Gympie’s Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival will receive $188,300 funding through the RISE scheme, the Australian Government Office for the Arts announced this week.
The grant will fund Heart of Gold’s biggest festival to date, as well as fortifying the organisation for years to come.
With funds for growing marketing, sponsorship and audiences long-term, Heart of Gold has ensured its place as a permanent fixture in the Gympie calendar.
The announcement comes amidst cleanup and recovery from Gympie’s tragic floods.
“It’s a rough time for Gympie,” says local social worker and long time festival volunteer, Fiona Herrington. “Heart of Gold is always a highlight on the calendar, with everyone coming together to run and attend the festival. We were pretty worried for its future with COVID and these floods, so this news is a real ray of light.”
Member of the organisation’s board Claudia Granshaw is thrilled with the announcement: “We’re celebrating! This is more funding than we’ve ever received by miles, and will bring a new life to the festival in the coming years.”
Festival Director Jackson Lapsley Scott explains what audiences can expect in 2022. ‘This year we’re really leaning into an immersive festival feeling, with a heap of free events over the four days. The new Front Yard stage will host a range of talks, music and other arts; a VR exhibition and workshop program showcases the future of cinema and filmmaking; and our opening night celebration has been a bit supercharged.”
The funding comes through the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund, established to support the arts and entertainment sector to reactivate after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Heart of Gold’s winning application was designed to increase the long term sustainability of the festival. Grant funds are allocated to increasing the size of the 2022 festival, but also to bringing in expert marketing, sponsorship and volunteer-management knowledge to increase the festival’s future capacity.
‘This money will help us attract more sponsors, volunteers and guests to the festival. If we can do that, we can ensure Heart of Gold will be in Gympie for a long time to come,” Jackson says.
The festival has also received funds this year from Regional Arts Fund Flying Arts Alliance and Screen Queensland’s Screen Culture fund. The Screen Queensland funding will support a touring festival through the state’s regions in May 2022.
The Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival has been running in Gympie since 2006, with a mission to bring heartwarming short films to the community. The festival has grown to become a major player on the national circuit and attracts huge audiences to the town every year for four days of films, events, masterclasses, parties, Q&As and more. COVID-related disturbances caused the cancellation of the festival in 2020 and 2021.
