POPSUGAR Australia Celebrity

Watch Tropfest 2013 Winning Film We've All Been There

Jessica Chandra — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 16:07:57 EST

The winning short film from this year’s Tropfest Film Festival was We’ve All Been There, a 6:47 minute film described by its filmmaker Nicholas Clifford as being about “how other people can help other people almost indirectly . . . a bit of a karma story.” It’s based on a short story called What Goes Around Comes Around and revolves around three main characters: Jess, a pregnant waitress who needs $800 right away to pay her overdue rent; Joan, a woman stuck in the middle of nowhere with a flat tyre, and Matt, who’s looking for work.

The Tropfest Signature Item (TSI) for 2013 was balloon, and its placement is very subtle in this short - a tattoo on Matt’s hand. The film had a more serious tone among the comedies of the night, which “terrified” Nicholas, but its sweet story won over celebrity judges including Sam Worthington, Magda Szubanski and Rebecca Gibney, and Laura Wheelwright, who played pregnant Jess, won best actress. Nicholas has won a $10,000 cash prize, a trip to LA and a car from Toyota. Watch his winning entry after the jump.

Aussie Screen Stars Flock to The Domain For Tropfest Film Festival

Jessica Chandra — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 08:00:48 EST

Nearly 100,000 people made their way to The Domain in Sydney yesterday for the 2013 Tropfest Film Festival, and among them were some of Australia’s most recognisable stars of film and TV. Sam Worthington returned home to sit on a celebrity judging panel that included Rebecca Gibney, The Sapphires director Wayne Blair, Magda Szubanski and Rake star Richard Roxburgh, and he was the one who handed out the top prize at the world’s largest short film festival to filmmaker Nicholas Clifford for the short We’ve All Been There. Sam also created an award last night for best personality in a documentary, pledging $3,000 to 86-year-old Raymond Borzelli, the dancing, busking subject of Better Than Sinatra.

The 2013 Tropfest Film Festival marked the end of an era at The Domain, with Tropfest founder John Polson announcing the location will move to Centennial Park. And while the rain held out last night, to beat February’s seasonal climate the date for future festivals will be brought forward to December, with the next one being staged on Dec. 8 this year.

Hugh Jackman Is a Top Host at Tropfest New York With Rose Byrne

Jessica Chandra — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 08:16:41 EST

Tropfest founder John Polson had the help of celebrity pals Hugh Jackman and Rose Byrne at the launch of Tropfest New York on Saturday. The world’s largest short film festival, which originated in Sydney, has spread its wings to the US, and the weekend event featured eight hours of programming played in front of a crowd of more than 10,000 in NYC. Hugh played host while Rose was one of the judges; she was on a panel that also included Friends With Kids writer, director and actor Jennifer Westfeldt, and 30 Rock star Judah Friedlander. At the end of the day Hugh announced Josh Leake of Portland, Oregon, as the winner of the festival for his short film Emptys.

Watch the Film That Won Tropfest 2012, Lemonade Stand

Jessica Chandra — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:26:10 EST

Alethea Jones took out the top prize at yesterday’s Tropfest Film Festival with Lemonade Stand, a charming short film about a man, his grandad, their lemonade stand and their nosy neighbour. Like the rest of the entrants, she had to incorporate this year’s light bulb theme (you’ll notice them decorating the stand), and she used a whole bunch of camera techniques for her short, including animation. Her work impressed a celebrity panel of judges that included Nicole Kidman, Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett and Toni Collette, while Tropfest founder and director John Polson weighed in with his praise, saying, “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. Alethea should be very proud to have been selected by some of the industry’s greatest talent.” As a result, Alethea took home a $10,000 cash prize, a trip to LA to meet with film industry executives, agents, and managers, and a brand new Nikon D800 and lens prize pack.

Stars Keep Their Beauty Looks Simple and Natural at Tropfest

Sarah Macrae — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:06:03 EST

Australia's A-list leant their support to the Tropfest in Sydney last night. Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette and Asher Keddie were joined by Geoffrey Rush, Josh Lawson and the Edgerton brothers at the short film festival held at The Royal Botanic Gardens. Proving they do relaxed Sunday glamour just as well as the red carpet, the leading ladies were all about pared-back palettes and low-fi ponytails. The key to nailing a similar look? Great skin.

A-List Stars and Film Fans Brave the Rain to See Lemonade Stand Win Tropfest

Jessica Chandra — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 07:57:39 EST

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.”

Did Tropfest Winner Animal Beatbox Seem Kinda Familiar?

POPSUGAR Celebrity AU — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 11:24:26 EST

As most of you are aware by now, Australian TV and film actor Damon Gameau won this year’s Tropfest Film Festival with his animated short Animal Beatbox. It seems he impressed the judges (and most of you) but to others his work seems unoriginal. YouTube member Eustus Comedy commented under the video, “is this a rip off of my video????” in regards to his Dog Cat video that was posted back in September. Tropfest founder and judge John Polson defended Damon and addressed the originality issues, saying, “It doesn’t surprise me there are other clips combining animals and music. It wouldn’t surprise me, either, if there were similar clips for every one of the finalist films. Comparisons are easy to draw with the explosion of footage on the internet, accessible by fingertips worldwide.” We’ve put the two videos side-by-side so you can compare for yourself. What do you think? Has Animal Beatbox ripped off the Dog Cat video (albeit in a more colourful way)?

Watch This Year's Winning Tropfest Movie: Animal Beatbox

POPSUGAR Celebrity AU — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:15:28 EST

Didn’t get out to The Domain last night to watch the finalists in Tropfest? Then you’re in luck - you can watch the winning entry right now! Damon Gameau took out the top prize with his quirky animated piece Animal Beatbox, a 2:42 minute film that cost $85 to make (most of it spent on cellophane) and was shot in his mother’s spare room. Damon is also an Aussie film and TV actor and appeared in Underbelly, Balibo as well as How I Met Your Mother as an Australian backpacker. The judges for the event included Olivia Newton-John, Twilight: Eclipse’s Xavier Samuel, last year’s Tropfest winner Abe Forsythe, and Tropfest founder and director John Polson. Upon accepting his best film award last night, Damon said, “I’m quite new to stop animation, but I find it a quick and versatile way to express any idea that may be lurking in my head.” Damon’s prize includes $5,000 in prize money, a digital camera and a return trip to LA. Not bad for a movie that only cost $85!