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When Life Gives You Lemons...
Alethea Jones scored the top prize for her quirky short at this year’s Tropfest.
Heavy rain, thunder and lightning couldn't dampen the spirits of Alethea Jones who took home the top prize at Tropfest last night for her short Lemonade Stand, a quirky comedy about a man and his grandfather whose efforts to sell lemonade provokes a hilarious clash with an uptight council officer.
Jones was awarded the top prize by a stellar judging panel, which included such top-notch Aussie talents as Geoffrey Rush, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette and Asher Keddie. Also sitting on the judging panel was New York screenwriter Charles Randolph (Love and Other Drugs), as well as Tropfest Arabia winner Jassem Al Jabbouri, and last year's Tropfest winner Damon Gameau.
Of the result, Tropfest Founder and Director, John Polson summed up, "Lemonade Stand is an incredibly well made film and a favourite amongst the judges. There was intense discussion in the judging room, and some really interesting debates. Alethea should be very proud to have been selected by some of the industry's greatest talent."
While crowd numbers had dwindled in the Domain due to the rain by the time the winner's announcement was made, the young filmmaker (not a stranger to film festival success with her ingeniously premised short When The Wind Changes, taking home the Audience Award at 2010's Flickerfest) could not have been more thrilled accepting the top honour. "I signed up to Centrelink two weeks ago, so this changes everything for me," Jones remarked. With Tropfest seen as a festival that gives aspiring filmmakers a leg-up, Jones said she has "five features ready to go."
Having beaten the competition - the festival received 700-plus entries this year - Jones' prizes include a trip to Los Angeles to meet film industry executives, a $6,000 camera and $10,000 cash.
The festival's second prize went to actor Rupert Reid for Boo! - the story of an elderly couple who take a joke one step too far with deadly consequences. Boo! also saw its lead actor Don Reid scoop up the gong for Best Male Actor.
Coming in at third place was Michael Noonan's Photo Booth, which tells the story of three soldiers who find a photo booth in a war torn landscape that reveals their shocking fate.
Kate McNamara scored the gong for Best Female Actor for her performance in the humorously titled Kitchen Sink Drama about a proposal gone wrong.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, fifteen-year-old school friends from Melbourne, Max Barden and Tim Sheehan, won Trop Jr. with Let's Make A Movie, a comic short about choosing a genre to enter the competition.
Also along to see this year's handful of shorts was filmmaker Baz Luhrmann and his The Great Gatsby star Tobey Maguire, who has returned to the country to wrap up shooting. They were joined by the likes of Joes Edgerton, Rachel Ward, Gia Carides, Josh Lawson, Steve Bisley and Chris Lilley.
With the festival celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, festivities were extended over the entire weekend, and one of the highlights was the first ever Tropfest ‘Roughcuts', an all-day event where industry heavyweights including Geoffrey Rush and screenwriter Charles Randolph took to the stage to share their knowledge with emerging filmmakers.
Held as a series of informal conversations, Rush shared anecdotes of his life, from his time as a young drama student to the ‘post Oscar' shine. Polson also weighed in on the conversation, sharing his experience as a director and producer who shifts between Australia and the US.
A chuffed Polson proudly reported that the day went off without a hitch. "The day ran so smoothly. It was really exciting to see the flurry of ideas being thrown around. Everyone was so inspired - I can't wait to do it all again next year!"
For more on Tropfest, head here.
Picture caption: Alethea Jones is presented with her award by Cate Blanchet, courtesy of Getty Images/Brendon Thorne.
