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33-492: The Australian Film Festival is an annual film festival held in the Australian city of Sydney. The festival showcases the films of Australian talent working in a variety of mediums, including; feature films, short films , television and online web content . In addition to showcasing Australian film , the festival promotes the growth and recognition of Australian cinema through industry led workshops and discussion forums. It

66-503: A TV special , a few films from the studio have added theatrical shorts as well. Warner Bros. often includes old shorts from its considerable library, connected only thematically, on the DVD releases of classic WB movies. From 2010–2012, Warner Bros. also released new Looney Tunes shorts before family films. Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures organize an annual release of Academy Award -nominated short films in theatres across

99-461: A serial or series (such as the Our Gang movies, or the many outings of Charlie Chaplin 's Little Tramp character). Animated cartoons came principally as short subjects. Virtually all major film production companies had units assigned to develop and produce shorts, and many companies, especially in the silent and very early sound era, produced mostly or only short subjects. In the 1930s,

132-581: A film of three or four reels. " Short " was an abbreviation for either term. The increasingly rare industry term "short subject" carries more of an assumption that the film is shown as part of a presentation along with a feature film. Short films are often screened at local, national, or international film festivals and made by independent filmmakers with either a low budget or no budget at all. They are usually funded by one or more film grants, nonprofit organizations , sponsors , or personal funds. Short films are generally used for industry experience and as

165-490: A platform to showcase talent to secure funding for future projects from private investors, a production company , or film studios . They can also be released with feature films, and can also be included as bonus features on some home video releases. All films in the beginning of cinema were very short , sometimes running only a minute or less. It was not until the 1910s when films started to get longer than about ten minutes. The first set of films were presented in 1894 and it

198-440: A regular series in 1946 and lasted until 1956. By and large, however, the movies' one-reel subject of choice was the animated cartoon, produced by Walt Disney , Warner Bros. , MGM, Paramount , Walter Lantz , Columbia, and Terrytoons . One of the movies' oldest short-subject formats was the adventure serial , first established in 1912. A serial generally ran for 12 to 15 chapters, 15 to 20 minutes each. Every episode ended with

231-453: A short along with each of its feature films during its initial theatrical run since 1995 (producing shorts permanently since 2001). Since Disney acquired Pixar in 2006, Disney has also produced animated shorts since 2007 with the Goofy short How to Hook Up Your Home Theater and produced a series of live-action ones featuring The Muppets for viewing on YouTube as viral videos to promote

264-736: Is traditionally held on the last day of the AFF, and is one of the Festival's competitive elements. In 2011, notable short films screened during the competition included The Telegram Man and the 2011 Academy Award Winning Best Animated Short, The Lost Thing . In 2010, My Uncle Bluey won the Australian Short Film Competition. In 2011, the competition was won by Ariel Klieman's film Deeper Than Yesterday. The Future Film Scriptwriting Competition, in association with Networking Action For Filmmakers And Actors, provides writers with

297-607: Is well known for hosting the Australian Film Walk of Fame , which has honoured recipients such as Claudia Karvan , Jack Thompson , Gary Sweet , Roy Billing , Steve Bisley and Michael Caton . Established by current festival director Barry Watterson , The Australian Film Festival evolved from the 2009 Australian Film Week , a week-long showcase of classic Australian films held at the Randwick Ritz cinema during Sydney's Coogee Arts Fest. The expansion saw

330-401: The 2011 movie of the same name . In 2009 the horror short film, No Through Road, that would go viral was released, creating analog horror. The short film would spark 3 sequels, creating No Through Road (web series) DreamWorks Animation often produces a short sequel to include in the special edition video releases of major features, and are typical of a sufficient length to be broadcast as

363-507: The 1960s before exiting the short film business in 1969 (by which point the shorts had been in televised reruns for years ). MGM continued Tom and Jerry (first with a series of poorly-received Eastern European shorts by Gene Deitch , then a better-received run by Warner Bros. alumnus Chuck Jones ) until 1967, and Woody Woodpecker lasted to 1972; the creative team behind MGM's 1940s and 1950s cartoons formed Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1957, mainly focusing on television. The Pink Panther

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396-721: The AFF's workshops. The Australian Film Walk of Fame began in 2008 at the Randwick Ritz as an initiative to honor Australian film celebrities. Recipients inducted to the Walk of Frame prior to the inception of the Australian Film Festival have included Michael Caton , Roy Billing and Charles Tingwell . On 7 March 2010, with the support of Randwick City Council and the Ritz Cinema , the Australian Film Festival inducted Steve Bisley and Claudia Karvan to

429-535: The Australian Film Walk of Fame. In 2011, Gary Sweet and Jack Thompson were both initiated to the Australian Film Walk of Fame on 13 March, the closing night of the second Australian Film Festival. Short films In the United States, short films were generally termed short subjects from the 1920s into the 1970s when confined to two 35 mm reels or less, and featurettes for

462-625: The Australian Short Film Competition, coinciding with The Spot Food and Film Festival at Randwick. In its second year, the Australian Film Festival opened on 2 March with Australian production The Wedding Party , alongside a showcase of Sydney premieres that included The Reef , Griff the Invisible and A Heartbeat Away . Included in the Australian Film Festival Program was a free session of Finding Nemo , which screened outdoors at Clovelly Beach Cinema By

495-577: The Sea. Following on from the retrospective session of Mad Max in 2010, Popcorn Taxi returned again with a screening of The Sum of Us . Lead actor Jack Thompson was in attendance for the film and the Q&;A session which followed. The second AFF closed on 12 March with The Spot Food and Film Festival and the Australian Short Film Competition, which was judged by Australian filmmakers and actors, including David Field . The Australian Short Film Competition

528-540: The US, UK, Canada and Mexico throughout February and March. Shorts are occasionally broadcast as filler when a feature film or other work does not fit the standard broadcast schedule. ShortsTV was the first television channel dedicated to short films. However, short films generally rely on film festival exhibition to reach an audience. Such movies can also be distributed via the Internet . Certain websites which encourage

561-465: The distribution system changed in many countries, owing to the Great Depression . Instead of the cinema owner assembling a program of their own choice, the studios sold a package centered on a main and supporting feature, a cartoon and little else. With the rise of the double feature , two- reel shorts went into decline as a commercial category. The year 1938 proved to be a turning point in

594-406: The feature-film field. With these major comedy producers out of the running, Columbia Pictures actually expanded its own operations and launched a second two-reel-comedy unit in 1938. Columbia and RKO Radio Pictures kept making two-reel comedies into the 1950s. Theater managers found it easier and more convenient to fit shorter, one-reel (10-minute) subjects into their double-feature programs. In

627-427: The festival become Australia's most comprehensive presentation of Australian film, with founding director Barry Watterson citing the purpose of the festival being "The long term development of Australian film content in a rapidly changing environment and the building of audiences for Australian film." The Australian Film Festival premiered on 24 February 2010 at Randwick Ritz cinema. In collaboration with Popcorn Taxi ,

660-439: The festival's opening night reunited the original cast and crew of Mad Max for a screening of the Australian cult film , followed be a Q&A with actors including Steve Bisley and Hugh Keays-Byrne . The festival ran for 11 days, and screened 21 feature films, short films and documentaries, including; Happy Feet , The Dinner Party and Bad Boy Bubby . The inaugural Australian Film Festival concluded on 7 March with

693-519: The hero or heroine trapped in a life-threatening situation; audiences would have to return the following week to see the outcome. These "chapter plays" remained popular through the 1950s, although both Columbia and Republic Pictures were now making them as cheaply as possible, reusing action highlights from older serials and connecting them with a few new scenes showing identically dressed actors. Even after Republic quit making serials in 1955 and Columbia stopped in 1956, faithful audiences supported them and

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726-400: The history of film comedies. Hal Roach , for example, had discontinued all short-subject production except Our Gang , which he finally sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1938. The Vitaphone studio, owned by Warner Bros. , discontinued its own line of two-reel comedies in 1938; Educational Pictures did as much that same year, owing to its president Earle W. Hammons unsuccessfully entering

759-448: The live-action field, humorist Robert Benchley had been making short comedies since the dawn of sound; his various series for Fox, Vitaphone, MGM, and Paramount ran from 1928 to 1944. MGM's Pete Smith Specialties had been a standard "added attraction" in moviehouse programming since 1935 and lasted through 1955. RKO's Flicker Flashbacks revivals of silent films ran from 1943 to 1956, and Warner Bros. ' Joe McDoakes comedies became

792-633: The movies All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane and Jucy . Alston was born in Wagga Wagga , and studied at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School after which she created and produced two television series, The Variety Show at the End of the World and Brilliant Lives . She made her debut as feature film director with the romantic comedy All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane which

825-452: The oldest film festivals dedicated to short films are Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival , France (since 1979), Tampere Film Festival , Finland (since 1969) and International Short Film Festival Oberhausen , Germany (since 1954). All of them are still considered the most important short film festival in the world to date. Louise Alston Louise Alston is an Australian film director and producer best known for

858-599: The opportunity to have their short scripts acted on stage through a moved reading. In 2011, judges included Liz Doran and Ross Grayson Bell. The winner of the competition is awarded a $ 1000 cash prize. The Australian Film Festival presents multiple workshops, seminars and scriptwriting competitions throughout their season, encouraging the growth and discussion of Australian cinema. Past workshops have included discussions with filmmakers, practical filmmaking courses and scriptwriting tutorials. In 2011, filmmakers such as Louise Alston , Gale Edwards and Andrew Traucki all led one of

891-421: The studios re-released older serials through the mid-1960s. The 1964 revival of Columbia's Batman serial resulted in a media frenzy, spurring a new Batman TV series and a wave of Batman merchandise. With the rise of television , the commercial live-action short was virtually dead; most studios canceled their live-action series in 1956. Only The Three Stooges continued making two-reel comedies; their last

924-908: The submission of user-created short films, such as YouTube and Vimeo , have attracted large communities of artists and viewers. Sites like Omeleto, FILMSshort, Short of the Week, Short Films Matter, Short Central and some apps showcase curated shorts. Short films are a typical first stage for new filmmakers, but professional actors and crews often still choose to create short films as an alternative form of expression. Amateur filmmaking has grown in popularity as equipment has become more accessible. The lower production costs of short films often mean that short films can cover alternative subject matter as compared to higher budget feature films. Similarly, unconventional filmmaking techniques such as Pixilation or narratives that are told without dialogue, are more often seen in short films than features. Tropfest claims to be

957-468: The world's largest short film festival. Tropfest now takes place in Australia (its birthplace), Arabia, the US and elsewhere. Originating in 1993, Tropfest is often credited as being at least partially responsible for the recent popularity of short films internationally. Also Couch Fest Films , part of Shnit Worldwide Filmfestival, claimed to be the world's largest single-day short film festival. Among

990-432: Was released in 1959. Short films had become a medium for student, independent, and specialty work. Cartoon shorts had a longer life, due in part to the implementation of lower-cost limited animation techniques and the rise of television animation , which allowed shorts to have both theatrical runs and a syndication afterlife. Warner Bros. , one of the most prolific of the golden era, underwent several reorganizations in

1023-650: Was released to Australian cinemas in 2007. Her follow-up feature, the comedy Jucy , had its international debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2010. She has lectured at the Australian Film Television and Radio School , and has directed episodes of Neighbours . In 2018 she commenced production on her third feature as director, Back of the Net . In September 2019, Alston will be directing

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1056-426: Was the last regular theatrical cartoon short series, having begun in 1964 (and thus having spent its entire existence in the limited animation era) and ended in 1980. By the 1960s, the market for animated shorts had largely shifted to television, with existing theatrical shorts being syndicated to television. A few animated shorts continue within the mainstream commercial distribution. For instance, Pixar has screened

1089-512: Was through Thomas Edison 's device called a kinetoscope . It was made for individual viewing only. Comedy short films were produced in large numbers compared to lengthy features such as D. W. Griffith 's 1915 The Birth of a Nation . By the 1920s, a ticket purchased a varied program including a feature and several supporting works from categories such as second feature , short comedy, 4–10 minute cartoon, travelogue , and newsreel. Short comedies were especially common, and typically came in

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