Welcome! We’re glad to have you here.

The Grande Dame Comedy Film Festival, based in Sydney Australia, is aimed at celebrating, supporting, and elevating the comedy screen work of women and gender diverse filmmakers, performers and creatives.

We welcome you to enter your film if is aligns with these three criteria:

1. It is funny or has at least one funny bit in it!

2. At least three of the six major creative roles is a woman or gender diverse. The creative roles in this case are: Director, writer, producer, main actor, cinematographer, and editor. (This can be the same person in multiple roles, so if the writer and director is the same woman, this counts as two points).

3. It is under 20 mins or under 35 mins for a pilot.

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The Grande Dame Comedy Film Festival for Women offers:

Awards Ceremony and screening at the Ritz Cinema in Sydney, Australia (15 Oct 2023)

Live hosted screening

Networking event

Laurels and recognition

Judges from the screen & comedy industry

Your film hosted on the Grande Dame website (or just details if preferred)

Marketing on socials for shortlist and winners

Awards & Prizes

The Grande Dame Comedy Film Festival offers the following award categories:

Best International TV pilot or web series (under 35 mins)

Best Australian TV pilot or web series (under 35 mins)

Best International Film short (under 20mins)

Best Australian Film short (under 20mins)

Best micro short (under 3 mins)

Best young voice (under 25 years old)

Shouting Loud Diversity Award – This award is to recognise and promote talented practitioners from under-represented communities. Women and gender diverse practitioners from the following areas are encouraged to apply: First Nations women, women of colour, women with disability, women over 50, gender diverse people and the LGBTQIA+ community.

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If entered into the categories above, you will automatically be entered into these additional categories:

Best director

Best writer

Best performance

Best Editor

Best Cinematographer

Audience award (as voted for on the night)

Rules & Terms

Rules & Terms

ALL FILMMAKERS MUST ADHERE TO THE FOLLOWING RULES & GUIDELINES:

Three of the six key creatives (Writer, Director, Producer, Main Performer, Cinematographer and Editor) for every film must identify as a woman or gender diverse.

Your film must have been completed after 1 October 2020.

IF YOUR FILM IS SELECTED we will request the following from you:

A portrait-orientated poster fitting 7:5.

Contact details and selected social handles for announcements.

Square headshots of the “above the line” crew members.

A Prores 422 file with stereo or 5.1 embedded audio via a downloadable link. (Dropbox, Drive, WeTransfer etc).

By submitting your film, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to the following terms:

It is the sole responsibility of the filmmakers and their production companies if they breach copyrights for music, photos, scripts, and visual or written material within their films.

You are fully authorised to submit this film to the festival and its competition.

Final decision on the award winners and films selected included in the GDCFF will be at the absolute discretion of the Event Organisers.

GDCFF has the right to use all films entered into the festival for the screening and advertising of the festival, whether that be photos, stills from the film, or both.

GDCFF reserves the right to cancel and modify any element of the festival at their discretion.