2006 Sony Tropfest winners announced
28 February 2006
Directors Alex Weinress and Rob Carlton (NSW) were awarded first prize at an official awards ceremony today at the Hilton Hotel, Sydney for their Sony Tropfest 2006 finalist film Carmichael and Shane.
Due to heavy lightning storms, the Sunday February 26 event in The Domain was forced to close down. The screening and judging of the final four films and the awards ceremony could not go ahead. All 16 films however were screened at the national venues in Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Hobart and Brisbane. John Polson commented:
"We were extremely disappointed for the filmmakers - particularly those whose films were not screened in Sydney - and for the film-lovers who turned out to support them at Sony Tropfest 2006 in The Domain. We were very pleased to be able to continue with all of the screenings at our national venues. Audiences around the country reached 100,000, including those that braved the conditions in Sydney right up until to the end. Although the circumstances were obviously very difficult, I was extremely impressed and moved by the determination of the crowd to stay and watch the films."
The panel of six celebrity judges including Rose Byrne, Simon Baker, Toni Collette, Greg McLean, Phillip Noyce, Guy Pearce and Sony Tropfest 2005 winner Luke Eve, judged the remaining four films on Monday February 27 and came to a final judging decision for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize as well as the Male and Female Best Actor Awards and The Tropicana Award.
Other prize categories including Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Comedy, the Sony Foundation Young Talent Award and the Cointreau Women In Film Award prior to the festival, were pre-judged by Industry representatives in the particular field of craft.
Due to the weather, The Sony Ericsson People's Choice Award had to be cancelled, as the film program was not shown in its entirety in Sydney. The prize draw for the consumers who entered the promotion will however still be fulfilled, which includes a Sony prize pack valued at over $1,700.
The awards were presented as follows:
FIRST PRIZE
Film: Carmichael and Shane
Director: Alex Weinress and Rob Carlton
State: NSW
SECOND PRIZE
Film: Burst
Director: Juliet Lamont
State: NSW
THIRD PRIZE - TIED
Film: The Story of Bubble Boy
Director: Sean Ascroft
State: NSW
Film: Fishy
Director: Dale Sidney
State: VIC
COINTREAU WOMEN IN FILM AWARD
Film: Goggles/Last Stop
Cinematographer: Katie Milwright
State: VIC
SONY FOUNDATION YOUNG TALENT AWARD
Film: Pacific
Actor: Harry Greenwood
State: NSW
BEST MALE ACTOR
Actor: Rob Carlton
Film: Carmichael and Shane and How Many Doctors Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb?
State: NSW
BEST FEMALE ACTOR
Actor: Belinda King
Film: The Sister
State: NSW
BEST COMEDY
Film: How Many Doctors Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb?
Director: Marie Patane
State: NSW
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Film: Silencer
Cinematographer: Tonu Huu
State: QLD
BEST SCREENPLAY
Film: Applause
Writer/Director: Michael Noonan
State: QLD
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Film: The Story of Bubbleboy
Composer: Hylton Mowday
State: NSW
BEST EDITING
Film: Fishy
Editor: Seth Lockwood
State: VIC
THE TROPICANA AWARD
Film: The Sister
Director: Belinda King
TROPFEST FEATURE PROGRAM (TFP)
Director: Peter Carstairs
State: NSW
Prize:
