by FilmInk Staff
Biggest prize pool in Festival history: $205,000 up for grabs
Filmmakers from across Australia and around the world are invited to submit their work to the 74th Sydney Film Festival, returning to cinemas across Sydney from 9 to 20 June 2027, with the biggest prize pool in the Festival’s history – $205,000 – on offer.
Leading the 2027 awards is the prestigious Sydney Film Prize ($60,000), joined by the Sustainable Future Award ($40,000), the world’s largest environmental film prize thanks to donor support. The First Nations Award rises by $5,000 to $40,000 this year thanks to the prize’s sponsor Truant Pictures, further strengthening its standing as the largest cash prize in the world for First Nations filmmakers. The prize pool also includes the Documentary Australia Award ($20,000), the five Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films ($7,000 each) and the Sydney-UNESCO City of Film Award ($10,000), presented by Screen NSW to a trailblazing NSW-based screen practitioner.
As Australia’s only FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations) accredited festival, SFF is an Academy Award qualifying Festival and a major platform for films in the Asia-Pacific Market.
Each June, the Festival premieres a compelling mix of features, documentaries and short films, and welcomes filmmakers from around the world to present their work to Sydney audiences. Guests in 2026 included Andrey Zvyagintsev, who accepted the Sydney Film Prize in person for Minotaur, and Academy Award nominee Kleber Mendonça Filho, who led the Official Competition jury.
“For more than 70 years, Sydney Film Festival has connected bold filmmakers with audiences ready to discover new work,” said Sydney Film Festival Director Nashen Moodley. “Offering our biggest prize pool yet, including an increased First Nations Award, is a clear commitment to the artists who make this Festival what it is. We can’t wait to discover the films that will shape the 2027 program.”
Submissions are open now via FilmFreeway until 26 February 2027 across all categories, from Australian and international features to the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films and the Documentary Australia Award.
Australia’s longest-running short film competition, the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films, returns in 2027 with five awards on offer:
- Dendy Live Action Short Award for best Australian fiction short film ($7,000)
- Rouben Mamoulian Award for best Australian short film director ($7,000)
- Yoram Gross Animation Award for best Australian animated short film ($7,000)
- AFTRS Craft Award recognising excellence by a craft practitioner in an Australian short film ($7,000)
- Event Cinemas Rising Talent Award for Screenwriting, presented to an emerging screenwriter from one of the ten shortlisted films ($7,000)
Features and documentaries of any length can be submitted across the Festival program, including:
- Australian Features (Fiction over 40 minutes)
- International Features (over 40 minutes)
- Documentary Australia Award ($20,000) (any length)
- Sydney Film Festival First Nations Award ($40,000 courtesy of Truant Pictures)
- Sustainable Future Award ($40,000 courtesy of donor support)
- Screenability Program for filmmakers living with disability
International short filmmakers can enter categories including:
- FLUX: Art+Film (under 15 minutes) for innovative, avant-garde or experimental works
- Freak Me Out (under 15 minutes) for horror, action or cult arthouse works
Every feature-length film selected for the Festival is also considered for the Official Competition, in the running for the Sydney Film Prize ($60,000).
Filmmakers should check the full eligibility requirements, including premiere status, before entering. Submission fees apply across all programs and awards, except for the Screenability and First Nations programs, which are fee-waived.
DEADLINE: Submissions close 26 February 2027.
SUBMIT: filmfreeway.com/SydneyFilmFestival
MORE INFO: sff.org.au/info/submissions
