Capital hosts winner of the Tropfest event

ISTANBUL

This year Tropfest movies are screened in Ankara. Public screenings will be taking place today at the CerModern Art Centre in Ankara, while the festival will also be screening at the capital’s Middle East Technical University, Bilkent University and Başkent University.

Tropfest, one of the largest short film festivals in the world, is coming to Turkey for the first time. The festival will present Australian short films in the cities of Ankara, Eskisehir and Istanbul from March 25 to 29.

Public screenings will be taking place today at the CerModern Art Centre in Ankara, while the festival will also be screening at the capital’s Middle East Technical University, Bilkent University and Başkent University. It will also feature at Anadolu University in Eskisehir and Bogazici University in Istanbul.

Founded by award-winning actor/director John Polson, Tropfest began as a short film festival for friends and family at the Tropicana Café in Sydney, Australia in 1993. Today, it is known as the largest short film festival in the world and is widely respected for its support of new film-making talent. Dozens of Tropfest film-makers have gone on to have successful local and international careers following their Tropfest debuts. It has become Australia’s most prestigious short film festival and one of its most iconic cultural events, and is also the largest short film festival in the world. In Australia, Tropfest is recognized for its enormous contribution to the development of the Australian film industry by providing unique platforms for emerging filmmakers through its events and initiatives, and new and expanded audiences for their work.

About the Tropfest

Polson started the “Tropicana Short Film Festival” (as it was originally known) as an informal short film screening for cast, crew and friends at the Tropicana Cafe in Sydney’s Darlinghurst. More than 200 people showed up for that first screening, and inspired by the turn out, he decided that a full-fledged short film festival was the next step.

Twenty years on, “Movie Extra Tropfest” in Australia attracts a live national audience of more than 150,000 people on a single night. The event is hosted at Sydney’s Domain in the Royal Botanic Gardens, with live satellite links to outdoor locations in major cities including Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide and Surfers Paradise.

In 2009, for the first time, Movie Extra conducted a live television broadcast of the event. This partnership brought the festival to more than 1 million subscribers live at home and at unofficial sites including pubs, clubs and community centers around the country. Tropfest has expanded internationally to now include new competitions and festivals in New Zealand, North America, (New York and Las Vegas), as well as Tropfest Arabia, which was held in Abu Dhabi in November 2011, open to filmmakers across the Middle East and North Africa. Other discussions are underway in territories around the world including China, Singapore, Paris, London and more.

Tropfest NZ was successfully launched with a screening of the Australian finalists at the world famous TSB Bowl of Brooklands, New Plymouth in February 2012 and will bring the world’s largest short film festival to New Zealand from 2013 onwards.

The winner of the festival

More than 8,000 people watched the sixteen short films selected to screen at the first TROPFEST NZ short film festival. Dave Smith won MPA and NZFACT Best Director Award for his mini operatic “Cappuccino Tango.”

As part of his prize, Smith will take a trip to LA for a 5-day immersion program to meet with film and television executives, agencies and production companies courtesy of the Motion Picture Association and NZFACT. He will also attend the American Film Market and receives a one year membership to Screen Directors Guild of NZ. Smith directed a script written by Andy Bassett who also wrote the music.