Aspiring filmmakers: if you live on the Northern Rivers, or have made a film here, or even if you live in Greenland… if you have made a film about the Northern Rivers, now is your time.
Entries are now open for Byron All Shorts, a competition celebrating the art of story-telling through film on the Northern Rivers.
Filmmakers are invited to submit short films of up to 30 minutes in length, from all genres, with prizes and cash to the value of around $3,000 included in awards for the Flickerfest-iQ Best Short Film Award, the SAE Qantm Emerging Talent Award, the Audience Award and more, a press release from iQ Inc said this morning.
iQ Inc Chairperson Shane Rennie said the organisation had supported local filmmakers since 1999.
See your film screened alongside the best
The group is perhaps best known for its Flickerfest International Film Festival Tour screenings but Mr Rennie said iQ had provided a dedicated screening platform for filmmakers on the Northern Rivers since 2006.
As with media in general, filmmaking techniques have changed since then and the advent of digital recording meant filmmaking was more accessible, Mr Rennie said.
Mr Rennie told Echonetdaily around fifty entrants were in last year’s Byron All Shorts and he hoped to have even more people enter this year.
He said filmmakers could be of any age and experience and high school students were welcome to enter.
Around 15 of the best local shorts from the Northern Rivers, judged by a panel of local filmmakers and other industry experts, are due to screen in the Byron All Shorts finalists programme on Saturday 1 February alongside a selection of the best Flickerfest International Short Films.
Mr Rennie said Flickerfest had received around 3,500 entrants for the prestigious festival this year.
Flickerfest is accredited by both the Academy in the United States (famous for the annual Academy awards, or ‘Oscars’) and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
The Byron All Shorts will screen as the Flickerfest Festival in 2020, that starts on Thursday 29 January, draws to a close.
Mr Rennie said any profits from ticket sales would go towards the Island Quarry Reserve Trust.
Entries for the short film competition close Friday 20 December.
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