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Writer's pictureMade in the West Film Festival

Announcing the 2020 Award NOMINEES!

Still Searchin' Productions is proud to announce the nominees for this year’s individual category awards!

20 finalist films in the Official Selection are in the running to win one of two major trophies – the ‘Best in the West’ Award (for independent films) or the ‘Best Student Film’ – awarded to those films that receive the top score overall from our panel of judges.


To make it even more interesting, each year we also ask our judges to nominate the films that demonstrate excellence in the following categories: Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematographer, Best Editor, Best Sound Design, Best Original Score, Best Actress and Best Actor.


Check out our list of Awards & Prizes to see the awesome loot up for grabs this year! We're giving away over $10,000 in prizes to Western Sydney filmmakers, thanks to our wonderful sponsors!

The third and final trophy – our highly coveted ‘Audience Choice Award’ – is voted for by the VIP filmmaker audience on the night!


Decided by a room (half) full of your filmmaker peers, this glorious award will be a particularly sweet victory for one lucky finalist. And before you can say 'Where’s the afterparty?', we'll tally the scores and announce the winner.


But don’t forget, there’s still one final award to be announced after the final screening!


Join us at Made in the West Online Film Festival one week later and we’ll be asking YOU to vote for your favourite film! We’ll gather the votes from our audience across the globe then announce the winner of the inaugural People’s Choice Award online for everyone to see. We can't wait for this Made in the West first!!


So, is the suspense killing you yet? Well, we won’t keep you waiting any longer!


Made in the West is proud to announce the nominees for the 2020 individual awards:


BEST DIRECTOR NOMINEES

Codependent - Cat Sole & Carmen Smith

Golem - Ryan Cauchi

Khana Khazana - Arka Das

Olga’s Self Insert Fanfiction - Georgette Stefoulis & Ella Sanderson

The 11:59 to Washington Square - Cat Sole

The Distance Between Me and Death - Jing Yu

The Takedown of Melanie Sprottle - Joanna Beveridge

Tomorrow: JamarzOnMarz - Shaun Parker


BEST SCREENPLAY NOMINEES

Codependent - Cat Sole & Carmen Smith

GOD: The Performance Review - Allan West

Golem - Ryan Cauchi

Halal Gurls - Sara Mansour & Vonne Patiag

Khana Khazana - Arka Das

Pick Me Up - Tom McGill

The Distance Between Me and Death - Jing Yu

The Takedown of Melanie Sprottle - Joanna Beveridge


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER NOMINEES

1Conversation: Boulevarde feat. Little Green - Luke Walker

A Momentary Yearning - Justin Latimer

Golem - Tim Glastonbury

Khana Khazana - Jack McAvoy

The 11:59 to Washington Square - Rasmus Callmer

The Intruders - Rah Sharma

The Takedown of Melanie Sprottle - Diamond Tat

Tomorrow: JamarzOnMarz - Daniele Cernera


BEST EDITOR NOMINEES

1Conversation: Boulevarde feat. Little Green - Luke Walker

Golem - Ryan Cauchi

Khana Khazana - Alex Ross-Edwards

Olga’s Self Insert Fanfiction - Georgette Stefoulis & Ella Sanderson

The Distance Between Me and Death - Jing Yu

The Eradication of Love - Chris Yip

The Takedown of Melanie Sprottle - Joanna Beveridge

Tomorrow: JamarzOnMarz - Daniele Cernera


BEST SOUND DESIGN NOMINEES

Black Cat - Alan Phan Nguyen

Body - Wenbai Xue

GOD: The Performance Review - Mark Edwards

Golem - Georgia Collins

Khana Khazana - Declan Diacono

Olga’s Self Insert Fanfiction - Timothy Cheeseman

The 11:59 to Washington Square - Simon Allen

The Takedown of Melanie Sprottle - Joanna Beveridge


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE NOMINEES

1Conversation - Boulevarde feat. Little Green

A Momentary Yearning - Luna Pan

Body - Paolo Sevilla

Golem - Me-Lee Hay

Halal Gurls - Ahmed Kamal

Olga’s Self Insert Fanfiction - Timothy Cheeseman

The Intruders - Anisha Thomas

Tomorrow - JamarzOnMarz


BEST ACTRESS NOMINEES

A Momentary Yearning - Mathilde Anglade

Body - Melissa Riley

Codependent - Carmen Smith

Halal Gurls - Aanisa Vylet

Hollow Hands - Rhiann Marquez

The 11:59 to Washington Square - Eleanore Knox

The Intruders - Melissa Brattoni

The Takedown of Melanie Sprottle - Gemma Dart


BEST ACTOR NOMINEES

Black Cat - Anthony Wong

Derek: Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse - Gary Boulter

GOD: The Performance Review - Linal Haft

Hollow Hands - Jack Ellis

Khana Khazana - Pranam Janney

P’s Get Degrees - Cheng Tang

The 11:59 to Washington Square - Googoorewon Knox

The Intruders - Julian Ramundi


Congratulations to all of the great filmmakers and finalists involved in producing this year's top 20 films and best of luck to all the individual award category nominees!



Gather your crew for a fun group ‘bubble’ and join us at the 7pm VIP Premiere Awards Night (by invitation only) or 8pm Made in the West MARATHON for a full night of Western Sydney-made films on the big screen.


See you on the red carpet!


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