Congratulations everyone! Last night’s event was nothing short of spectacular, with a sold-out cinema packed with over 300 people who came out in style to celebrate the end of another amazing year in Western Sydney’s filmmaking community.
The red carpet was alive with energy before the show, buzzing with filmmakers, cast, crew, and supporters dressed to impress, and the excitement carried into the cinema with thunderous cheers and applause for the films on screen.
To every filmmaker who shared their work with us, bravo! Your stories lit up the big screen in our 330-seat V-Max theatre at Event Cinemas Liverpool, reminding us why Western Sydney is one of the most exciting creative hotspots in the country.
Made in the West has never really been about the awards – it’s actually about coming together to share our creative ideas and celebrate our wins. Whether you were cheering for a friend, reconnecting with former cast & crew, or discovering new talent for the first time, you all made this year’s event unforgettable.
To everyone who came along – thank you for bringing so much energy to the room! You made the night electric for all the filmmakers participating and our team got a real kick out of hosting such a vibrant crowd.
Western Sydney stories belong on the big screen, and last night proved that the support for this community continues to grow stronger every year.
Here’s to the filmmakers, the fans, and everyone who made the 2024 festival a night to remember!
Big thanks to Event Cinemas Liverpool for supporting the Western Sydney film scene as our venue sponsors and to our screen sponsors for their crucial support.
Thanks also to our crew and volunteers, MC and hosts, camera crew, photographers, prize sponsors, and all the cinema staff that helped us bring together a wonderful night.
This year’s Official Selection included 14 short films that are gutsy, poignant, and laugh out loud funny – our local filmmakers really brought their A-game this year.
We say it all the time and we mean it – Western Sydney creatives are making some of the best films in the country right now!
How lucky are we to be a part of a community that is so driven by creativity, so unapologetically bold and authentic in story, and. so fresh on screen? There’s nowhere else in the country doing what we’re doing right now and we should all be so proud!
We’ll be screening an even bigger lineup of films ONLINE and ON DEMAND this summer – from Tuesday 10 December to the end of January!
You can check out the full program for Made in the West MEGA Movie Marathon on our website and rent the online movie marathon experience for just $6 USD, which includes filmmaker interviews and highlights from the red carpet.
This year’s line-up spans all genres, from thriller to coming of age, comedy to drama, doco's and animation, plus we have some great music videos too – a mixed bag – just as we like it!
Hats off to our panel of judges for selecting the 2024 winners – we certainly couldn't have done it! Their scores combined determine the winners of our top awards, plus cast & crew were nominated for individual category awards based on the judges’ recommendations.
Here’s the full list of 2024 award winners:
BEST DIRECTOR – Paul Rye for Places, Please!
BEST SCREENPLAY - Benji Menday for Bottleneck
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER – Kate Cornish for Dusty
BEST EDITOR – Ryan Cauchi for Greystanes
BEST SOUND DESIGN – Taren Smith for Bad Vibrations
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - Dane Hallet for Dusty
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE - Jesse Boyle for Bottleneck
BEST LEAD ACTOR – Travis Jeffery for Dusty
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Adam Marks for Bottleneck
OUTSTANDING FEMALE FILMMAKER – Kasey Medeiros & Diana Caicedo for MisUnderstood
All finalists were also in the running for prizes, thanks to our wonderful sponsors: Made in the West CREATIVE, Still Searchin’ Productions, Western Sydney University, Event Cinemas Liverpool, Set Fusion, Luke Walker Productions, Sydney Prop Studios, Opening Act Films, Creative Plus Business, Irierootsini Photography, Million Masters, AFTRS, Arts and Cultural Exchange, the Australian Guild of Screen Composers, the Australian Writers’ Guild, WIFT NSW and the Australian Production Design Guild.
All 14 films were in the running for our major trophies for Best in the West (for indie filmmakers), Best Student Film, and Best Music Video.
Of course, the room erupted with cheers as the final winners were announced. We want to give a HUGE shout out to:
2024 Runner-up Best Music Video:
Velvet Skin: Dylan Atlantis by Sim Kaur
Nominated for Best Director, Production Design and Editor
2024 Runner-up Best Student Film:
Gallery of Echoes by Ella Southwell
Nominated for Best Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Production Design, and Original Music Score
2024 Runner-up Best in the West:
Greystanes by Ryan Cauchi
Nominated for Best Director, Screenplay, Editor (WINNER), Lead Actor, Supporting Actor, Sound Design, Original Music Score and Cinematographer
These amazing films deserve a round of applause!
And of course, you must save your most rapturous standing ovation for our 2024 WINNERS!
The award goes to….
2024 Best Music Video WINNER:
Angel Signs: Isaac Puerile by Fernando de Miguel Fuertes
Nominated for Best Director, Cinematographer and Production Design
2024 Best Student Film WINNER:
Bottleneck by Benji Menday
Nominated across the board for Best Director, Cinematographer, Screenplay (WINNER), Editor, Lead Actor, Supporting Actor (WINNER), Sound Design, Original Music Score (WINNER) and Production Design
2024 Best in the West WINNER:
Dusty by Travis Jeffery
Nominated across the board for Best Director, Screenplay, Cinematographer (WINNER), Editor, Production Design (WINNER), Sound Design, Lead Actor (WINNER), Supporting Actor and Original Music Score
We had so many attendees commenting on the quality of films in the line-up and tensions were high as the final votes were being counted for the highly coveted Audience Choice Award. But in the end, there could only be one…
Congratulations to:
2024 Audience Choice Award WINNER:
Dusty by Travis Jeffery
Nominated across the board for Best Director, Screenplay, Cinematographer (WINNER), Editor, Production Design (WINNER), Sound Design, Lead Actor (WINNER), Supporting Actor and Original Music Score
*CUE APPLAUSE*
Congratulations again to all cast & crew involved in the making of this year’s films and thank you to everyone who joined us last night – we had a blast and we hope you enjoyed your night too.
Fun fact: We screened our 300th film at the cinema this year! Can you believe it? What a milestone for Made in the West after 13 years of festival screenings.
And of course, we’re not done yet!
Check out the 2024 Program on our website for the list of films we’re featuring this summer, plus links to all the filmmakers on social media so you can follow their film work and find pics from the red carpet.
You can check out the live stories and audience videos from the night on our Instagram highlights too!
Speaking of which, we’ll be sharing all the photos from the red carpet in the coming weeks, so keep an eye on our socials for those.
And of course, our 2024 Red Carpet Highlights Reel is coming soon too, featuring interviews with some of this year’s finalists and the best film moments from the festival in-cinema and on the red carpet.
It’s great to see Western Sydney filmmakers enjoying the spotlight and we’re pleased our festival photographers and TV crew were there to capture everyone on the red carpet.
What an amazing Opening Night!
We’re excited to continue celebrating Western Sydney short films throughout the summer! Stay tuned for more exciting announcements as our January plans come together with outdoor screenings and our closing night celebration and awards.
Thanks again for a great night, everyone – YOU ROCK!!