The Far South Film Festival showcases films made by filmmakers living in regional and remote areas of Australia.

The festival is screened in Merimbula, NSW, Australia each year by Far South Film Inc, an association of professional and emerging filmmakers and digital creatives located in the South East region of NSW Australia.

We invite our fellow filmmakers from regional and remote areas of Australia to submit to our festival short films (up to 40 minutes) and feature films (up to 90 minutes) that reflect the people, environment and issues that are important to them.

We look forward to seeing the unique, the beautiful, the scary, the moving stories from people living in some of the lesser known areas of our island continent, outside the major metropolitan areas.

Photo credits:
Bagan, Barra Barra, Mirriwarr: Andrew Robinson (Best Film 2021)
Yuwinj Dhari-Bulwal: Hiromi Matsuoka (Best Use of Regional Location 2021)
Festival Photos 2024 (Raymond Toms)

Awards & Prizes

Best Film Prize AUD$1000. Total Prize Pool approx AUD$5000 (cash and/or equipment or in-kind prizes). Other categories are confirmed closer to the Festival but generally include Best Performance, Best Director, Best Sound, Best Use of a Regional Location, Best Youth Film, Diversity Award.

Rules & Terms

Submissions are open to filmmakers resident in regional and remote Australia as defined at: https://farsouthfilmfestival.com/regional/

At least two of the key creatives (Writer/Director/Producer/Cinematographer) must reside in one of the regional/remote areas of Australia defined above.

Films must be under 40 minutes (short) or under 90 minutes (feature) in length.

Only finalist films as selected by the jury will be screened at the festival.

By submitting your film, you also agree to adhere to all of the Festival rules published on our Festival website at: https://farsouthfilmfestival.com/submit/

Far South Film Members receive a discount on entry fees - if you have not received your promo code by email please email info@farsouthfilmfestival.com
17 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Tom K. Goldie

    One of the best festivals in the country that is truly dedicated to displaying regional filmmakers and giving a platform to the next wave of talent. We've been twice now and I have yet to attend a more accommodating festival, truly a welcoming space for creatives to meet like minded creators.

    August 2025
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  • magdalene shatrov

    The Far South Film Festival is an incredibly important festival which offers a platform for regional, Australian stories to be told on the big screen. It is a warm and inviting space, run by an enthusiastic group, all involved in some way in the arts, and bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to the festival to share. The weekend was extremely well organised by this group, who understand what needs to be done to deliver a memorable, valuable festival. There was a diverse range of films shown across the two days, two Q+A events allowing audience, filmmakers and industry professionals to share knowledge and stories, and all set in the gorgeous town of Merimbula. We remained informed throughout the festival of the structure of the day, catering options, and accommodation, overall feeling very welcomed by the festival. It was great to have so many regional films screened across the day with opportunities to network during breaks - my only improvement suggestion would be for more time in between films to do this networking in - there were so many people interested in chatting and connecting over this festival and I think it is one of the highest value activities to be in the same room as people interested in film and actively wanting to engage in the stories filmmakers are telling. It seemed nearly impossible to get around to everyone who wanted to chat and it would be valuable to have more time to engage with attendees though it would have to be considered with respect to the number of films screened - perhaps the current allocation of time is already best!

    August 2025
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  • Rebecca parker

    Great little festival. I didn't attend in person, but the communication with Hiromi was excellent and very easy. They award several cash prizes, which are a huge plus for filmmakers, as we all know. We also did a zoom interview that was really fun and engaging - interesting, thoughtful questions. Biggest plus for me was that it seemed to be run by other regional filmmakers. Highly recommend entering this festival.

    August 2025
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  • Happen Films

    We had a wonderful experience at the Far South Film Festival. The festival crew are warm, lovely folk and the atmosphere was great. We were stoked to be invited along. Thank you!

    August 2025
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  • Oliver Marsden

    We were really happy that Beyond the Waves was selected for the Festival and that it won the Diversity Award. Even though we couldn’t be there in person, the interviews were a lot of fun and we felt really supported. Thanks to the Festival team for celebrating regional stories and giving our film a platform.

    August 2025
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