Tropfest
 |
|
| Location | Australia |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| Language | English |
| Website | tropfest |
Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. It has also become known as the world's first global film festival.
Founded by actor/director John Polson, Tropfest began in 1993 as a screening for 200 people at the 'Tropicana Caffe' in Darlinghurst, Sydney, Australia, but has since become the largest platform for short films in the world. Tropfest Australia usually takes place in December each year in Sydney and is broadcast live to various cities around Australia to an audience of approximately 150,000. Sydney Tropfest 2015 was cancelled less than a month before it was scheduled to run. After much support on social media, Tropfest founder Polson announced in early December 2015 that extra funding had been sourced, and the festival took place in Centennial Park on Sunday, 14 February 2016. In August 2016 it was announced that from February 2017 Sydney's Tropfest would be held in Parramatta in western Sydney.
Tropfest differs from other cinema events by being a "content generation" platform, rather than an exhibition platform. Filmmakers are required to create new works for the festival which must include an item, known as the "Tropfest Signature Item" (TSI) and which changes each year. The films must be less than 7 minutes (including titles and credits) and be world premieres at the Tropfest event.
The festival's name is derived from the first year's location—the Tropicana Caffe in Darlinghurst, an inner-eastern suburb of Sydney. Created by Australian-born filmmaker John Polson, the first festival was held in 1993 and was originally called the Tropicana Short Film Festival.
The support and involvement of film personalities from around the world has become one of the trademarks of the festival. Selection of the winning Tropfest film takes place live on the night of the festival by a panel of high profile industry and celebrity judges, in addition to the previous year's winner. Past judges have included Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Naomi Watts, Toni Collette, Rose Byrne, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, John Woo, Samuel L. Jackson, Baz Luhrmann, Keanu Reeves, Sam Neill, Ewan McGregor, Jane Campion, Salma Hayek, George Miller and Gabriel Byrne. Corporate supporters have included Intel, Sony, Qantas, Cointreau and MadFish Wines. Movie Extra used to be the primary sponsor of Tropfest Australia.
...
Wikipedia