The second annual Made in the West Online Film Festival wrapped just now after a huge weekend of Western Sydney films shared with friends across the globe.
The results for the 2021 People's Choice Award are in!
Hosted by Sunil Badami, Made in the West Online Festival is a celebration of Western Sydney film on screens around the world. Filmed live at the cinema on festival night, audiences are taken on a delightful and insightful tour of the latest local films, web series, music videos and animation, all made by cast & crew from the suburban heartland of Sydney.
We kicked off at 5pm AEDT on Friday with our first wave of viewers in NSW and the east coast of Australia, then WA joined the call watching late into the night, in the morning we hit screens in the USA and by Saturday evening we reached the UK and EU -- we’re over the moon to have been able to share Western Sydney films to a global audience again!
Everyone who watched the show was asked to vote for their favourite film -- one final award for the final screening of the year -- the 2021 People's Choice Award.
We’ve tallied the votes and we’re ready to announce the winner! Put your hands together and let’s hear it for...
2021 People’s Choice Award WINNER
A Girl’s Best Friend
by Alex Dona
Nominated across the board for Best Director, Screenplay (WINNER), Cinematographer, Editor, Sound Design, Production Design (WINNER), Original Score, Lead Actor and Supporting Actor (WINNER).
*cue applause*
Congratulations to Alex and the cast and crew involved in this riveting short film that took us all on a dark and comical thrill ride with impressive skill. It seems our online audiences and judges alike loved this film as A Girl’s Best Friend also took out the Best Screenplay, Production Design and Best Supporting Actor awards.
Amazing!
And in case you’re curious… second place was a tie between two great films: Transition by Cat Sole and Stick It by Dominic Colucci – well done to you both for rating so highly with our at-home fans!
Still Searchin’ Productions would like to congratulate all 50 entrants that submitted their film in the 2021 festival and, particularly, the 21 Official Selection finalists whose films were screened in the festival this year.
You each contributed to a fabulous festival experience for so many people (including us!) and we applaud you for making such bold, engaging and heartfelt films.
Fun fact: Did you know that half of this year’s finalists screened at Made in the West for their first time ever? That’s a lot of fresh talent in one line-up!
2021 was definitely a surprising year! We had to be ready for anything, coping with lockdowns and hosting more online networking events, knowing that we’d be celebrating ten amazing festival years by launching new merchandise and a 10th anniversary magazine, to preparing to host a Covid-Safe event and an online festival with one of our biggest crew yet. We're still pinching ourselves over the fact that everything came together so nicely in the countdown to the big day.
There was so much that we learned along the way and so much we are grateful for.
You certainly rose to the occasion Western Sydney! We've finished this year on a high with a fantastic celebration of the talent, resilience and determination of our awesome filmmaker community.
So... it's time to start making your next movie! We love your work and we can’t wait to see what you have in store for us next year!
What’s next for Made in the West and SSP, you ask? We’re planning BIG things for 2022. Watch this space!
In the meantime, we’ll be hosting another Western Sydney Film online networking event early in the new year, so stay tuned for date announcements coming soon.
It’ll be good to catch up with you all after the holidays and hear everyone’s filmmaking plans for the new year.