Resilient short-film summit Tropfest will be moving its main event from its historic home in Sydney to its new surrounds of Parramatta Park for the competition's 25th-anniversary celebrations early next year.
Set to be held on Saturday 11 February, the 25th Tropfest is expected to welcome more than 50,000 people to its screenings, worth about $2 million to the local economy. The news was announced this morning at a media call attended by industry identities such as George Miller (Mad Max, Happy Feet, Babe), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, The Piano), Marian Macgowan (Two Hands), Brenton Thwaites (Gods Of Egypt, Maleficent), Tess Haubrich (Wolverine) and more.
Said Miller in a statement: "This opportunity to bring the dynamic world of filmmaking to a wider audience is extremely positive. Tropfest offers anyone aspiring to make movies the chance to show their work to 100,000 plus people, to go on to international film festivals and open doors to a career, here and around the globe.
"This festival is now in its 25th year. The first of its kind in the world, it remains a well-spring of talent and, thanks to the inspirational John Polson, has never lost its unique, grassroots, 'give-it-a-go' attitude. A big shout out to Parramatta for recognising this and providing Tropfest a warm new home."
According to City Of Parramatta administrator Amanda Chadwick, who was also in attendance, the relocation of Tropfest to Parramatta signifies "a chance for the Parramatta community to be part of one of the world's best-loved film festivals", and forms a key part of council's Global Sydney initiative.
"Parramatta is a true events destination and I'm sure Tropfest will find a happy home in our city," Chadwick said in a statement. "Bringing Tropfest to Parramatta Park will give the event room to grow and prosper, and will enable a whole new audience to discover the future stars of Australian film."
After a tough couple of years, the support being given to the event comes as a welcome change of pace for festival founder John Polson, who effused of the new arrangement, "It's difficult to put into words how excited I am about our move to Parramatta".
"As soon as I laid eyes on beautiful Parramatta Park, I knew we'd found our new home," Polson said. "Seeing the support and enthusiasm for our new partners at Parramatta only confirmed that belief.
"For me, this is an amazing opportunity to bring our loyal Tropfest audience with us as we embark on a new journey with new film lovers — and filmmakers — at our beautiful new home."
Next year's TSI — that's Tropfest Signature Item, for those new to the parlance — is "Pineapple", which is fittingly tropical-sounding but, honestly, has already been done every which way by the team behind long-running procedural comedy Psych (RIP 2006-2014). Behold:
For more information, see Tropfest's website.
