2012 Tropfest Film Festival Pictures of Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, Geoffrey Rush, Joel Edgerton and More

Tropfest celebrated its 20th anniversary yesterday, and brought together a star-studded line-up of celebrity judges to mark the occasion. Oscar winners Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman were among those on the judging panel, as well as Golden Globe winner Toni Collette. Thousands of film fans packed The Domain in Sydney for the event in the afternoon, but by the time Lemonade Stand, directed by Alethea Jones from Melbourne, was announced as the short film festival’s winner, only hundreds were left after most bolted to avoid the pouring rain and storm. Alethea beat out 15 other finalists and received her prize from Cate and Geoffrey, saying, “I registered for Centrelink two weeks ago, so maybe, maybe I might get a job this year as a director. Maybe. Just one job will be awesome.” Last night’s wet weather has the event’s organisers considering a change of date in the future, but Tropfest founder John Polson was still surprised people stayed until the end: “In some ways it’s disappointing when this happens but it also reminds you how important this is, that even torrential rain isn’t going to stop Tropfest.”