Made in the West Film Festival showcased a stellar line-up of locally produced indie short films to a record breaking crowd in attendance on Saturday 26 November at Event Cinemas, Liverpool.
Winners accepted their trophies amid rapturous applause from the audience, including Western Sydney filmmakers and local film industry supporters, along with friends and family of this year’s 19 finalists, VIP guests and local actor Maria Tran who emceed the event.
The winners of the 2022 ‘Best in the West’ and ‘Best Student Film’ awards, as decided by an independent panel of judges, were Kami Domaradzki (Zetland) for his film Leopard and Katrina Lay (Northmead) for her student film Baby Dole.
The second ever Best Music Video Award was taken home by Ashley Dawes (Glenmore Park) for the music video Only One: Ashii.
The highly coveted Audience Choice Award was decided on the night through a digital vote by the audience in attendance, and was awarded to Pamela Manos (Casula) for her short film Hello My Name Is Mother Nature.
Building on the successes of previous years, Made in the West is running a hybrid digital festival model, with the in-cinema event and online festival screening.
All 19 finalist films are streaming online and on demand throughout December and January, with digital host Prudence Bernadette and all the red carpet highlights from the cinema event, including interviews with red carpet host Shetu Simone talking to filmmakers about their work.
Founded by Still Searchin’ Productions, the Made in the West shines a spotlight on the growing number of emerging filmmakers living and working in Western Sydney.
The festival attracts hundreds of film enthusiasts from around the greater Sydney region to network and collaborate with each other while watching the latest films that have been produced by Western Sydney filmmakers.
Artistic director Ross Page says “The atmosphere at the festival this year was absolutely electric with so many people in the house and all the action on the red carpet.
“The films this year were outstanding and we’re so pleased to see so many new filmmakers and upcoming artists included in the festival line-up.” says Page.
Made in the West has exploded in recent years in a variety of ways, from the size of the audience to the number of entrants, and also notably the quality of the content.
“There are some amazing films being made here in Western Sydney right now and Made in the West is providing a platform for local stories to be told on the big screen”, says Ross.
James Elazzi (Eschol Park) won runner-up ‘Best in the West’ for his short film Yannis, awarded alongside Kasey Medeiros (Five Dock) as runner-up ‘Best Student Film’ for her short film, Arco’s World and Luke Walker (Winston Hills) as runner-up ‘Best Music Video’ for his music video I Don’t Get You, by Particles.
The prize pool for this year’s festival was valued at over $10,000 thanks to the generosity of local businesses and festival sponsors Still Searchin’ Productions and The Pagey Train podcast, Western Sydney University, Luke Walker Productions, Sydney Prop Studios, Creative Plus Business, Irierootsini Photography, Million Masters, AFTRS, Arts and Cultural Exchange (ACE), the Australian Writers’ Guild and Australian Production Design Guild.
As well as the major award winners, individual awards were also given to the most outstanding Directors, Screenwriters, Editors, Sound Designers, Production Designers, Score Composers and to the best Lead and Supporting Actors.
Proud to be a film festival that supports the local film industry, Made in the West brings the splendor of an industry awards night to Western Sydney filmmakers, with red carpet interviews, cast and crew photos, networking opportunities, prizes and plenty of industry talk.
See madeinthewest.com.au for more details.
Made in the West Film Festival 2022 Official Selection
All short films screened at Made in the West Film Festival feature cast members, crew members or locations from Western Sydney.
Meet this year’s Official Selection:
BLACKTOWN
● Things That Go Bump: Machine on a Break by Luke Agius – Quakers Hill
CAMPBELLTOWN
● Yannis by James Elazzi – Eschol Park (winner Best Lead Actor, runner up Best in the West)
CUMBERLAND
● Because of Ava by Laura Bucci – Cumberland
● My Gift by Michael Raso – Homebush West
HILLS SHIRE
● I Don’t Get You: Particles by Luke Walker – Winston Hills (runner up Best Music Video)
INNER WEST
● Arco’s World by Kasey Medeiros – Five Dock (runner up Best Student Film)
● DO IT 4U: Dyan Tai feat AnSo by Shaun Parker – Newtown
● Domesticated by Valentin Lang – Marrickville
LIVERPOOL
● Hello My Name is Mother Nature by Pamela Manos – Casula (winner Audience Choice Award)
● Seen by Sharon Mani – Liverpool (winner Best Editor)
PARRAMATTA
● An Orange And The Eye by Chrishantha Fernando – Parramatta
● Baby Dole by Katrina Lay – Northmead (winner Best Student Film, Best Production Design)
● Springbound by Clarence Thein – Parramatta
PENRITH
● Bogan Moths by Pete Ireland – Penrith (winner Best Sound Design)
● Only One: Ashli by Ashley Dawes – Glenmore Park (winner Best Music Video, Best Cinematographer)
● Suburban Witchcraft: Head in a Jar by Shaye Fox – St Clair
● Tales from the Dark Web: Moira Hill by Ryan Cauchi – Castlereagh
SYDNEY
● Blame The Ovens by Ali Sayed- Killara
● Leopard by Kamil Domaradzki – Zetland (winner Best Original Score, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director,
Best Screenplay, WINNER Best in the West)