Hollywood Glamour Hits Bondi For Flickerfest

By Georgie Jeffreys on December 22, 2011 in Arts

The Bondi Pavilion and Hollywood glamour don’t seem the most likely of partners, but for just a few short weeks this summer that’s exactly what you can expect.

On January 6, the much-hailed and highly acclaimed Flickerfest will once again kick off for a fortnight’s worth of entertainment and popcorn, transforming the lovable yet dowdy pavilion into a pantheon of short film.

Born from the backyard of a Balmain High School (sort of), Flickerfest has come along way in its 21 year journey, metamorphosing from its somewhat humble beginnings to its undeniable current status as one of Australia’s most well established short film festivals. And one need only look to the ‘Academy’ for the final tick of approval, as Flickerfest holds the honour of being the only Academy Award accredited short film festival in the country.

Seemingly leaving other short film festivals for dead, Flickerfest has grown in leaps and bounds and has garnered a fever pitch following from around the world. It’s of little surprise, therefore, that 2012 looks set to be another cracker with an unprecedented amount of entries pouring in from every corner of the globe in the hope of scoring a coveted spot in the competition.

Bronwyn Kidd, the festival’s director, has led the charge for some 16 years and says that the record breaking bank of entrants is an exciting thing for Australia and for the industry, and is testament to the event’s continuing success.

“Each year the festival just keeps on growing. We’ve received over 500 more entries this year compared with last year and it’s just absolutely amazing to witness such talent and interest on both a local and international level,” she said.

Having joined the festival just a few years after it first began, Bronwyn has since dedicated her life to fostering and extracting the potential of the event. In fact, it’s probably fair to attribute much of its success directly to her, though its doubtful she’d take such praise on board.

Having pioneered the short film genre for most of Australia – and subsequently helping an impressive 30 ‘shorts’ make it to the bright lights of the Academy Awards – Bronwyn has almost single handedly raised the profile of the Australian film industry to heights worthy of acclaim, with the festival still the only one of its kind in Australia to accept and screen international entrants.

And to make the festival just that little bit more awesome, it now has a shiny new addition, FlickerUp – a category designed for budding film buffs from primary through to high school age.

“Children these days are so in tune with media and technology and I’m just so impressed by all the FlickerUp entries,” Bronwyn said.

“Young people really want to learn about media and about film and it’s really important that they have an avenue like FlickerUp so that they can express themselves.”

With over 2,200 entries and only 100 making the cut for the final program, it’s pretty much a certainty that the line-up will be a killer, and you can view the full program at www.flickerfest.com.au.

The inside word is that the highlights of the program include ‘Julian’, an Aussie flick directed by Matthew Moore; ‘Paris Lakes’, an animation directed by Robert Stephenson; and ‘Toot Toot’, a cute Chrissy flick from the kiddies comp, directed by Simon Williams and Brendon Skinner.