Now playing at ACMI and in cinemas Geelong, Auckland and Streaming.

WINNER OF CINÉCINÉ FILM FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR 2023
WINNER OF CINÉCINÉ TOP TRENDING FESTIVAL 2024
WINNER OF CINÉCINÉ NEXT GEN PLATFORM 2025
IMDb CERTIFIED SINCE 2020

NEW: Check our our new 2024 Trailer: https://vimeo.com/888368818
LATEST: Latest Lineup is out now https://www.cineversefilmfest.com/lineup-melbourne

ACCESS: Head here for our screenplay competition: https://filmfreeway.com/hongkonginternational

CinéCiné is excited to present the EIGHTH SEASON of Melbourne CINEVERSE Film Festival. We'll be screening the best Australian and International films! We will screen at ACMI CINEMAS, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Melbourne International CINEVERSE Film Festival - Includes:
Geelong International CINEVERSE Showcase
Auckland International CINEVERSE Showcase

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Welcome to the Melbourne International CINEVERSE Film Festival, your gateway to the world of exceptional short films! Taking place at ACMI Cinemas in Melbourne, with select screenings in Geelong and Auckland, New Zealand, this festival is designed to highlight the voices of emerging and established filmmakers.

Why Submit to CINEVERSE Melbourne?

- Premier screenings at iconic venues such as ACMI, offering an immersive cinematic experience.
- Films shown to industry professionals, producers, and film enthusiasts across three major locations.
- Participate in filmmaker Q&A sessions, allowing you to connect with your audience and share insights about your creative journey.
- Engage in networking sessions with filmmakers, actors, and industry insiders to help grow your professional network.

Festival Highlights:

- Curated short film programs across multiple genres and cultures.
- Awards recognizing innovation, creativity, and cinematic excellence.
- Opportunities for international exposure through screenings in both Australia and New Zealand and beyond.
- Submit your short film and join us in celebrating the art of filmmaking at the Melbourne International CINEVERSE Film Festival!

Dive into the CINEVERSE and enter your work today.

OUR LATEST AWARDS + DISTRIBUTION DEALS:

- Our Prizes include Sponsor gifts, Store credit with CinéCiné Paris and Distribution Deals!
- All Official Selections are eligible for the following awards:

MELBOURNE SHOW

1 Best Picture
2 Best Director
3 Best Cinematography
4 Best Actor
5 Best Australian Film
6 Best Melbourne Filmmaker
7 Best Music Video
8 Best International Film

9 Best HyrbidGenre Film
10 Best Drama
11 Best Comedy
12 Best Thriller
13 Best Fantastic Film

14 Best Rising Star Director
15 Best Student Film
16 Best Student Cinematography
17 Best Student Drama
18 Best Student Thriller
19 Best Student Comedy

AUCKLAND SHOW

1 Best NZ Picture
2 Best NZ Director
3 Best NZ Cinematography
4 Best NZ Actor
5 Best NZ Filmmaker

REGIONAL VIC SHOW

1 Best AUS Picture
2 Best AUS Director
3 Best AUS Cinematography
4 Best AUS Actor
5 Best AUS Filmmaker

PRIZES
For our latest season we have some amazing prizes including Sponsor deals, Waiver codes to international festivals, distribution deals and more.

We will announce all nominees on our website and instagram, winners will be announced after all nominees are confirmed.

These Proprietary Terms and Conditions are © CINÉCINÉ 2024

TERMS & CONDITIONS:

The following is an explanation of the rules and regulations (“Rules & Regulations”) governing the submission of a poster, related artwork, short film, trailer, feature, featurette, music video, web series, reality show pilot, demo reel, short animation, sizzle reel, documentary, short screenplay, feature screenplay (hereafter called the “Project”) for consideration of the 2024 and 2025 MELBOUNE CINEVERSE FILM FESTIVAL’ (hereinafter called the “Festival”). All information contained in this document shall herein supersede any prior information regarding submission to the Festival. By agreeing to the Terms and Conditions found on this page, the person submitting the Project (hereafter called the “Applicant”) acknowledges that he or she has obtained consent from any and all owners, creators, writers, producers and/or other authorized representatives of the Project (hereafter called the “Project’s Owners”) whose consent is required to submit the Project to the Company, and has read and understood the submission rules and regulations set forth below:

SELECTIONS:

There will be many submissions, but only those selected or awarded will be shown. The submitter accepts that by submitting and paying the submission fee, their submission might not be selected. They accept that in some festivals only award-winning films are shown. Once submitted the Festival reserves the right to play the Applicant’s work at a live screening and/or screenings with no screening fees or ticket remuneration for the Applicant. This is non-negotiable. There are no screening payouts or ‘Screening fees’ wherein the applicant is paid for their film to be screened. Requesting a screening fee after official selection will result in immediate disqualification and the film will be removed from the festival entirely, this is non-negotiable.

Works submitted that do not meet criteria or fail to adhere to the guidelines, rules and regulations are not the responsibility of the Company or Festival. These submissions may lead to automatic disqualification and loss of submission fee. In order to be considered for the Festival, the Applicant must submit via FilmFreeway or other related Festival portal or on the Festival’s Home page. The Company reserves the right to disqualify, without refund of any or all submission fees previously collected from the Applicant, any Project that is not submitted through this platform. On delivery of hardrives or files or DCPs the company holds no responsibilty over the hardware or harddrive and there will be no returns.

CONTACT:

Upon completion of the Festival selection process, the Festival will attempt to contact the Applicant using the contact information provided on the submission form to notify the Applicant of the Project’s acceptance status. The Festival disavows any responsibility for, and will not be held responsible for, any failure to contact the Applicant using the contact information provided on the submission form. It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to ensure that the contact information provided on the submission form is correct throughout the entirety of the Festival selection period. Applicants must ensure they are subscribed to Film Freeways emails in order to access the latest updates on the Project’s status.

All submitters are able to access up to date results through FilmFreeway at any time - regardless of email contact. Therefore leaving a low review because of applicants inability to gain access to email updates will mean the project is disqualified and removed from any position it attained - such as Finalist, and will be made Not-Selected. FilmFreeway results are available on the notification date as per FilmFreeway’s code of conduct.

OWNERSHIP:

It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to clear all content of the Project from any and all actual or potential legal claims or issues, including, without limitation, claims based upon theories or libel, defamation, slander, invasion of privacy, violation of rights or publicity, theft or trade secrets, breach of confidence, breach of confidential relationship, and breach of expressed or implied contract (“Third Party Claim(s)”).

The Company expressly disavows any responsibility for, and will not be held responsible for, any unauthorized inclusion of any trademarked content or materials within or relating to submitted Project, including any content materials that are or may become the basis for any Third Party Claims based upon any of the foregoing legal theories or others. The Company reserves the right to disqualify, without refund of any or all submission fees previously collected from the Applicant, any Project that is or may become the subject of any Third Party Claims. In the event that any Third Party Claim(s) shall be asserted by any person or entity, Applicant shall fully indemnify and hold harmless the Company, the Festival, and each of their representatives and affiliates from any liability in connection therewith and from any fees and expenses, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees, that any of them may incur in connection therewith.

SUBMISSIONS:

All of the above types of content will be considered for screening. We will consider content of all types so long as the content is not purely pornographic in nature. Media containing hate speech, homophobia, transphobia and other un-artistically motivated discriminatory content will be immediately disqualified. Gratuitous violence, vulgar language and other similar content will be screened to determine if artistic and within the scope of the Festival, at the Festival’s sole discretion. We encourage all types of art and do not wish to discourage any Project, within reason.
Company reserves the sole and exclusive right to choose which works will be shown, without refund of any or all submission fees previously collected. Company reserves the right to disqualify, without refund of any or all submission fees previously collected from the Applicant, any Project with a submission form that is considered to be delinquent due to the non-payment of any or all submission fees.

ADVERTISING:

By submitting the project the applicant agrees that the festival may award them a finalist, official selection or category winner and thus the festival, the governing film body CinéCiné as well as the Umbrella Company The Ziggurat International Media Group Limited may show extracts of the project in Festival-related advertising both online and in print, for 50 years.
The applicant needs to be aware that by submitting the project they transfer all the necessary rights to the festival so that the festival has all legal rights to show imagery from and extracts of the project for all such purposes, for 50 years. The promotion may include but is not limited to online and social media campaigns like Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), Vimeo and Youtube, Squarespace campaigns as well as print campaigns like poster advertisement or print media campaigns.

FESTIVAL RIGHTS:

Festival, Company and its affiliates reserve the sole and exclusive right to change the dates and times of viewing of Officially Selected Projects or dates of Festival. Applicant acknowledges and accepts Company, Festival and its affiliates have no control over natural disasters, acts of nature, and circumstances of emergency that might cause change in dates and times. Good faith efforts will be given by the Company, Festival and its affiliates to inform Applicants of any date or time changes in advance, if possible.

The Company is under no obligation to provide to the Applicant or any other representative of the Project any comments or feedback regarding the submitted Project, any information relating to the manner in which the Project is, will be, or was reviewed; any views that the Company or any reviewers of the Project may hold concerning the Project; any reasons why the Project, should it not be accepted for exhibition at the Festival, was not accepted; or any other information relating to the Festival’s review, consideration and/or selection process regarding the Project specifically or submissions generally beyond the information set forth in these Rules and Regulations.
Company and Festival expressly deny and are not responsible for any promises of offers for distribution or options or other offers made by attendees or festival staff. The Festival is merely an avenue or channel for Applicants to submit projects for exposure and viewing pleasure of audiences.

STREAMING:

The Festival retains the right to compile and show with permission only. The Festival in some years will create a collection of specifically selected films to be played in a Video-On-Demand or Streaming Compilation. In all such instances the Festival will seek permission from the Filmmaker before adding filmmaker’s film to said streaming compilation. Duration and withdrawal; The Festival has the right to play this compilation for an amount of time agreed upon with the filmmaker. The filmmaker has the right to withdraw from this compilation after having agreed to it, at any time. Monetization and Compensation; The Festival has the right to monetize and generate profits from the on demand compilation. Unless otherwise agreed upon, the Festival does not owe the filmmaker any compensation or remuneration of any kind for the showing of this work in the Video-On-Demand compilation.

PRIZES:

The Company reserves the right to cancel or amend the competition and these terms and conditions without notice in the event of a catastrophe, war, civil or military disturbance, act of God or any actual or anticipated breach of any applicable law or regulation or any other event outside of the Promoter’s control. Any changes to the competition will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by the Promoter. The Festival is not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied to any entrant by any third party connected with this competition. No cash alternative to the prizes will be offered in any circumstance, this is not negotiable. The prizes are not transferable. Prizes are subject to availability and Festival reserves the right to substitute any prize with another of equivalent value without giving notice. The Festival will notify the winner when and where the prize can be collected. The Festival’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

BINDING:

By entering this competition, an entrant is indicating his/her acceptance and agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Daniel Betty

    What a great festival to be a part of. The Dream Big team really enjoyed showcasing OPIA as part of the festival and enjoyed the experience of meeting new people and developing our networks.

    October 2024
  • Daniel Kuberek

    Great festival - very good with communication.

    October 2024
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    Response from festival:

    Congrats Daniel,

    Amazing work and we can't wait to see more!

    Love
    Melbourne Cineverse

  • Olivia Thomson

    Had an amazing experience at CINEVERSE this year. The venue was lovely and the program was fantastic. A really good place to network and connect with new people.
    My team and I had the pleasure of winning 'BEST DRAMA' for our short film 'One Hundred and One Years and Two Weeks', and we are so thankful for the opportunity we had to share our film.

    May 2024
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    Response from festival:

    Amazing work Olivia,

    We can't wait to see what you make next!

    Love
    Melbourne Cineverse

  • Cassidy Krygger

    Thank you so much for awarding 'Daisy' Best Australian Film and myself Best Actor! This was such a wonderful and friendly festival with a truly great selection of films!

    May 2024
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    Response from festival:

    Congrats Cassidy,

    You are a super star!

    Love
    Melbourne Cineverse

  • Mike Horan

    I'm honoured to have been Awarded Best Picture at this year's Melbourne CINEVERSE International Film Festival for my feature film REMNANT!
    The team at CINEVERSE was a delight to deal with!
    It was an amazing experience being in Melbourne for the event.

    May 2024
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    Response from festival:

    Congrats Mike,

    And Well done on your distribution deal too!

    Love
    Melbourne Cineverse