For the 8th consecutive year, NOVA Employment (a not-for-profit disability employment agency funded by the Australian Government) is running the Focus on Ability Short Film Festival. The festival is free to enter and is aimed at raising awareness of the abilities of people with a disability. All films must have an ability/disability theme or be clearly identified as being made by a person with a disability.
Their prize list is now 90% complete with over $140,000 worth of cash and prizes. http://www.focusonability.com.au/FOA/prizes.html
They have an International Categories (Outside of Australia), Australia & New Zealand School Categories and an Australian Open Entrant Categories
This means anyone in the world can enter, but do so before the deadline June 30th!
“This year we aim it to be the biggest yet with all films entered to really showcase extremely talented people with disabilities. With over $100,000 worth of cash and prizes to be won this is a highly contested competition.”
The theme for the competition asks film makers to ‘Focus on the Ability’ of people with a disability.
- Video entries (Films) are to be maximum 5.00 minute duration, excluding credits. Any Films longer than 5.00 minutes will not be considered.
- Films meeting the entry requirements will be uploaded to NOVA’s website on the 27th July, 2016 and identified as entrants to the 2016 focusonability short film festivalOnline voting will commence 27th July, 2016 and cease midnight 8th August, 2016. All other prizes will be awarded by the judges. All winners will be contacted by email and results published on the NOVA website on September 11th, 2016.
- Entries to be submitted on USB. It is preferable that they be submitted in high resolution, ideally an MP4. NOVA will still accept files not in this format. We will also accept electronic submissions under 500mb. Please email your submission along with the completed entry form and additional material to ryan@focusonability.com We recommend using www.wetransfer.com
See Complete Terms of Entry Here
In 2009, CEO of NOVA Employment Martin Wren started the film Festival and by 2015 163 films were entered, and the winners shared in over $100,000 in prizes.
The festival culminates in an awards night held in Sydney with 2016 dates set to be announced.
Entrants will have the chance to feel like Scorsese and see their films premiered on the big screen as well as the chance to have their film shown on national television.
12 films were played live at the 2015 awards evening in front of a packed 700 person theatre. 10 films were screened across Australia’s free to air television station SBS. 60 films will air on pay television station Aurora TV across December 2015 and January 2016.
The 2015 festival also held screenings in New York and Auckland, with many more screenings planned for the 2016 festival.
The audience capacity for this festival is well over the 1,000,000 people mark and continuing to grow. Providing unmatched exposure for upcoming film makers.
Films will be both judged by a professional judging panel and put through an online voting process, with separate prizes for each category.
About The Focus On Ability Film Festival
To see more on the Focus On Ability Film Festival, Please visit http://www.focusonability.com.au/