In the 17 years since its birth in an inner city Sydney cafe, Australia’s Tropfest has grown to become the world’s largest short film festival. It’s an event that has helped launched the careers of many local filmmakers, offering invaluable exposure to a massive audience. With the 2010 event almost here, we caught up with festival director (and filmmaker) John Polson for a chat about what to expect.
RT: How’s this year’s Tropfest shaping up?
JP: Yeah, fingers crossed. I’m very excited. It’s a great time of the year for me. Lots to be excited about, being home and seeing lots of people and friends and stuff, getting ready for the big night on Sunday. It’s a lot of nerves too, you know, to see what people think of the films. It’s a great time of year and just seeing the excitement of the filmmakers is really good.
What do you think of the films this year?
They’re very strong but there’s nothing surprising about that. They’ve been strong for a long time now. Obviously some are stronger than others and that’s what Sunday’s all about. In terms of the range it couldn’t broader, starting at one end with animations that are all very different. The animated films that we see tend to be very well done; I think if you’re going to spend that amount of time and effort on a film usually you’ve given it a lot of thought. Then, at the other end of the spectrum we’ve got some dramas, very strong dramatic films with great performances; and then there are the out-and-out comedies. I always reserve one or two places for just silly films, you know, because I’m determined not to let Tropfest get too full of itself. And I remember in the old days people would send in silly films, so I try to keep that going — even though the pressure is high and the audience is much bigger and the sponsorship is bigger, I don’t want it to take itself too seriously. I mean they’re still very well made and well done films. There’s one film this year called My Neighbourhood Has Been Overrun By Baboons, which pretty much sums it up — it’s about a guy who wakes up one morning and his neighbourhood has been overrun by baboons. It’s animated and it’s about as silly as it gets, but it’s also incredibly well done and I think it makes an incredibly strong point. I think in some way we all feel like our neighbourhood has been overrun by baboons. Then there’s a film that’s shot all backwards, which is really interesting; it’s literally run backwards from start to finish. It’s amazing to see the twists and turns in a story in a film that’s going backwards.
Being a filmmaker yourself, how do you approach the order of the films — is it like arranging a feature?
It’s very much like that. I never thought about it like that but it is very much like editing a feature. You sort of have a beginning, middle and end. I’ve also got the experience of 17 years of seeing the event take place live; I know that in the second half people tend to be more receptive to moodier pieces, so you wouldn’t put the second film in as something really emotional while people are still coming in and having a good time. You wanna start up front with a bang but you gotta be careful not to give away everything you’ve got in the first half. I think long and hard about the last film before the interval because you want people to go into the interval with a certain feeling. It’s a bit of an art form but I haven’t perfected it. It can be hit and miss and I don’t get much time — from the moment I’ve decided the finalists it’s usually about 24 hours, max.
What would you say influences the judges the most?
I will say this: the way films play in front of the crowd definitely affects the judges. I love things more in front of the crowd. Nine times out of ten they’re much better in front of the crowd. And then there’s the occasional one I’m convinced is gonna be a crowd pleaser and it falls flat. I don’t think it’s about the genre. People always used to say comedies win Tropfest, but since Lamb won, it’s different.
What’s the biggest trend you’ve noticed in the films over the years?
Probably the biggest trend was as shift about 10 years ago. Through the ’90s we primarily got comedies and twist films — people decided early on that that’s the sort of film Tropfest wanted and those are the sort of films that won. Then I made it very public around 2000 that we weren’t looking for that kind of film. I thought it sort of cheapened the festival and the filmmakers. It’s not as gimmicky as it sounds, Tropfest. It’s really about trying to create deep filmmakers who can go out into the real world outside of Tropfest and actually do well. I don’t feel like I’m contributing much to Australian cinema if all we can come up with is a few ‘twist’ movies. How does that develop anybody’s career? We’re looking for the best films, period; films that will have a life outside this festival. People have gotten better at making them, and the technology has come forward in leaps and bounds. Now it’s impossible to tell whether someone’s shot their film on celluloid or video. I’m pretty sensitive to it, but it’s hard.
Tropfest is held this Sunday, February 21 at Sydney’s Domain and broadcast on Movie Extra. For more details, check their website here.
