and overseas films including the cult horror flick Death Ship...
- stuntman (Mad Max
Mad Max
Mad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopian action film directed by George Miller and revised by Miller and Byron Kennedy over the original script by James McCausland. The film stars Mel Gibson, who was unknown at the time. Its narrative based around the traditional western genre, Mad Max tells a story...
, The Pact
The Pact
The Pact is a novel by bestselling author Jodi Picoult about a possible suicide pact between two teenage lovers.-Plot summary:"Chris and Emily, teenagers from the same neighborhood and very close families, have been as close as siblings since birth, but as teenagers their relationship develops...
).
• Genevieve Lemon
Genevieve Lemon
Genevieve Lemon is an Australian actress who has appeared in a number of soap operas – as Zelda Baker in The Young Doctors, Marlene "Rabbit" Warren in Prisoner and Brenda Riley in Neighbours...
- actor/singer (The Piano
The Piano
The Piano is a 1993 New Zealand drama film about a mute pianist and her daughter, set during the mid-19th century in a rainy, muddy frontier backwater on the west coast of New Zealand. The film was written and directed by Jane Campion, and stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin...
, Holy Smoke
Holy Smoke
Holy Smoke may refer to:*"Holy Smoke" , a song by Iron Maiden*Holy Smoke!, a film directed by Jane Campion*Holy Smoke *Holy Smoke...
, Billy Elliot
Billy Elliot
Billy Elliot is a 2000 British drama film written by Lee Hall and directed by Stephen Daldry. Set in the fictional town of "Everington" in the real County Durham, UK, it stars Jamie Bell as 11-year-old Billy, an aspiring dancer, Gary Lewis as his coal miner father, Jamie Draven as Billy's older...
).