Bondi flickering with anticipation

Preparations have been finalised for Australia’s leading short film festival, Flickerfest, which kicks off at Bondi Pavilion on Friday night.

Running from January 11-20, the Flickerfest program consists of short films screening in competition as well as in non-competitive showcases. They include some of this year’s most anticipated shorts: Nash Edgerton’s The Captain, Alexandra Schepisi’s Lois and Damian Walshe-Howling’s Suspended.

Festival director, Bronwyn Kidd, says the festival will launch this Friday with a selection of highlights.

“We kick off with a highlights program to give people a taste of what’s going to happen across the ten days,” she says.

Having narrowed down the selection of entries from 2,300 to 100 handpicked shorts, the calibre of this year’s festival is impressive.

“It’s a real diverse range but I think the performances across all films are pretty remarkable. I think when you have that many entries and you only select such a small percentage … you’ll be seeing stuff that’s truly quite inspirational,” she says.

Ms Kidd says the programme will feature “really diverse, very well-crafted and innovative shorts that people are really going to enjoy”.

Isabelle Cornish, who portrays Vicki in the popular TV series Puberty Blues, will be a juror at this year’s Flickerfest.

“I’m looking for anything that’s creative and fun … something that hasn’t been done before, something new and fun to watch or something that’s been shot really cool,” she says.

Ms Cornish also stars in the Blue Hawaii-themed Flickerfest 2013 trailer alongside CSI:NY star Ryan Johnson.

Mr Johnson expects big crowds at the festival this year.

“It’s such a well run festival. They get such a huge calibre of talent submitting their films and it is the least pretentious festival. Everyone comes and has a great time,” he says.

With a diverse range of short films set to showcase, Mr Johnson says the audience will also reflect the accessibility of the festival.

“I think you’ll see people in flip flops and people who go to the opera and everyone in between … film buffs and regular Joes,” he says.

Mr Johnson says the audience can expect “to have their minds blown and then a beer on the balcony”.

For the first time, the award for Best Australian Short Film will now also be Academy-accredited.

“We’re very excited about that … it means we’re going to give more opportunities for Australian filmmakers this year,” Mr Johnson says.

In order to fit the bill, Ms Kidd says the Best Australian Short has to be “something that’s new, that’s fresh, that’s innovative, that’s entertaining and accessible, but also something that you’ve not seen before … not clichéd; that shows a really interesting way of telling stories in film”.

“I think that’s really what we’re looking for and that’s the stuff that stands out in the end.”