FLICKERFEST
CELEBRATING ITS 35TH year, Flickerfest remains Australia’s leading Academy Qualifying and BAFTA Recognised short film festival. The National Tour comes to the Alice Springs’ Araluen Arts Centre for two spectacular nights this month before hitting the Top End in July.
WORDS ROSIE WILD
Flickerfest received a record 3700 entries this year, with under 200 handpicked to screen at the Academy Qualifying festival in Bondi. From this extensive field, the Flickerfest team selected the best of the best, presented through a national tour in the Best of Australian Shorts and Short Laughs Comedy programs.
Festival Director Bronwyn Kidd says there are important factors they look out for during the selection process.
“Emotion is the key to a memorable short film, achieved through characters and a story that offers a unique world view. What truly endures with a great short film is how sincerely and resolutely a small moment, a simple emotion, or a silent decision is conveyed,” she says.
“Films that combine form with emotion, rhythm with intuition, and acting with realism are ones that stay with audiences. For the tour, we look to bring a fun, fresh vibe, a diversity of voices and interesting, intelligent cinema experiences.”
The Alice Springs stop is hosted at Araluen’s Circus Lawns, under the desert stars, with food and a bar available on site.
Presenting contemporary and creative storytelling, Flickerfest brings diverse voices to the screen – its eclectic combination of films offering audiences something uniquely different from feature-length formats. “Shorts can be fun and quirky and relevant. Their styles and themes are not restrained by the commercial concerns of the box office that feature films need to mould to,” Kidd says.
“Short films can also be turned around far more quickly than features, which often take years to make. So, shorts offer a contemporary world view that is fresh and creative, reflecting the current zeitgeist of our culture and society.”
The Best of Australian Shorts program this year offers a selection of stunning shorts honouring unique identity and culture. Highlights include Peter Phelps stellar performance in Tuesday Tuesday, the shining performance and direction of Michala Banas in Packed Away, and the dark comedy Baby Shower, written and directed by Matt Day and starring Hugo Weaving.
The Short Laughs Comedy Program delivers big laughs with a riotous collection of off-kilter shorts from Australia and around the world, including the surprisingly profound and funny existential debate of Carcassone-Acapulco, the sharply observed comedy that captures the free-fall of new parenthood in Baby Blues, and the wild and hilarious ride with three misguided rappers in Laterz, the delightful French comedy, Bowl Cut, where a summer haircut goes awry.
“Those are just a few festival favourites that come to mind,” says Kidd.
“Their strong scripts, great performances and unique stories make them shine on the big screen. We’ve made a selection to guarantee a fun, interesting, and eclectic cinema experience, and a great night out. Films that stay with you long after the credits roll.
Flickerfest 2026
WHEN BEST OF AUSTRALIAN SHORTS | FRI 8 MAY, 7PM
SHORT LAUGHS COMEDY SAT 9 MAY, 7PM
AT ARALUEN ARTS CENTRE
COST $23-25
INFO flickerfest.com.au
