The Gold Coast Film Festival (GCFF), formerly Gold Coast Film Fantastic, is an annual Australian

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

, held at the

Home of the Arts Home of the Arts (HOTA), opened as the Keith Hunt Community Entertainment and Arts Centre in 1986 and subsequently renamed The Arts Centre Gold Coast (TAC) and Gold Coast Arts Centre, is a cultural precinct situated in Surfers Paradise, Queensl ...

(HOTA) in

Surfers Paradise Surfing is a list of surface water sports, surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in Glossary of surfing, tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wind wave, wave of water, whic ...

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...

. Founded in 2002 as a

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...

festival, GCFF now delivers a program of

feature films A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film ( motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation ...

short films A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

(SIPFEST),

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

film award Film award is a cinematic award which can be awarded in several categories. Unlike the film festival, the film award is not accompanied by a public screening of competitive films. Film awards are usually awarded based on the results of a secret vo ...

s, and special events.

History

Modelled on the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, the festival began with a focus on

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and

Science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...

s. The first festival took place in August 2002, under the direction of Casey Marshall Siemer, with Oscar-winning visual effects specialist John Cox as patron. The early festivals were known as Gold Coast Film Fantastic, and ran for four days in Robina. The inaugural event screened 21 films and included a

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...

retrospective. The third festival, which ran for a few days only, from 5 to 8 August 2004, took place at Robina. Sometime between late 2009 and January 2011, the festival expanded its focus and changed its name to Gold Coast Film Festival. The 2011 event was staged at Birch Carroll and Coyle Cinemas,

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

. In 2013 the Gold Coast Film Festival supported Australia's first online video maker award ceremony, the Australian Webstream Awards, and is supported by

ABC Gold Coast ABC Gold Coast (ACMA callsign: 4ABCRR) is an ABC Local Radio station. Based in the suburb of Mermaid Beach, the station broadcasts to the Gold Coast and Tweed Heads in New South Wales. The station started life in 1952 as 4SO, operating as a r ...

. Past director Mitch Ziems helped open the ceremony that took place at the Metro Arts Theatre in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

on 16 November 2013. In 2014, under director Kylie Pascoe, the festival broadened its focus in terms of genre, and also started showing more international films. At that time the Gold Coast Film festival had a cultural partnership with

Supanova Pop Culture Expo Supanova Comic Con & Gaming (also known simply as Supanova) is a fan convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy film and TV, comic books, anime, gaming and collectables. It is held annually in the Australian cities of Sydney, Brisbane, M ...

and QPOW! as a part of the Gold Coast's

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

heritage. The festival became known for its support of

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

in the Australian screen industry in 2016, and in 2018 was the venue for the launch of

Women in Film and Television Women in Film & Television International (WIFTI) is a global network of non-profit membership chapters. Established in 1997, it is dedicated to advancing professional development and achievement for women working in all areas of film, video, an ...

(WIFT) Australia. The 15th annual Gold Coast Film Festival ran from Wednesday 19 April – Sunday 30 April 2017 at venues across the Gold Coast. For the first time in its 15-year history, the Gold Coast Film Festival 2017 accepted submissions for feature films to screen at the event. In this year, with the support of

Screen Queensland Screen Queensland is an agency of the Queensland Government which seeks to expand the production of movies, television series, and computer games within Queensland, Australia. It provides financial support to attract producers to use Queensland a ...

, GCFF became one of seven festivals to become a feature film qualifier for

AACTA Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the cinema of Australia, film and ...

. Lucy Fisher was

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and director of the festival from 2015 until the end of 2020. In 2021, Aimée Lindorff was director. In this year, Gold Coast Film Festival delivered the first hybrid iteration of the Festival.

Description

The festival delivers a program of diverse Australian and international feature films, special events, seminars and workshops, special guests and art. Its purpose is to promote the dynamic and creative culture community and to encourage the next generation of homegrown filmmakers. It celebrates and promotes all aspects of

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

filmmaking Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

, and offers a culturally diverse program of films, including local independent films and national and international special guests within the film industry. The event also hosts a series of free filmmaking workshops and seminars, as well as the GCFF Future Filmmakers seminar held at

Bond University Bond University is Australia's first private university, private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, Queensland, Robina on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its opening on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teachi ...

for year 11 and 12 high school students who are interested in the film industry to learn from industry leaders. The 2023 event runs from 19 to 30 April 2023.

SIPFEST

The Shorts in Paradise Festival, known as SIPFEST, is a free event showcasing

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

s from across Australia. Seven awards are on offer for these films.

Governance and funding

, Josh Martin is CEO, with Sue-Anne Chapman chair of the board.

Margot Robbie Margot Elise Robbie ( ; born 2 July 1990) is an Australian actress and producer. Her work includes both blockbuster and independent films, and her accolades include nominations for three Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and six BAFT ...

is patron of the festival, while the three ambassadors are Lincoln Lewis,

Sue Maslin Susan Mary Maslin (born ) is an Australian screen producer. She is best known for her feature films '' Road to Nhill'' (1997), ''Japanese Story'' (2003), and '' The Dressmaker'' (2015), but has produced or executive produced more documentary ...

and Jenny Cooney. The festival is supported by Screen Queensland,

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

, the tourism and events Queensland program, HOTA, and the

City of Gold Coast The City of Gold Coast is the Local government in Australia, local government area spanning the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774, it is the second most populous local ...

. Other partners include

Warner Bros. Movie World Warner Bros. Movie World is a theme park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Owned and operated by Village Roadshow Theme Parks, the park opened on 3 June 1991. It is part of a entertainment precinct, with the ...

Village Roadshow Studios Village Roadshow Studios are a set of film studios located in Oxenford, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The studios are owned by Village Roadshow and consist of nine sound stages as well as a range of other production facilities. The studio ...

, and a number of other corporate sponsors.

Awards

Chauvel Award

The Chauvel Award, formerly awarded at the

Brisbane International Film Festival The Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) is an annual film festival held in Brisbane, Australia. Organised by the Screen Culture unit at Screen Queensland, the festival has taken place since 1992, with the program including features, doc ...

(BIFF), was established in 1992 and named in honour of filmmaking couple

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

and

Elsa Chauvel Elsa Chauvel, (''née'' Elsie May Wilcox; 10 February 1898 – 22 August 1983) was an Australian filmmaker and actress, and the wife and collaborator of film director Charles Chauvel. Elsa Chauvel was a pioneer in Australian film making, best ...

. Past recipients of the Chauvel Award include producer

Anthony Buckley Anthony Buckley (born 27 July 1937) is an Australian film producer and editor. Career On leaving school, Buckley went to work for Cinesound Productions as a projectionist and assistant editor. He worked in Canada and Britain before returnin ...

, directors Paul Cox and

Rolf de Heer Rolf de Heer (born 4 May 1951) is a Dutch Australian film director. De Heer was born in Heemskerk in the Netherlands but migrated to Sydney when he was eight years old.

, actors

Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include '' Breaker Morant'' (1980), ...

and

Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. Known for often playing eccentric roles on both stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Geoffrey Rush, numerous accolades, including an Academy Aw ...

, cinematographer

John Seale John Clement Seale ACS ASC (born 5 October 1942) is an Australian cinematographer. He has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and an American Society of Cinematographers Award. Early life Seale was bo ...

, documentary makers Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson, and film critic

David Stratton David James Stratton (born 1939) is an English-Australian film critic and historian. He has also worked as a journalist, interviewer, educator, television personality, and producer. His career as a film critic, writer, and educator in Austral ...

. One of the last few awards at BIFF were awarded posthumously to

Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, he moved to the United States in 1998 to further develop his film care ...

in 2008, and Alex Barnes & Dean Gibson in 2010 before being revived by GCFF in 2016. Since then, the winners include: *2016:

Claudia Karvan Claudia Karvan (born 19 May 1972) is an Australian actress and producer. As a child actor, she first appeared in the film '' Molly'' (1983) and followed with an adolescent role in ''High Tide'' (1987). She portrayed a teacher in '' The Heartb ...

*2017:

Deborah Mailman Deborah Jane Mailman (born 14 July 1972) is an Australian television and film actress, and singer. Mailman is best known for her characters: Parliament of Australia, MP Alexandra "Alex" Irving on the Australian political drama series ''Total Co ...

*2018: Sue Milliken *2019:

Sigrid Thornton Sigrid Madeline Thornton (born 12 February 1959) is an Australian film and television actress. Her television work includes ''Prisoner'' (1979–80), '' All the Rivers Run'' (1983), '' SeaChange'' (1998–2019) and '' Wentworth'' (2016–2018) ...

*2021:

*2022:

Leah Purcell Leah Maree Purcell (born 14 August 1970) is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actress, playwright, film director, and novelist. She made her film debut in 1999, appearing in Paul Fenech's ''Somewhere in the Darkness'', which led to rol ...

*2023:

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962) is an Australian film director, producer, writer, and actor whose various projects extend from film and television into opera, theatre, music, and the recording industries. He is regarded by ...

& Catherine Martin

Others

A number of other awards are given at the Gold Coast Film Festival. As of 2022 these are: *Best Australian Independent Film Award (A$5,000) *PKF Best Australian Film Award *Queensland Screenwriting Award *SIPFEST (Shorts in Paradise) – 7 categories *Best Australian Webseries *Best International Webseries *EMERGE! Student Short Films *Queensland Screen Business of the Year *Gold Coast Screen Professional of the Year

References

External links

* {{coord, display=title, -28.0764, 153.3853, format=dms, type:event_region:AU-QLD Film festivals in Queensland Fantasy and horror film festivals in Australia Culture of Gold Coast, Queensland Film festivals established in 2002 2002 establishments in Australia Australian film awards