On the St Kilda Film Festival’s Closing Night on Saturday. Welcome Home Allen, directed by Andrew Kavanagh, took home the Festival’s prestigious best short film award, walking away with a $10,000 cash prize and a qualification for consideration in the OSCARS® Short Film category.
City of Port Phillip Mayor Bernadene Voss said the St Kilda Film Festival offers a platform that has showcased the incredible work of the Australian film industry over the past 34 years.
“The St Kilda Film Festival has showcased many producers, directors and actors who have gone on to gain enormous recognition in the wider film industry. It has been the starting point for some of Australia’s most successful filmmakers – going on to have their films screened at renowned international festivals, be nominated for critically acclaimed awards and become industry frontrunners. We are thrilled to have played a part in acknowledging the talent that Australian filmmakers showcase and be able to continue to do so year after year,” Cr Voss said.
Festival Director Paul Harris explained that the comprehensive 10-day program featured Australia’s Top 100 short films; a specially dedicated “Graham Kennedy: The King of TV” program in conjunction with the National Sound and Film Archive; SoundKILDA’s showcase of notable music videos; a retrospective line up of Indigenous short films, “Short Black”; the Under 21 Filmmaker Competition, Under the Radar; a free filmmaker development program; and a VIMEO showcase – an international program curated by Senior Curator Jeffrey Bowers highlighting the best of the video sharing platform.
Mr. Harris said the diversity and quality of this year’s submissions has been exciting and made it challenging to select films for the program, a true testament to those chosen.
“The quality and variation of films shown at St Kilda Film Festival each year shows the changing film landscape and the demand for filmmakers to challenge themselves and push their creative boundaries. This year, the quality and diversity of entries is a testament to the exciting talent coming through in Australia’s film industry. We congratulate the 2017 award winners on their well-deserved prizes and all entrants for their wonderful work,” Mr. Harris said.
Left Image (L-R) Best Documentary presented by Alice Burgin (AIDC) and Jon Barrie (Adobe) to Peter Drew for The Khalik Family Kite
CREDIT 2017 JIM LEE PHOTO
Right Image (L-R) Best Short Film presented by City of Port Phillip Mayor, Cr Bernadene Voss presented to Andrew Kavanagh and Ramona Telecocam for Welcome Home Allen. CREDIT 2017 JIM LEE PHOTO