People's Choice Awards celebrated at Closing Night Party

The final winners of the 2025 Made in the West Film Festival have officially been announced — and what a season it’s been!

Our Closing Night Party brought together Official Selection finalists, Western Sydney industry leaders, sponsors, crew and festival fans for one last celebration of the stories that lit up our screens this summer.

Big thanks to The Joan for partnering with local artists like us, and to Penrith City Council for your support!

It was big. It was heartfelt. It was a room full of filmmakers who have spent the past few months seeing their work play on cinema screens across Western Sydney and streaming online to audiences around the world.

The night featured encore screenings from the 2025 program, giving audiences one more chance to experience standout films surrounded by the community that helped bring them to life.

We also welcomed special guests to the stage, including Nicolas Godoy from Panavision Australia, one of our major prize sponsors, who spoke passionately about backing emerging filmmakers and investing in Western Sydney storytelling.

We were proud to announce our upcoming Behind the Lens workshop series we will be hosting on Saturday 16 May, designed to strengthen creative and technical skills across our region.

Join us for one of the workshops (or both!) and stick around during the break for filmmaker networking.

Paul Rye, our 2024 People’s Choice Award winner, stopped by to reflect on the impact of the award on his creative journey. He shared how his prize winnings directly supported costs for locations on his latest project – we were so happy to hear it! You can check out his work with Noel Street Productions and the award-winning film, Places, Please!

We were also thrilled to premiere our 2025 Red Carpet Highlights video, hosted by the brilliant Shetu Simone. Featuring filmmaker interviews and glimpses of some of the year’s award-winning films, it perfectly captured the energy, ambition and pride that defines this festival. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd-OKSs_uuU

After a huge season — from cinema screenings across the region to our online MEGA Movie Marathon and Marathon Summer Sessions — it was time to recognise the filmmakers who left a lasting impression.

These awards were decided by the people who matter most: our audiences. Votes were cast across the entire summer season… and the results are in.

By popular vote, here are your 2025 winners….

Best Comedy

Egg Law – Submitted by Dom Colucci

Best Drama

Tamah – Submitted by John Nguyen

Best Documentary

Odd One Out – Submitted by Taylah Barbeitos

Best Thriller

Contagious – Submitted by Thea O’Conor

Best Horror

Wombo – Submitted by Angus Lowe

Best Action

Duplicity – Submitted by Andrew Singh

A huge congratulations to all the Genre Award winners!

This year saw an extraordinary level of craft and confidence across every category, from sharp comedy and tightly constructed thrillers to emotionally grounded drama and bold genre filmmaking.

The Genre Awards are open to all filmmakers — student, independent and music video — and are voted by you, our online audience. These awards celebrate excellence across Best Horror Film, Best Comedy Film, Best Drama, Best Action, Best Thriller and Best Documentary, recognising the full spectrum of storytelling in this year’s program.

Each winner receives a double pass to Event Cinemas (valued at $50) and 12 months’ free access to Dingoo to stream groundbreaking short films (valued at $80), helping our filmmakers continue learning, watching and connecting with global screen culture.

Our Next Generation Award winners were also announced on the night, recognising emerging voices and creative leadership within our community.

Outstanding Female Filmmaker Award

Michelle Kaldy

for her work on the film River Town People

Rising Star Award

Laneikka Denne

for their work on the film Oi

These awards continue our commitment to championing new voices and supporting the next wave of Western Sydney storytellers.

Our Next Generation Awards are open to all filmmakers and are selected by the team at Made in the West Creative. These awards were created to recognise and elevate filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds and amplify their work within the screen industry.

The Outstanding Female Filmmaker Award honours a female-identifying filmmaker or team demonstrating exceptional creative vision and leadership, with the winner receiving a one-year membership and mentorship support from Women in Film & Television (WIFT) NSW, plus an invitation to join Roscoe on The Pagey Train podcast in 2026 thanks to Still Searchin’ Productions.

The Rising Star Award recognises emerging excellence and clear career potential, with an extraordinary prize package including a Premium Actors & Models Profile Photography Package from Irierootsini Photography, a one-year Associate membership with Screen Producers Australia, a GROW mentorship package from Creative Plus Business, and a bespoke six-month ‘Go Global’ mentorship with Australians in Film — all designed to create momentum, industry access and real next steps.

And finally, our audience votes were tallied to find one overall winner!

The People’s Choice Award, voted by audiences across Western Sydney and around the world through our MEGA Movie Marathon and Marathon Summer Sessions, goes to:

People’s Choice Award

A Blacktown Ballad – submitted by Herbert Leota

Congratulations Herbert and the entire cast & crew from A Blacktown Ballad!! Yours was such a moving story, told thoughtfully, and with a beautiful Blacktown backdrop.

We think there is something particularly powerful about an audience-voted award: it reflects connection, emotion, resonance and genuine impact.

Across cinemas, pop-up screenings and online viewing rooms, audiences showed up, streamed, voted and celebrated local filmmaking in a way that continues to define Made in the West.

The 2025 People’s Choice Award is open to all filmmakers featured in the online MEGA Movie Marathon and is voted by you. It reflects genuine audience connection across Western Sydney and around the world.

The winner receives a camera equipment rental package and production support thanks to Panavision Australia (valued at $3500), along with an invitation to join Roscoe on The Pagey Train podcast in 2026 thanks to Still Searchin’ Productions.

We are excited to see what Herbert Leota makes of this opportunity in the year ahead!

With thanks to our generous sponsors and partners, you can view the full prize list for 2025 here – valued at more than $30,000!

We extend our biggest thanks to Liverpool City Council, without whom our expanded program would not be possible, Screen NSW, Event Cinemas Liverpool, Western Sydney University, AFTRS, Luke Walker Productions, Still Searchin’ Productions and Made in the West Creative.

Joining our Screen sponsors, we are delighted to have the support once again of Irierootsini Photography, Opening Act Films, Sydney Prop Specialists, WIFT NSW, Western Sydney Filmmakers Hangout, Arts and Cultural Exchange Parramatta, Australian Production Design Guild, Australian Writers’ Guild, Creative Plus Business, Australian Guild of Screen Composers and Million Masters Studio.

And, joining the Made in the West family for the first time this year, we were pleased to welcome Penrith City Council, SWR 99.9 FM, Australians in Film, Australian Screen Sound Guild, Panavision, Screen Producers Australia, Vellamatt Entertainment, Auteura, Australian Screen Editors and Dingoo.

The generous contributions of our sponsors keep the festival alive each year - their support covers essential running costs, helps us deliver an incredible prize pool, and ensures Western Sydney filmmakers continue to have a platform to share their stories.

Their investment doesn’t just make a difference to us here at Made in the West HQ – it matters to the hundreds of filmmakers who call Western Sydney home.

We encourage you to show your support in return by seeking out their products and services, and backing the businesses and organisations who believe in the next generation of Australian storytellers.

Of course, none of this would exist without the 2025 Official Selection – the filmmakers who trusted us with their stories and shared their work with audiences across Western Sydney and beyond, as well as every single person who entered a film into the pool for consideration.

We saw a nearly 50% increase on submissions from previous years which goes to show that local creatives are making more films than ever before! To every filmmaker, thank you.

For 14 years, and soon to be 15, Made in the West has been a passion project for our team dedicated to platforming Western Sydney creatives.

The festival is delivered by Made in the West Creative, an organisation committed to building opportunity, visibility and connection for our local screen community. If you know a business or organisation that might like to collaborate with us, please let us know!

Congratulations again to all the 2025 winners – including those Jury Award winners highlighted at our Opening Night celebrations at Event Cinemas Liverpool at the start of the season.

We can’t wait to see what you create next!