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Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films

Program Strand
Awards

In its 56-year history, Sydney Film Festival’s short film competition has launched the careers of countless directors, writers, producers, cinematographers and other film creatives.

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The 10 finalists compete for five illustrious cash prizes: the Dendy Live Action Short Award; the Yoram Gross Animation Award; the Rouben Mamoulian Award for Best Director; the AFTRS Craft Award; and the Event Cinemas Rising Talent Award for Screenwriting. All finalists screen together in two sessions with filmmakers in attendance.

Short
Baggage
A charming stop-motion animation about three girlfriends checking in at the airport, but one is carrying more emotional baggage than the others. SXSW 2025.
Short
Button Pusher
Trust, love, friendship, betrayal and air conditioning are scrutinised in this triumphant film set in an African hair salon.
Dendy Awards
Sydney Film Festival’s short film competition has launched the careers of directors, writers, producers, cinematographers and other film creatives in its 55-year history.
Short
DIY
A grieving woman stumbles upon the seedy underworld of organised crime just next door. Will she run or get herself dirty?
Short
The Eviction
A group of university dorm students tackle the ethical dilemma of whether or not to evict one of their own over a morally ambiguous offence. Does the punishment fit the crime?
Short
Faceless
Experience three parallel lives of an Indigenous man in Naarm (Melbourne) – in each instance, we ponder if he will always be made to feel like an outsider in his own land.
Short
The Fling
This hybrid stop-motion horror romcom about two women at a fancy restaurant shows us that love is a many tentacled thing.
Short
Interview With A Hero
An enigmatic Cambodian-Australian puppeteer’s life begins to unravel during a TV performance. Can he be vulnerable to his young daughter about the genocide he fled?
Short
Mango Seed
A tender autobiographical account of a father-daughter relationship impacted by the young woman’s decision to pursue her dreams in another city.
Short
Mates
A reunion between two old friends at an Inner West Sydney terrace reveals resentment and abandonment issues. What does it truly mean to be ‘mates’?
Short
Moment
A meditative 3D animation, rich with texture and the ambiance of the natural world, that beckons us to find solace in turbulent times.
Aboriginal FlagTorres Strait Flag

Sydney Film Festival acknowledges Australia’s First Nations People as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land, and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country SFF is based.

We honour the storytelling and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.

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