Melbourne Lift-Off is a film festival that aims to bring the best of indie film, animation and screenwriting to the Australian market. A city packed with diversity and a people buzzing with cultural appetite, being a part of Melbourne Lift-Off offers so much more.

Australia is a wonderful country, and where indie film stands, it is also the most welcoming. We invite you to submit to this great festival, and screen with us in this fantastic global city.

Learn more about the Lift-Off Global Network and how we support our filmmakers. Watch coverage from our festivals, see the interviews and engage with our live workshops directly from our YouTube Channel. Simply copy and paste this link into a separate tab: https://www.youtube.com/c/liftoffglobalnetwork

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FREE SUBMISSIONS TO ALL LIFT-OFF FILM FESTIVALS WITH NETWORK MEMBERSHIP

Lift-Off Global Network invites you to join our Network Members' platform which will provide you with the resources you need to launch your filmmaking career.

Intermediate Membership is an annual subscription of $89, which entitles you to:

- Fee waivers to all Lift-Off Showcases (worth $300)
- Free tickets to Lift-Off Film Festivals and the Lift-Off Season Awards
- Career guidance from the Lift-Off co-founders
- The chance to apply for representation at international film markets including Cannes, EFM, and AFM

Our Professional Membership is an annual subscription of $189, everything Intermediate Membership offers you:

- Fee waivers across our entire festival network (worth $700)
- Access to an international film jobs database
- Access to scripts from our Network
- Upload your own scripts
- Access to a detailed 5-week production accelerator course

For more information please head to our website: https://liftoff.network/membership/

Awards & Prizes

Our prizes and awards stretch from the submission level, all the way through to the Lift-Off Season Awards at the end of each year. We offer as much as possible to all who submit, our officially selected filmmakers, our nominees, and winners.

At the submission level.

Value for your submission fee. Exclusive content emailed to every submitter up-to 24hrs from the time of submission.

High scoring films. If your film scores high but isn't included in our final programme you will be invited to our Lift-Off Online Film Festival initiative, an online competitions which run parallel with the respective live city screenings - where the top two winners get official selections at either of the next two Lift-Off cities.

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The Lift-Off Season Awards

To celebrate and look back on the Lift-Off Season, Lift-Off host a prestigious awards ceremony called the Lift-Off Season Awards. The black tie event sees filmmakers, press, and industry professionals gather at the world-famous Lift-Off Season Awards for a night of awards, music, and networking.

Visit https://liftoff.network/season-awards/ to find out more.

Nominees are chosen after each Lift-Off Film Festival.
The categories:

Best Feature Live Action Narrative
Best Feature Documentary
Best Short Live Action Narrative
Best Short Documentary
Best Director
Best Acting Ensemble
Best Music Video
Best Animation
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Post Production
Best Screenplay
Best Actor
Best First-Time Film

We can’t wait to see which films get nominated this year!

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Script Selections

The top 5 Screenplays will be showcased across the Community platform, featured in the Lift-Off newsletter which is sent to our 35,000 filmmakers, and shared across social media.

Screenwriters will be invited to include their work in our online Community portal. The portal is a curated database of quality scripts that are looking for production.

Lift-Off Community directors and producers are actively looking for projects to develop. They can use the portal to find their next potential projects, and contact the writers directly to discuss the optioning of scripts, development and rights.
All entries should be completed scripts, short or feature length, and you should be actively looking for collaboration or development.

Rules & Terms

If you pay a submission fee, we will screen your work. Our programme's are separated into categories based on your content's level of storytelling, production value, message and acting. During the festival we have two voting committees - our professional jury and the general public. The films are scored and the top voted films are then promoted into our internal Network Round, where the Jury and our Network's Professional Members vote for the winners. Winners are announced, prizes and Season Award Nominations are given for the content chosen during this final round.

Lift-Off Season Award Nominations are handed out based on merit within each category and are judged against the current crop of nominations we have so far from our City based festivals this Season. To get a sense of the event please check out our previous Season Award videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkThH9jb4zY

Digital online submission screeners only.
Feedback is sent shortly after the commencement of the festival.

Proudly, we have no other restrictions on your work. This includes your works premier status, it's age and/or whether your work has been made available online.
22 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Indy Davies

    Thank you to Lift-Off and Melbourne for the opportunity to partake in your amazing festival!

    May 2021
    Helpful
  • A.Hassan Keivan

    It is an honor to be a part of this wonderful festival and so happy that my film "Who are we?" has got "official selection" 2020. Many thanks to judges and to all Melbourne Lift-Off film festival team for their decision.

    January 2021
    Helpful
  • Magi Avila

    I love the Lift-Off Melbourne as much as the others in their network. The are incredibly fast and personalized with communication. I love their energy and have learned so much from them. We feel so grateful for their support to our documentary UnTie Me.

    January 2021
    Helpful
  • Catherine Dao

    Lift-Off Global Network team of people are extremely organized, intelligent, energetic and inspired bunch. They've put together a festival where all the committed filmmakers can come together and not only showcase their talents, but can learn how to become better in the future or right now. We've been blessed to have been chosen as a winner, but I have a feeling it won't be the end of our relationship! Great job, Melbourne Lift-Off!!

    December 2020
    Helpful
  • Alexey Tabakin

    Thank you guys for choosing our '7/9' for the fest's line up! It's been great experience! Communication of the organizers is at the highest level as well as spotlighting of the fest on the Internet!

    December 2020
    Helpful