The long & short of it
This Sunday, Tropfest and TROP JR in the Domain promises to surpass expectations. Time Out tracks the build up.
By Dan Rookwood
90,000 Sydneysiders are expected to attend Tropfest
10 January: Deadline Day
The line of hopefuls submitting their short
films stretches out of Tropfest’s office and
snakes down Riley Street. Some, like 15-year old
Pratick Tanna from West Pennant Hills,
are schoolkids, the self-taught filmmakers of
tomorrow. He’s delighted this year sees the
launch of Trop Jr. “After I saw Tropfest last
year, I thought: ‘I want to enter that one day’,”
says Tanna. “When I heard about Trop Jr,
I thought why not give it a go? The film took
me a good two weeks to make.”
Others are Tropfest veterans, hoping that
this year will be their year. “This is my fourth
attempt,” says Matthew Evans, 35, a photographer
from Surry Hills, who has attached
a helium balloon decorated with the number
eight to his entry, in the hope of making it
stand out (the number is this year’s signature
item, and every fi lm must incorporate in some
way). “Each year, I learn so much and get better
and better,” he says. “Fingers crossed,
I make the final 16 this time.”
Manly secondary school teacher Paulina
George (pictured above) has brought her entire
production crew – including the larger-than life
personality Delilah, who did the voice-over
– down for the moment when they hand over
their year’s work. “There’s an enormous sense
of achievement and relief” she says.
14 January: Sorting Day
It’s been another bumper year for entries, with
over 700 fi lms submitted across both categories.
At Tropfest’s offi ces, the fi lms are logged
and sorted into 15 boxes in readiness for the
shortlisting process.
14–18 January: Shortlisting Week
A group of nine industry experts, including
producers and directors, repairs to a secret
location in Sydney. They whittle down the
hundreds of entries to a shortlist of around 50.
The filmmakers are informed.
19–20 January: Finalists selection
The shortlisted films are sent to New York,
where Tropfest’s enigmatic founder John Polson
selects the top eight films for Trop Jr, and
the top 16 for Tropfest. He calls the finalists
personally to give them the good news.
17 February: Trop Jr and
Tropfest take place
Trop Jr will be screened in the Domain on Sunday afternoon from noon. The main Tropfest
event follows from 3pm with major entertainment from 6pm. 90,000 Sydneysiders are
expected to pull up a rug and picnic to watch
the world’s biggest short film festival. The
boys from The Chaser are hosting the event,
and there will be a live performance from
Sydney band Van She before all 16 films are
shown on the massive screens. At the end of
the night, the signature item for next year will
be revealed. And the process begins afresh.
Filmmaker’s story Vincenzo Cosentino,
25, film student from Sicily
“I chose Tropfest because it is the biggest
door to enter the film industry – the biggest
festival, the biggest opportunity. Back in Italy
I literally went on Google and did
a search for the largest short film festival. It
said Tropfest. OK, where’s that? Australia.
OK, let’s go. A year later, I am here.
I found a film school in Byron Bay. It was
shit so I found another one. I went to both
schools, lectures at one in the morning, travel
for two hours, lectures at the other into the
evening. But everything I learned was from
the internet at all hours of the day and night.
I taught myself and learned from people in
online forums and chat rooms.
In the end I made two movies for Tropfest.
One is a violent story about a kidnapping
with a lot of special effects which I did all
myself. The second is about two friends
discussing the meaning of life.
I was the protagonist in both, so it was difficult to direct them. And even though I wrote
the scripts, it was hard to remember the lines
because I am Italian.
I didn’t have any money or any decent
equipment. I hacked into my computer to
install Mac programs on my PC. It crashes
all the time. I was running out of time so I
had no option but to fly down from Byron to
Sydney to deliver my film in person. I asked
the air stewardess if I could edit on the plane.
I was even editing in the queue just now. Look
at my beard: I have not washed or slept in
days. It’s been a long journey to get here.
You can always improve but I am happy.
Even if I don’t make the final cut, I’m very
proud. I didn’t just make two movies, I made
a miracle.”
Alas, neither of Cosentino’s films made it
through to the final selection.