Main Award Categories

BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM ( Crystal trophy $225 value + postage.)

BEST AUSTRALIAN SHORT FILM ( Crystal trophy $225 value + postage.)

BEST QUEENSLAND SHORT FILM ( Crystal trophy $225 value + postage.)

BEST ANIMATION ( Crystal trophy $225 value + postage.)

BEST EXPERIMENTAL - Including music videos. ( Crystal trophy $225 value + postage.)

Special Award Categories

PEOPLE'S CHOICE ( Crystal trophy $225 value + postage.)

BEST STUDENT FILM ( Crystal trophy $225 value + postage.)

BEST FIRST-TIME FILMMAKER ( Crystal trophy $225 value + postage.)

JURY AWARD ( Crystal trophy $225 value + postage.)

The trophy is an approximate value. If an award winner foes not attend the trophy will be delivered at no cost to the winner.)

Additional prizes will be announced via social media.

See another side of the picture, hear the rest of the tale.

Seen & Heard was launched in Sydney in 2009 as a non-profit film festival by Lucy Randall with the view to promote women’s filmmaking and bring to light industry prejudices that may not be so clear to the consumer.

At that time, a woman had never won an Academy Award for Best Director (and only three females had ever been nominated in the entire history of The Oscars). Nobody talked about the absence of women in production roles in mainstream media. 

Female filmmakers, particularly in Australia, have long campaigned for their place in film as activists and as film collectives. Over the course of the festival's lifetime, both industry and media are slowly sitting up and taking more notice of these issues too. It is clear, though, that wider cultural change remains a distant goal.

According to the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film,

"Women comprised 16% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 (U.S.) grossing films of 2013. This figure represents a decrease of two percentage points from 2012.

In 2013, women accounted for 6% of (U.S.) directors. If foreign films in the top 250 are included, this figure increases to 8%. In other roles, women comprised 10% of writers, 15% of executive producers, 25% of producers, 17% of editors, and 3% of cinematographers."

The dramatic under-representation of female filmmakers inevitably leads to a dearth in solid female characterisation as well. Female characters remained dramatically under-represented as protagonists, major characters, and speaking (major and minor) characters in the top grossing films of 2013. Again, the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film reveals in their most recent report:

"On-screen female presence remains abysmal. In 2013, females accounted for 15% of protagonists, 29% of major characters, and 30% of all speaking characters. Female characters were younger than their male counterparts and were more likely than males to have an identifiable marital status. Further, female characters were less likely than males to have clearly identifiable goals or be portrayed as leaders of any kind."

Further disadvantages in the film industry exist for women of colour, non-cis women, queer women, women from low-income backgrounds, and women with disabilities.

It is not hard to see that the lack of any type of women in the film industry is an impoverishment to our culture, one that can only be rectified once we recognise that the dramatic under-representation of women amongst both cast & crew is a problem.

For the first time this year, Melbourne audiences are invited to join us in taking that small, but necessary, step towards female filmmakers being both Seen & Heard. We promote the message that films made by women are not just for women: they are wonderfully rich films that should be seen by everyone. Trust us, you're in for an exciting program of films that are as diverse as they are visually stunning.

We look forward to seeing you at ACMI from November 13 - 16.

This is the first competitive film festival of Indian independent films as well as of Indian subjects in global cinema to be held in Brisbane between June 28th and July 2 2014. The films can be submitted for selection from all over India and internationally. The festival founder and artistic head is actor and director , producer Chayan Sarkar who lives in Brisbane, Australia. This festival has the support of Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Graham Quirk and also backed by Queensland University of Technology and Asia Pacfic Screen Awards (APSA) and many other industry partners. Dr. Arun Sharma , Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology is Honorary Patron of this film festival in Australia along with the support of many distinguished personalities from India and Australia. Some of the festival advisors include Michael Hawkins, Executive Chairman, Asia Pacific Screen Awards; Anup Mukherjee Ex-Dean Satyajit Ray Film and TV institute, India ;Rajeev Jalnapurkar ,CEO,Ramoji Film City.Head of Corporate Relations of the festival is Mr. Arun Raniga. Many distinguished screen personalities, artists and experts are behind this unique film festival. Please follow updates on this facebook page for more information. To be eligible to submit your film , your film must have a story linked to India or Indian culture. The film makers could be Indian or non-Indian. International and Australian Premieres only for the competition section. We are only after feature length films ( Documentary features are also eligible to submit) for the competition.This is a competitive film festival along with some special screenings. A total of fifteen films will be selected for the competition element of the festival. The festival will be held in Brisbane City. For more information please email us: iiffoq@bollywooddreams.biz