Brilliant short films from every corner of the world.

The heart of short film, Gympie comes alive with film lovers from far and wide to celebrate short films that are uplifting, heartwarming and inspirational during Queensland’s biggest short film festival, Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival (HOGISFF) on the first weekend in October.

Heart of Gold programs carefully-crafted short films from all genres that best capture our vision to screen films that are heart-warming, thought-provoking and entertaining. The films can be edgy, they can be groundbreaking and they can be downright hilarious – as long as they beat with a good, strong heart. The film festival's four-day program includes up to 30 sessions of brilliant short films, acclaimed features, epic parties, live music, filmmaker Q+A’s, interactive masterclasses and hearty discussions with delicious food and wine.

With films from renowned international festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, Berlinale and Venice, past winners of the Heart of Gold Best Short film award include James Lucas and Mat Kirkby for The Phone Call (2014) and Lucy Gaffy for Dream Baby (2016), who went on to win an Academy Award and an AACTA respectively.

Awards & Prizes

In 2019 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival are offering prizes pool of $ 5000; selected shorts compete for a range of jury awards, which this year include but is not limited to: Best Short Film, Best Australian Short Film, Best Emerging Filmmaker and the Gympie Gold Award.

Rules & Terms

TERMS & CONDITIONS:

1. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival is open to all film genres and films from all countries. However, film content should be in line with the festival’s ethos and vision. We are seeking films that are: positive, hilarious, witty, whimsical, nourishing, well-crafted, inspiring, thought-provoking, entertaining, joyous, uplifting, quirky, enlightening, ground breaking or edgy.

If you are unsure of eligibility, please contact the festival’s artistic director at artisticdirector@heartofgold.com.au

2. Films should not have been made prior to 1 January, 2017.

3. The producer grants the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival the rights to:
(a) Exhibit the film at the 2019 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival.
(b) Exhibit the film at any tour, screening or event which is organised by or affiliated with Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival in the six months prior to and the twelve months subsequent to the 2019 Festival.
(c) Reproduce the film for inclusion as part of a compilation.
(d) Exhibit the film either in part or in total for promotional purposes.

4. The producer warrants to the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival that they have obtained all the necessary permissions to enter this film and that the film does not infringe the rights, including copyright, of any third party. This includes the use of music and literary material (i.e. if your film is based on a novel or poem).

5. Entries will not be considered valid until the entry fee has been paid in full. The entry fee is non refundable

6. Early bird entries must be received by midnight 30 April 2019

7. Entries for extended deadline submission must be received by midnight 14 June 2019.

8. Entries may not be withdrawn after 10 July 2019.

9. If your film is selected for the competition you will be sent a letter of confirmation from no later than 09 August, 2019. Digital master files must be received by 7 September 2019.

10. Materials submitted in the initial entry process will not be returned.

11. Films in languages other than English must be supplied with English subtitles.

12. The Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival will only screen productions finished As a high-resolution Apple ProRes, H.264 or MP4 digital file (the following codecs will NOT be accepted FLV, WMV, AVI, or any low res files). Please also ensure your films are supplied with a stereo mix only and not a Dolby 5.1 mix) To ensure your entry is screened correctly, you must also include ratio details (e.g. 1920 x 1080).

13. Please do NOT send a DVD directly to the festival.

Please note: ENTERING A FILM IN THIS FESTIVAL IMPLIES THE ACCEPTANCE OF THESE REGULATIONS.
5 Reviews
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  • Matthew Young

    I am so glad that I flew up from Sydney and raced back in time having just been overseas attending another festival in Germany only days before the Heart of Gold festival dates. I am absolutely mind-blown by the value I received by attending the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival. Not only was I treated like a VIP in the town, but I made a large number of meaningful connections with not only other filmmakers from around Australia (ranging from WA to Melbourne to Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and even my home Sydney) but also having gotten to know countless Gympie locals and volunteers and guests of the festival who come from around the region. I now feel obliged to visit the town and the region (including Brisbane), literally just to keep up the brilliant friendships, conversations and ideas that formed over the 4 festival days together. I'm even motivated to set one of my next projects in the region, as an opportunity to continue my relationships with this festival's wide-reaching community beyond the scope of the festival. Of course, I most certainly hope to be selected again with future projects, and I will definitely attend again if so! Filmmakers who don't attend this one, are really missing out!

    I did experience some trouble when corresponding with this festival, when trying to organise my travel plans and also so that I could pass on clear and concrete information about my film's screening(s) to my team. As a result, I had to book my flights rather blindly (think I booked the last seat on the plane available too) without concrete information as to my screening dates which changed from 2 to 1. As a result, I could only provide my project team with concrete information rather late in the piece which would have been quite complicated for them to organise whether they could also attend the festival. I also cancelled my airport to Gympie shuttle transfer, because the festival organised a free pick up from the airport (which was really nice of them!!).

    I'm so glad to now be part of the Heart of Gold community, the home-stay was amazing and I felt really taken in by the whole community.

    October 2019
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  • Jane Hampson

    Such a great festival. So organised, a real party atmosphere. Loved being part of a great program of films.

    October 2019
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  • Colin Usher

    I always enjoy attending this festival. There is a wonderful community spirit that makes a filmmaker very welcome. A variety of excellent films from around the world, screened in an ideal venue, makes for an interesting and entertaining four days.

    October 2019
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  • Festival Formula Ltd

    Heart of Gold is a rare festival in that its remit is focused but also their quality of content that they screen is stellar. We are always recommending this festival to filmmakers that we think suit the brief, and we've always had great success for our clients here. Definitely recommend!

    October 2018
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  • Mark Harris

    What an amazing festival! This one is truly special - the community screening process makes it unique in that the films are screened and selected based on what a committee of locals feel.

    The festival was kind enough to get us accommodation with lovely hosts (who were part of the festival itself), and shuttle us with free transport all weekend. What an absolute blast we had representing "Passage of Flick" here amongst such a top tier selection of films. We'll definitely try and make it back next year :)

    October 2017
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    Heartofgold logo
    Response from festival:

    Mark thank you so much for your kind words! It was so great to have you at the festival to come and meet all the people who loved 'Passage of Flick' and we look forward to seeing what you submit this year!