We want to give a massive shout-out to everyone who played a part in making the 2023 Made in the West festival a resounding success!
We've got a lot to be grateful for! Not only do we get to throw the most epic bash of the year for our local filmmaking community, but we also have the incredible opportunity to spotlight the amazing talent and stories from our region.
All of this, mind you, happens with a dream team of friends who see our vision for a thriving, supportive and collaborative creative arts community in Sydney's west.
The filmmakers we champion are a force to be reckoned with—dedicated, creative, and unapologetically bold.
Year after year, we're blown away by the ambitious and one-of-a-kind stories coming out of the West, and the films in the 2023 Official Selection showcase exactly what Western Sydney is made of!
For us, the highlight of the night—and a massive reason why we're in this game—is seeing a packed cinema with hundreds of filmmakers, along with their friends and family, cheering each other on and celebrating local films. It's the most wonderful thing!!
This year, a team of 25 contributors joined forces to bring the festival to you, alongside the legendary folks at Event Cinemas Liverpool who continue to give their unwavering support to our community.
Each year, Made in the West Film Festival inspires us, challenges us and requires us to coordinate a lot of moving parts, so we owe a huge debt of gratitude to our amazing festival crew. So, we want to give a shout-out to the incredible folks who made this year's film festival a roaring success!
A heartfelt thank you to Holly Rose, Richard, Adyan, and Danielle—the dynamic Front of House team who ensured smooth operations at the doors, helping with ticket check-ins and seating allocations, greeting VIP guests and wrangling our wonderful filmmakers for interviews. Your contribution was invaluable in making the event a seamless experience.
Kudos to our red carpet photographers, Lexy Potts, Dan Thornton, and Nataly Thomson, for capturing all the excitement among the crowd and the audience. We can't wait to share the official photo albums showcasing the finalists and guests looking fabulous on the red carpet!
Special mention to Louisa Le, our graphic designer, for crafting an out-of-this-world festival poster that perfectly captures the new world of opportunities in our hands. Your thoughtful and inspiring design set the stage for our best festival yet!
A big thanks to Chavi for holding down the merch desk and ensuring our festival memorabilia reached our fans. Your efforts contributed to keeping Made in the West a free event!
A special nod to Holly, our MC for the in-cinema screening, for infusing the evening with energy – we loved having you on the mic!
Hats off to Prudence, Hayden, and Daragh—our Red Carpet host, camera operator, and producer—for capturing the emotion and excitement of Western Sydney film's biggest night. We are super keen to see the Festival Highlights come through!
A round of applause for Shetu, Vuk, and Ross—our Online Marathon host, camera operator, and producer—for bringing the festival to viewers around the world. The 2023 MEGA Movie Marathon is set to stream from December 1 to the end of January, featuring the full lineup, interviews, and red carpet highlights.
A heartfelt thank you to the team at Event Cinemas—Teoni, Chris, David, and all staff—for your ongoing support and encouragement of the filmmaking scene in Western Sydney.
Did you hear? EVENT Cinemas has opened their doors to indie filmmakers next Wednesday 6 December for a special one-night-only screening of Christmess, the latest feature film by local #westie filmmaker Heath Davis – Made in the West is hosting the event and the filmmakers Q&A with local actors and producers!
Come along and show your support for this local indie production!!
A huge shout-out to Luke Walker Productions for providing camera crew, equipment, and lighting. Your professionalism combined with your fun spirit make you a real joy to work with. We appreciate your support and friendship.
And finally, immense gratitude to the entire crew of contributors and friends at Made in the West, including Ross, Misty, Jay, Ashleigh, Aaron, Hayden, Steve, and Nathalie. Your collective efforts are the backbone of our success. We couldn't do it without you.
Your support over the years has allowed us to provide hundreds of local filmmakers with a dedicated space to share their stories on the big screen in the suburban heartland of Sydney, reaching a national and international stage. Thank you!
We would also like to pay special tribute to three wonderful Western Sydney University students who joined Made in the West this year for a 12-week digital internship and contributed immensely to our 2023 festival campaign: Adyan, Danielle and Darcy.
We have loved working with the three of you, whether it was spreading the word about submissions, live switching on the Pagey Train, creating social media campaigns, sending media releases out into the world, or editing trailers for the festival - you all shone in your roles! From Ross, Misty and Jay, we say thanks to you all for helping us pull off an amazing night for the Western Sydney film community.
Made in the West Film Festival is also incredibly grateful for the support offered by WSU our Gold+ Screen sponsor and major sponsors Luke Walker Productions, AFTRS and Still Searchin’ Productions, all the festival judges and also our wonderful prize sponsors for making the night so special.
Made in the West Film Festival is made possible by the support offered by all our contributors and WE CAN’T WAIT to return in 2024 with even more amazing people on our side.
We’ll be celebrating our 13th birthday next year – we’ll officially be teenagers! Will it be an unlucky year? No way. We don’t believe in bad luck – we make our own luck!!
And by the way, if you’re reading this and you think you’d like to work with us next year at Made in the West and contribute your time or talent to the event, get in touch and tell us what you think you can do to help! We’re always happy to hear from new collaborators.
But we’re not done for 2023 just yet!
We need you to SHARE the great news: Made in the West Film Festival is streaming this year’s finalist films ON DEMAND for our fans and friends across the country and across the globe, all summer long.
Tell your friends and family to check out the MEGA Movie Marathon program!
It’s only $5 USD to watch the show on Vimeo On Demand and they’ll have one whole week to complete the viewing and VOTE for their favourite film.
Which film will WIN the People’s Choice Award this year??
We love seeing the online audience vote – it’s the final major award of the season and this year we’ve even got some new genre awards to make things even more exciting!
That’s right, this year we’re upping the ante with new awards and laurels for Best Comedy, Best Drama, Best Horror and Best Sci Fi!
So tell your friends and family to settle in on the couch this summer for the biggest and best 3-hour marathon of short films, complete with filmmaker interviews and highlights from the red carpet at Made in the West 2023.
The Online Festival is available to stream online until 31 January 2024. We’ll see you again when it’s time to announce the WINNERS!
Thanks again to our wonderful crew and happy holiday viewing, everyone!