Flickety-Split: St Kilda Film Festival 2014

Local Community

St Kilda Film Festival kicks off next week, running through from 22-31 May – and as Australia’s largest and oldest short film festival, we’re in for some seriously entertaining portions of bite-sized goodness. Today, C&G takes a look at what to expect from this year’s festival.


The festival will open at St Kilda’s grand Palais Theatre on the Thursday, 22 May. Opening Night is set to be a spectacular affair indeed, rolling out the red carpet for some of Australia’s best and emerging film talent. Over 3000 guests are expected to attend, who will preview a selection of shorts from the 2014 program. Tickets will sell out soon, so book via phone, (03) 9209 6660, or visit the St Kilda Film Festival office at Level 1, 232 Carlisle St, St Kilda East.

The main event of the St Kilda Film Festival is, of course, the Top 100. The short films will show across fourteen sessions, each showcasing between five and nine features. The Top 100 sessions will air in the classic Astor Theatre, and serve as ground zero for Australia’s incredible talent in the short film industry. The films are judged by industry professionals, and will be recognised as such at the Closing Night Award Ceremony on 31 May. Best Film will take home $10,000 courtesy of the City of Port Phillip. 

The Astor will also play host to Zombiethon on Saturday 24th May, a night dedicated entirely to the wonderful world of the undead. A non-stop marathon of short films, movie trailers and music videos – we hear it’s going to be a totally killer event. There’ll be zombie-themed cocktails, the Astor’s famous choc ice-screams and special prizes for the best-dressed living corpses. 

For those interested in filmmaking, St Kilda Film Festival will also present a number of events geared toward filmmaker development, discussion and education. Held at Forum Hall, festival week will present the likes of ‘Take Your Film to the Next Level with Sound,’ ‘The Post-Production Process from Script to Screen’ and ‘Shooting on a Shoestring’.