Australian Film Festival

Australian Film Festival
Australian Film Festival Logo
Genre	Film festival
Frequency	Annually
Location(s)	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Years active	8
Inaugurated	2010
Website
http://www.australianfilmfestival.com.au/

The Australian Film Festival is an annual film festival held in the Australian city of Sydney. The festival showcases the films of Australian talent working in a variety of mediums, including; feature films, short films, television and online web content. In addition to showcasing Australian film, the festival promotes the growth and recognition of Australian cinema through industry led workshops and discussion forums. It is well known for hosting the Australian Film Walk of Fame, which has honoured recipients such as Claudia Karvan, Jack Thompson, Gary Sweet, Roy Billing, Steve Bisley and Michael Caton.

Established by current festival director Barry Watterson, The Australian Film Festival evolved from the 2009 Australian Film Week, a week-long showcase of classic Australian films held at the Randwick Ritz cinema during Sydney's Coogee Arts Fest. The expansion saw the festival become Australia's most comprehensive presentation of Australian film, with founding director Barry Watterson citing the purpose of the festival being "The long term development of Australian film content in a rapidly changing environment and the building of audiences for Australian film."

The Australian Film Festival premiered on 24 February 2010 at Randwick Ritz cinema. In collaboration with Popcorn Taxi,the festival's opening night reunited the original cast and crew of Mad Max for a screening of the Australian cult film, followed be a Q&A with actors including Steve Bisley and Hugh Keays-Byrne. The festival ran for 11 days, and screened 21 feature films, short films and documentaries, including; Happy Feet, The Dinner Party and Bad Boy Bubby.