***Important Information Regarding Illawarra Film Festival and Coronavirus (COVID-19) health recommendations***

We have been monitoring the situation closely, as have arts organisations around Australia and across the globe, and at this stage, IFF hasn't been cancelled or postponed, we are continuing to monitor the situation and come October if event restrictions are still in place or the spread isn't under control we will move the festival to an online live-streamed global event.
The health, safety, and wellbeing of everyone is our absolute priority and an online live-streamed event is the safest option if needed, more details on how that will be facilitated we be sent out by the 1st week of October.

Illawarra Film festival (formerly Wollongong Film Festival) is about celebrating women in film both on and off the screen and giving a platform to female film-makers and their stories.
Illawarra Film Festival offers established and emerging film-makers an opportunity to showcase their various talents by accepting all film genres as long as a female-identifying person is in two of the following key positions on the film: Director, Producer, Writer, Lead female Protagonist, Cinematographer, Editor, or Composer, and 50% of cast and crew are female-identifying.

Illawarra Film Festival will be awarding prizes in the following categories:
Best Short Film
Most Empowering Female
Audience Choice Award

Select only Short Film and your film will be placed into any other categories it qualifies for by Illawarra Film Festival

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
• In order to qualify for entry, a female identifying person is in two of the following key positions on the film: Director, Producer, Writer, Lead female Protagonist, Cinematographer, Editor, or Composer, and 50% of cast and crew are female identifying.
• Illawarra Film Festival accepts online screeners for submission purposes. Entries should be submitted by secure password-protected internet link to the work on Vimeo.com or YouTube.com. The link must not be visible to the public.
• The filmmaker(s) must secure all rights, licenses, clearances, and releases necessary for the exhibition.
• There are no refunds of entry fees unless the festival has be cancelled.
• All entry materials become the property of the Illawarra Film Festival for the duration of the festival and will not be returned.
• After you submit your work for review online, the link and password must not expire until after you are notified of the jury panel's selections.
• If entering as a student, a current student ID/enrolment must be supplied via email to iff@giafrino.com
• Works in progress will not be considered for competition or screened at the film festival, please contact the festival if you would like to discuss works in progress.
• Complete film submission information online via FilmFreeway
• Foreign language work must be dubbed or subtitled in English.
• Please, do not send elaborate presentation materials, press kits, binders, etc. with your entry, if selected, you have one week from the notification date to supply a press kit with at least two images, a bio, and the film projection file.
• All that is necessary for submission is a synopsis or contextual statement about your work. These are the only items that the programmers will see when they evaluate your submission.
• If you are living/working in a part of the world where an entry fee would prohibit you from submitting your film, contact us at IFF@giafrino.com to request a fee waiver.
• The festival selection committee makes all programming decisions. If accepted, we will notify filmmakers via FilmFreeway.
• Films not selected will receive notification via FilmFreeway.
• Be sure to notify us of any other special screening/presentation information we might need to know; this is required no later than one week from selection notification.
• If selected and we do not receive your film projection file and images within the one-week deadline, your film will be removed from the festival, unless we have been contacted and have agreed to an extension.
• You may be requested to supply a DCP file, depending on the venue the selected film will be screened
• Acceptable formats: .MOV file - [Apple ProRes 422HQ 1920×1080 = 1080p] or .MP4 – [H.264 (MPEG-4) 1920x1080], contact us if alternative is needed.
• Films must have been made after the 1st of July 2017

CATEGORIES:
Please select only ONE category for your entry when completing your entry form, and we will enter your film into any other valid category.

AWARDS:
Although the art of filmmaking is not competitive, Illawarra Film Festival will select a winner from each category listed. Best Short Film, Most Empowering Female, and Audience Choice Award.

Before entering you agree you have carefully read and understood the complete rules of the festival. You attest that you hold the exhibition rights to the film/video being entered. If accepted, you grant permission to Illawarra Film Festival to show your film/video for the duration of the film festival and to use it for promotional purposes for the festival.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES HYBRID STREAMING SERVICE:

- Entering your project into this category does not enter you into the film festival.
- If you have entered the film festival, please do not enter this category as you will be sent a separate invitation and information pack.
- All relevant information and terms of the contract will be sent to selected projects only.

Requirements:
- Your project is not available online for free
- Enjoy 30% of the revenue split and a non-exclusive contract - calculated by minutes streamed - For SVOD and TVOD model, AVOD is project by project basis.
- Enjoy transparency, and a limitless capacity for earning — the more people stream your film, the more you make
- Accepting all genres as long as a female-identifying person is in two of the following key positions on the film: Director, Producer, Writer, Lead female Protagonist, Cinematographer, Editor, or Composer, and 50% of the cast and crew are female-identifying.

The entry fee is to cover the time required to view and analysis of your project. Once viewed and if selected you will receive an invitation and information pack where you can decide to accept or decline the invitation for your project to be on the platform. No fee waivers available for this category.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • I'm glad to be at your festival👌👍💐

    November 2020
  • January Jones

    Thrilled that Lone Wolf was selected to be part of Illawarra Film Festival.

    November 2019
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you January, your film was amazing and enjoyed by everyone!

  • John Riddell

    Couldn't make it up there but clearly this is an important festival doing great things. Thankyou for including our film!

    November 2019
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    Response from festival:

    Thanks John! We had so many amazing films, each was loved by the audience, thank you for sharing yours with us.

  • really happy with the communication from this festival.

    February 2019
  • Inappropriate Films

    Many thanks to Wollongong Film Festival for being a champion of THE MOOSE HEAD OVER THE MANTEL and to all who attended the screening. We are thrilled to announce that the film was picked up for USA & Canada distribution by Gravitas Ventures with a release date of January 29, 2019 on Blu-ray, DVD and digital!
    https://www.themooseheadoverthemantel.com/

    January 2019