SciFi Film Festival

About

SciFi Film Festival is an annual festival held in Sydney, Australia, showcasing sci fi and fantasy genre films and filmmaking, video games, virtual reality and new media technologies.

The festival presents an annual eclectic program showcasing new talent, established creatives and other industry professionals from around the globe that draw a diverse range of audiences.

SciFi Film Festival programs a series of events and activities such as screenings, retrospectives, competitions, networking opportunities, new technology and educational workshops and forums and video gaming, to name but a few.

Our Festival facilitates freedom of thought and its expression, cultural and creative activity by artists of all ages, abilities and genders, all of which contribute to our quality of life today.

SciFi Film Festival presents a rich and entertaining program that aims to stimulate the global creative arts culture and present a fantastic menu to a hungry audience.

SciFi Film Festival is a not for profit creative enterprise administered by Screen My Shorts Inc., guided by and complying with all relevant state regulations of New South Wales, Australia. This includes financial management, reporting and administrative duties of a Not For Profit, within the Model Constitution under the Association Incorporation Act 2009.

Awards

The SciFi Film Festival offers awards in key categories that will be presented prior to the Closing Night film. The awards are named in honour of the great pioneers in science-fiction: 

• Mary Shelley Award for Best SciFi Feature Film and Best Short Film is named in memory of the teenage girl who invented modern science fiction in 1818 with her novel Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus. Shelley, went on to create The Last Man (1826), which set the scene for the end of the world in the year 2100. Shelley was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, 2014, posthumously.
• George Pal Award for Best Director: Hungarian-born animator, director, and producer who was a leading figure in the science-fiction genre (Director: The Time Machine; Producer: Destination Moon, When Worlds Collide, War of The Worlds)
• H.G. Wells Award for Best Script: Often referred to as the “father of science fiction” and best remembered for his novels include The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898) and the military science fiction The War in the Air (1907). Wells was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times.
• Lotte Reiniger Award for Best Animation Award (Charlotte ”Lotte” Reiniger) is presented in memory of the first feature-length animated genre film in the history of cinema. The The Adventures of Prince Achmedis a 1926 German film, made during the Weimar period.
• Georges Méliès Award for Best Special Effects is named after the great French pioneering work in film and innovative special effects.
• Léon Theremin Award Best Music/Sound is presented in honour of one of the first electronic musical instruments and the first to be mass-produced. Thanks to its eerie sound effect, the theremin became the signature sound by the 50’s, for science fiction film and television.
• Brigitte Helm Award for Best Actress: iconic scifi actress best known as ‘Maria’ in Metropolis.
• Gustav Fröhlich Award for Best Actor: icon scifi actor best known as ‘Freder’ in Metropolis.
• Nevil Shute Outstanding Achievement Award is named in memory of ‘On The Beach’ written by Nevile Shute, also the first science fiction movie Hollywood ever made on Australian soil.
• Discovery Student Film Award is open to students who are registered in a recognised film school, college or university, when they have made their film.

Rules

• Science fiction and fantasy genre films.
• We only accept films that have been produced during and after 2019
• SciFi Film Festival is now accepting submissions from all ages around the world.
• Submission can be a feature film, short film, music clip, documentary, machinima or animation (film) of different genres.
• English subtitles.
• Student and Young Filmmaker category entrants must be registered in a recognised film school, university, college, high school, middle school or elementary school with proof of ID from the institution to qualify for the relevant fees.

How to Submit

• Complete and submit Your online submission form.
• Pay relevant Submission fee
• You will receive confirmation of Your successful registration
• Films must be submitted EITHER via online platform or into a Dropbox folder provided by SciFi.

Filmmakers submitting must also supply:

• Production credits and contact details
• 5 Photos for promotional purposes, no smaller than 1024 x 576 pixels
• Media pack for promotional use by Veterans
• Film Poster (Optional)
• A short trailer of the film (Optional)

Premiere Requirements

No premiere requirement

Jury and Organizers

Tom Papas — Festival Director

Hiroshi Kasuga — Strategic Director

Glen Falkenstein — Program Director

Mingming Feng — Asia Pacific Director