Today in ridiculous Australian success stories: Alethea Jones of Melbourne has won Tropfest’s 20th birthday competition just two weeks after applying for Centrelink. Baz Luhrmann, Tobey Maguire, and Joel Edgerton were all on hand as Jones’ short film “Lemonade Stand”, a comedy about a whimsical family business and the forces who conspire against it, was awarded first prize by a panel of judges including Geoffrey Rush, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Asher Keddie, Kieran Darcy-Smith and 2011 Movie Extra Tropfest winner Damon Gameau.
Tropfest Founder and Director, John Polson said of this year’s winner: “Lemonade Stand is an incredibly well made film and a favourite amongst the judges. There was intense discussion in the judging room, and some really interesting debates. Alethia should be very proud to have been selected by some of the industry’s greatest talent.”
Second prize went to Sydney’s Rupert Reid for “Boo!” the story of an elderly couple who take a joke one step too far with deadly consequences. While third prize went to “Photo Booth” by Queensland’s Michael Noonan, the story of three soldiers who find a prophetic photo booth in the midst of battle.
A DVD of the shortlisted entries will be bundled with this weekend’s Sydney Morning Herald but you now can watch the winning entry below. We’d call it a nostalgic mix between Weekend At Bernie’s and Amelie with exactly zero instances of Animal Beatboxing.
“Lemonade Stand” – Alethea Jones.
