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Media Release
10th February 2010
Sydney Film Festival – Entry deadline approaches
February 26 is the deadline for Sydney Film Festival call for entries, including its 2010 Australian
competitive sections: the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films; the Yoram Gross Animation
Award; FOXTEL Australian Documentary Prize; and the CRC Award.
Sydney Film Festival will run from Wednesday 2nd to Monday 14th June (Queen’s Birthday
holiday) and will showcase the best in Australian short and documentary production through these
competitive sections, playing a vital role in raising the profile of local talent both in Australia and
internationally.
“Every year we await the entries for the Australian competitive sections with great anticipation.
Sydney Film Festival presents the first film awards of the year in Australia and sets the tone for
what will follow.
"We could not be more delighted by the subsequent successes of our 2009 winners and
contenders, especially given that Dendy Award winner Miracle Fish has been nominated for an
Oscar®, that all Dendy winners were Academy Award® shortlisted and both our FOXTEL
Australian Documentary Prize winners were subsequently selected for the prestigious International
Documentary Festival Amsterdam.” – Clare Stewart, Festival Director
DENDY Awards for Australian Short Films
•
In 2010, Sydney Film Festival celebrates 40 years of presenting its Australian short film
competition, making it one of the oldest in Australia.
•
The awards in this category are: Best Live Action Short Film ($5000 sponsored by Dendy
Cinemas); Yoram Gross Award for Best Animated Short Film ($4000); Rouben Mamoulian
Award for Best Director Overall ($5000 sponsored by Dendy Cinemas) and the winners of
the first two sections are Academy Award® eligible.
•
Dendy Cinemas (at times in collaboration with Dendy Films) have sponsored the Awards
since 1989.
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The winner of the Dendy Award for Best Live Action Short Film - Luke Doolan's MIRACLE
FISH - has been nominated for an Oscar® in the same category
-
All three winners of the 2009 Dendy Awards for Australian short films were shortlisted for the
Academy Awards®. These included Rene Hernandez's THE GROUND BENEATH which
took out the SFF Rouben Mamoulian Award for Best Overall Short Film (shortlisted for Best
Live Action Short Film); Luke Doolan's MIRACLE FISH which won the Dendy Award for Best
Live Action Short Film (shortlisted for Best Live Action Short Film); and Ari Gibson and Eddie
White's SFF Yoram Gross Animation Award winner THE CAT PIANO (shortlisted for Best
Animated Short Film).
•
The Rouben Mamoulian Award, sponsored by Dendy Cinemas, will be awarded to Best
Director (rather than best film) for the first time in this award’s history.
•
Yoram and Sandra Gross have sponsored the Yoram Gross Animation Award since 1987.
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FOXTEL Australian Documentary Prize
•
FOXTEL came on board in 2009 to sponsor the inaugural FOXTEL Australian
Documentary Prize, which is open to Australian documentaries of any duration.
•
The winning film is awarded $10,000. In its inaugural year, the jury determined to award two
winners - Martin Butler and Bentley Dean’s CONTACT and Safina Uberoi’s A GOOD MAN
and Foxtel doubled the prize money to much acclaim at State Theatre’s closing night
ceremony.
•
Joint winners of inaugural FOXTEL Australian Documentary Prize were both subsequently
selected for the prestigious International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, as were two
other finalists.
CRC Award
•
All Australian films screening at the Sydney Film Festival that demonstrate a multicultural
perspective are eligible for the CRC Award, sponsored by the Community Relations
Commission For a multicultural NSW, with a $5,000 cash prize.
•
In 2009, the prize was awarded to MISSING WATER, directed by Khoa Do, which screened
in SFF’s Official Competition
•
The Community Relations Commission For a multicultural NSW has sponsored the CRC
Award since 1992.
The full program for the 57th Sydney Film Festival, 2–14 June 2010, will be announced on 5th May.
For further information please contact The Lantern Group
Victoria@lanterngroup.com.au / 0408 114 864
niki@lanterngroup.com.au / 0403 176 988
Natalie@lanterngroup.com.au / 0409 033 121
About Sydney Film Festival
Sydney Film Festival screens feature films, documentaries, short films and animations across the
city at the State Theatre, George Street Event Cinemas, Dendy Opera Quays and the Art Gallery
of NSW. The festival is a major event on the New South Wales cultural calendar and is one of the
world’s longest running film festivals. In 2008, SFF introduced the Official Competition, a FIAPF-
accredited competition for ‘new directions in film’, which rewards courageous and audacious
filmmaking. The Official Competition is supported by Events NSW and offers a $60,000 cash prize.
In 2009, celebrated Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer was Jury President with Oliver Hirschbiegel,
Ted Kotcheff, Miranda Otto and Lone Scherfig as jury amembers.
The 57th Sydney Film Festival runs from Wednesday 2 June – Monday 14 June 2010.
NEWS 
