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Geoffrey Rush Joins Tropfest
The acclaimed actor and newly-crowned Australian of the Year, Geoffrey Rush, will be a key player in 2012’s Tropfest activities.
John Polson, Founder and Director of Tropfest, made the announcement today that Rush would be one of the stars judging films at the 20th anniversary of the short film competition. This will be Rush's second outing as a Tropfest judge, having also been involved in 2008's competition. The festival has an impressive alumni of past panellists including Nicole Kidman, Baz Luhrmann, Russell Crowe and Toni Collette.
Rush will also be joining the line-up at Tropfest's inaugural filmmaker symposium, Tropfest Roughcut, an all-day event to be held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on Saturday, February 18. The day will be hosted by actor, director and previous Tropfest winner Rob Carlton. Roughcut is aimed at emerging and newly established filmmakers, in an effort to support their work and share just what makes key players in the industry ‘tick'. Along with Rush, speakers include Charles Randolph, the New York-based screenwriter and producer of Love and Other Drugs; high-profile Australian film editor Jason Ballantine; and Kieran Darcy-Smith, whose feature, Wish You Were Here, opened the Sundance Film Festival this year.
Rush says he is looking forward to meeting upcoming filmmakers, and will not be shying away from the big industry questions at Roughcut. "Tropfest is turning 20, that's serious frisky adulthood - so vicenarians, please join this sexagenarian for a cinematic chat on known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns... it's a Q and A and I'd love to hear from you," Rush says.
Polson will also be attending Roughcut, offering fresh insights into Tropfest's twenty year history and revealing just what goes on when you're running the world's largest short film festival. He says that the aim of Roughcut is to inspire and support creators of screen work, and anyone who has a burning ambition to begin a professional career in film or television - but true novices may have difficulties getting into the event, as attendees must have at least one film or television credit to their name to avoid being put on a waiting list.
"If you are passionate about film and want to explore creativity and collaboration, and what inspires and drives the heart and soul of the filmmaking process, this event is for you," Polson sums up.
Roughcut will be the first event in a bumper weekend for Tropfest, with the main finalists' films shown on screens around the country on Sunday, February 19.
Tickets to Roughcut can be picked up here.
