by Dov Kornits
Flickerfest, Australia’s leading and only Oscar qualifying and BAFTA recognised short film festival, has joined forces with leading optical retailer Specsavers for a third year and are primed for an evolution of their national competition.
“I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” Flickerfest director, Bronwyn Kidd, recalls about her first year at the helm of the short film festival. “I came on board in September 1997, and the festival was on in January. We had 200 entries and a much smaller programme of films. We had smaller audiences, and we had three venues on the tour. It’s grown quite significantly.”
Starting its life at Sydney’s Balmain High School in 1991, Flickerfest enjoyed a couple of screenings at The Paddington Town Hall before moving to its iconic home of Bondi Beach, where it has grown in leaps and bounds. Each year, Flickerfest receives thousands of entries, and has since expanded out of Bondi for a national tour encompassing over fifty venues. In an increasingly busy film festival scene, Flickerfest undoubtedly retains prime position as Australia’s premier short film event.
Part of that growth and current positioning has been due to Flickerfest’s partnership with leading optical retailer Specsavers. Now in their third year together, Flickerfest and Specsavers will evolve the national competition further in 2025. Up and coming talented Australian content creators are encouraged to get behind the camera to deliver their very own “Should’ve Gone To Specsavers” ad for this year’s festival.
“Having brands support us and our vision of providing a platform for emerging Australian filmmakers is critical to our success and the festival’s sustainability,” says Flickerfest director Bronwyn Kidd. “It’s been incredibly rewarding to work with the Specsavers team, who want to support Australian filmmakers in a concrete way and nurture Australian creatives to develop their skills through this wonderful career initiative. At Flickerfest, we are committed to finding pathways to support Australian filmmakers beyond our festival and it’s fantastic to partner with brands such as Specsavers who support us in our vision to discover, reward and further career opportunities for Australian talent in such a meaningful way.”
Entries are now open, and the brief is simple: filmmakers across the country are invited to deliver a completed 30-second “Should’ve Gone To Specsavers” TVC that will create a lasting impression and get their talents noticed, both on the Flickerfest big screen and amplified by media around the country. A prestigious jury will critique all entries and announce five finalists who will all be awarded $20,000 in prize money and will have their entries shown at Flickerfest’s Bondi event in January 2026. Then the voting will be thrown open to the public to decide the major prize winner who will take home a generous cash prize of $50,000, announced at the close of Flickerfest 2026 in Bondi on January 25.
“Specsavers are looking for unique visual jokes that build on the iconic ‘Should Have Gone To Specsavers’ vernacular,” says Anri McHugh, Specsavers Head of Marketing, Awareness & Consideration. “This brand platform is over 16 years old in Australia and we always say that everyone has had a ‘Should Have Gone To Specsavers’ moment. What seems like a simple idea is actually quite tricky to get right and so we look forward to seeing which creative ideas shine through and in particular, which ones resonate with the public when it comes time for voting. To be able to help nurture up-and-coming local talent and to provide a platform for them to further their careers is a real privilege.”
The Flickerfest and Specsavers partnership has certainly some fine results. “It’s been incredible to see so many great ideas come through over the previous two years,” says Bronwyn Kidd. “Previous winners Jesse Vogelaars ‘Auction’ and Connor Mercury’s ‘Orchestra’ took out the top gong, and their scripts were produced by a production house but there were many more creatives than Specsavers were able to support. So now we’re going to reward five filmmakers, and not just one.”
Entries for the Specsavers Flickerfest competition are now open and close December 1 at 4:00pm. The five competition finalists will be announced in mid-December on Flickerfest’s official website.
