Awards

As well as presenting the best filmmaking from around the world, Sydney Film Festival celebrates the remarkable talents of emerging and esteemed filmmakers with the presentation of 10 illustrious awards – and in 2025 will award a record-breaking prize pool of $200,000.

Handed out by an independent jury, SFF’s awards have provided momentum for filmmakers’ careers for decades.

Festival-goers are also invited to cast their own votes in the GIO Audience Awards, with fabulous prizes up for grabs.

The Sydney Film Prize is awarded to the most “audacious, cutting-edge and courageous” film in the Official Competition line-up. The competition is endorsed by FIAPF, the regulating body for international film festivals, and is judged by a jury of filmmakers and industry professionals, who award a $60,000 cash prize to the winning filmmaker.

2025 Official Competition Jury

Supported by Documentary Australia, this prize acknowledges excellence in Australian documentary production. As well as receiving a $20,000 cash prize, the winning film becomes Academy Award eligible. Browse all films competing for the Documentary Australia Award for Australian Documentary.

Documentary Australia is a proud sponsor of the Documentary Australia Award but plays no role in selecting the films in the competition or judging the winner.

The Sustainable Future Award, with a cash prize of $40,000, is the largest environmental film prize in the world. It is made possible through philanthropic support from a syndicate of passionate climate activists. The award recognises a narrative or documentary film of any length that deepens our knowledge and awareness of the impact of the global climate emergency.

All films shortlisted for the Sustainable Future Award are noted with a green leaf icon in the printed program guide:

Announced in February 2024, the inaugural First Nations Award is proudly supported by Truant Pictures with the world’s largest cash prize for Indigenous filmmaking, $35,000. Open to First Nations filmmakers from across the globe, the First Nations Award celebrates the profound contributions of First Nations filmmakers to the cinematic landscape. Any film, including short films, featured within the Festival’s First Nations program automatically qualifies for consideration for the award.

SFF’s prestigious Australian Short Film Awards were established in 1970 and have been sponsored by Dendy Cinemas since 1989.

The Dendy Live Action Short Award, sponsored by Dendy Cinemas, provides a $7,000 cash prize to the best Australian short film. Winners are Academy Award eligible.

The Rouben Mamoulian Award, sponsored by Dendy Cinemas and named after the director who first presented the award in 1974, provides a $7,000 cash prize to the best direction of an Australian short film.

The Yoram Gross Animation Award, sponsored by Sandra and Guy Gross in memory of the late Yoram Gross, provides a $7,000 cash prize to the best Australian animated short film. Winners are Academy Award eligible.

The AFTRS Craft Award, sponsored by the Australian Film Television and Radio School, provides a $7,000 cash prize for demonstrated excellence by a craft practitioner in an Australian short film.

The Event Cinemas Rising Talent Award recognises an emerging Australian short film screenwriter with a cash prize of $7,000. This award is open to screenwriters who have had no more than five short film credits.

Debbie Lee was the 2024 recipient of the Sydney UNESCO City of Film Award, which recognises a trailblazing NSW-based practitioner whose work stands for innovation, imagination and high impact, with a $10,000 cash prize awarded by Screen NSW.

The GIO Audience Awards are SFF’s people’s choice awards, reflecting the most popular films at the Festival as voted by you, the audience. The GIO Audience Awards for Best International Narrative Feature, Best International Documentary, Best Australian Narrative Feature and Best Australian Documentary are announced after the Festival.

Rate the films you see at the Festival and you could win the chance to host your own private screening for 50 friends of an audience award winning film, courtesy of GIO, or other fantastic prizes from MUBI, beverage and restaurant partners and SFF cinema venues.

Dinosaur designs

All Sydney Film Festival Award winners are presented with the Festival’s signature mesmeric swirl award, designed and handmade in Sydney by SFF’s partners Louise Olsen and Stephen Ormandy of Dinosaur Designs.

PARKROYAL Darling Harbour

PARKROYAL Darling Harbour, Sydney is proud to be the official home away from home for SFF’s Awards Juries.