If you’ve ever felt like feature films take themselves a bit too seriously, welcome to the spiritual home of the “get to the point” generation: the St Kilda Film Festival.
As Australia’s longest-running short film festival, it’s been turning the spotlight on emerging talent since 1983, proving that you don’t need two hours to change someone’s perspective. This year’s program, running from June 4th to 14th, is an absolute beast, drawing from a record-breaking 960 submissions to curate nearly 200 films. It’s the kind of festival where you’ll see something fresh, funny, heartbreaking, quirky, and occasionally terrifying all within the same program.
The festival kicked off at the iconic Palais Theatre with an opening night that was, frankly, a bit of a flex. The gala, hosted by the incredible Myf Warhurst, served up a stacked tasting menu of documentaries, comedies, and dramas, capped off with an after-party at the St Kilda Town Hall that gave everyone a chance to trade business cards and hit the dancefloor.
Highlights this year include the Australian Comedy Showcase, which is consistently the fastest-selling ticket in town, and the Pride Without Prejudice showcase, a powerful look at LGBTIQ+ stories that concludes with networking at the Victorian Pride Centre and film maker Q&A.
For the true cinema nerds, the Live Cinema Experience is a genuine “how on earth did they do that?” moment, with four teams creating, editing, and scoring short films in real-time in front of the audience. And if you’re looking to get into the industry yourself, don’t sleep on The Big Picture. It’s a free, full-day development program featuring great panels of experts and workshops that actually puts its money where its mouth is regarding industry support.
Whether you’re there for the Academy Award-qualifying prestige of the Top Short Film Competition or just want to catch a weirdly memorable queer-horror flick like The Dysphoria (yes, it involves a Satanic ritual and is exactly as intense as it sounds), SKFF is the ultimate reminder that Melbourne’s creative heart is beating louder than ever.
It’s loud, it’s local, and it’s the only place where you can go from high-brow industry discourse to a cracking party in the space of a single intermission. Grab a ticket, park your ego at the door, and prepare to have your attention span challenged in the best possible way.
– The Plus Ones
