“A Great Loss”: 2011 Tropfest Winner Weighs In On Axing Controversy


The cancellation of annual and widely-loved short film festival Tropfest has hit Australia hard. Real hard. 

The iconic festival has been going for the past 23 years, and founder CEO John Polson was the first to say how devstated he was. He announced the cancellation yesterday, less than a month before the event. 
Polson’s full statement was tear-inducing, and you can feel exactly how gutted he was, especially since this decision was 1) clearly beyond his control, and 2) the consequence of someone doing something seemingly dodgy with some funds.
We decided to have a chat to 2011 Tropfest winner Damon Gameau, who also wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed ‘That Sugar Film‘, about his feels over the axing of Australia’s biggest short film fest.
Speaking to Gameau on the phone, he sounded equally as devo about the loss of the event, saying that he particularly felt for this years shortlisted finalists:
“I just know how excited I was both times I was there. You don’t get to show your short film to a live audience of 150,000 people anywhere in the world, let alone 500,000 people on television at the same time. It’s such a rare experience and a great disappointment to those people who obviously put in the work.”

We asked the filmmaker about what his experience at Tropfest was like, and where he thinks his career would be without it:
“It’s so important to me because creative people need deadlines; they’re important to motivate you to get something done. I personally never would have even made a film [without Tropfest].”

P.TV: So it gave you a good kick up the arse, basically?

“Exactly! I see Tropfest as a defining turning point for me.”
Image: Wolter Peeters
Gameau also says that one of the reasons he hesitated to make films before his Tropfest entry ‘Animal Beatbox’ was due to fear of backlash, but winning helped him care not for ~tha haters~:
“The winner every year, the next day, becomes this kind of piñata – you get beaten from every angle. People dissect your film and tell you you’re shit, and to give back your prize. “How could that thing win?!”, y’know. I think that was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. That kind of reaction was something I’d always feared, and had stopped me from making films. So when you get in the most extreme case, all in one day when you win Tropfest, it kinda gets it out the way for you! It’s like a therapy session.”

P.TV: Oh, like hater immersion therapy!

“That’s right! It changed my life. Like, if that was it, then I got through it!”

P.TV: So you’re not scared of keyboard warriors anymore?

“Nah. Ohh… maybe some of them. The ones that don’t have profile pictures or anything. Like, who are they?”
So, apart from kicking young filmmakers’ butts into gear so our film industry continues to flourish, why else should Aussies be devo about the cancellation of Tropfest?
“If it definitely ends up being cancelled, it’s yet another blow [to the arts]. That’s really all we’re fighting for, as a culture; we have to preserve the arts. It’s so important. 

We need these kind of cultural events. Everyone watches movies on their laptops these days, in isolation. That’s not what cinema is! Cinema is sitting in a park with a hundred and fifty thousand people, all sharing a laugh or sharing a tear. That’s what it’s about; that’s the gift of cinema!”
Could Tropfest still be saved?
“Hopefully. It would be such a noble thing for someone to ride in on their steed and save it. I’d be very surprised if someone doesn’t do that.”

Considering how important Tropfest is for the Aussie film industry, will the government step in and save it? (Especially taking into account how notorious they are for slashing arts funding on a state and federal level.)


“[laughs] Oh, how lovely would that be?! They’ve decimated arts in Australia, so just imagine if they saved it. I doubt they will, though. It will be a corporation of some kind, most likely. If it happens.”

Tropfest was scheduled for December 6, 2015. Fingers crossed, ya’ll. 

Image: That Sugar Film.

More Stuff From PEDESTRIAN.TV