It began in this fine establishment two decades ago. Today it’s the largest short film festival in the world. And it could get even bigger. Just months from celebrating their milestone 20th birthday with a global audience in the hundreds of thousands, Tropfest have today unveiled plans to expand into Abu Dhabi, New York, China, Singapore, London and Paris, creating a shortlist of winners to form a ‘best in show’ style global face off. The announcement also comes with the big reveal of this year’s signature item – the light bulb. Start thinking about how to seamlessly weave that into your short film masterpiece. If you’re an amateur Aronofsky, third year Tarantino or budding Bergman, submissions must be no longer than seven minutes and sent to Tropfest before Thursday the 5th of January 2012.
Tropfest Founder and Director, John Polson, explains: “Two decades on, we’re fostering filmmaking talent at an international level, offering a ground-breaking opportunity for filmmakers to showcase their skills in front of the largest live audience a short film can get – or any film for that matter. For serious filmmakers, entering Tropfest is like creating a showreel for the job interview of a lifetime,” he says.
Finalists will be judged by a panel which has previously included Nicole Kidman, Toni Collette, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, Samuel L Jackson, Baz Luhrmann, Ewan McGregor and Elijah Wood. Finalists compete for a prize pool of cash, equipment and international travel valued at approximately $100,000.
