Submissions Open for the 14th annual Made in the West Film Festival

Western Sydney cast, crew and locations will be celebrated on the big screen at Made in the West in 2025.

Submissions for the 14th annual Made in the West Film Festival are now OPEN!

If you have made a short film that features cast, crew or locations from Western Sydney, you are eligible to submit your film. And for the first time ever, we are now accepting submissions up to 30 minutes in duration.

See our FAQs below for more details. 

All genres are welcome, from documentaries to animation, drama to sci-fi, psychological thrillers to comedy, action to horror, and all types of content are welcome, from short films to music videos, film essays to web series episodes. Whatever you’re making, we think it belongs on the big screen!

As always, submissions in the festival will be judged by a panel of industry professionals. Last year’s judging panel comprised the likes of Pearl Tan, Wendy Chandler, Neil Sharma, Courtney Gibson, however the panel changes every year. We’ll announce this year’s jury later in the year. Be sure to follow us for updates!

Finalists will compete for trophies including the Best in the West Award (for best indie film of the year), Best Student Film, Best Music Video and the highly coveted Audience Choice Award with plenty of stellar awards and prizes up for grabs.

In 2024, Made in the West awarded more than $35,000 worth of prizes, including set building and cinematography packages, coaching and mentoring sessions, studio and edit suite hire, professional photo shoots and business workshops – and our first ever cash prize! Check out last year’s winners here.

Submit your film and nominate your crew for one of NINE individual category awards!  

Nominees will compete for individual category awards and prizes for Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Cinematographer, Best Editor, Best Lead Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Production Design, Best Sound Design and Best Original Score, announced live on the night.

We also celebrated women in #WesternSydneyFilm in 2024 with our first ever award for Outstanding Female Creative, and look forward to collaborating with more industry partners in 2025 to develop new ways of recognising the talent and skills of local creative artists.

This year marks our 14th festival, and we’re more excited than ever to spotlight Western Sydney’s filmmakers and the bold, authentic stories emerging from our region. We’re proud to be one of the longest running film festivals in Western Sydney, and we take seriously our opportunity to amplify the often marginalised voices from Australia's suburban heartland.

Importantly, we don’t place any restrictions on the type of content you can submit or the genre that gets your creative juices flowing. We don’t issue signature items or phrases to incorporate, and we don’t require rights to premiere your content either (although plenty of people have opted to premiere their films at Made in the West because they know what a great night it is!)

We also welcome stories from your back catalogue – we think those vintage creative projects are just as worthy of an audience!

We love that Western Sydney has a diverse population, and we know that our audience loves to see that diversity reflected in the line-up on the night.

Ultimately, we want to see whatever you’re making and that’s why we don’t put restrictions on your creativity.

Save the date! Made in the West Film Festival will be making a return to the big screen at Event Cinemas Liverpool on Saturday 22 November 2025.

We’re thrilled to have the support of such a fantastic and supportive cinema venue and we can’t wait to screen Western Sydney films on our HUGE Vmax cinema screen once again this year. With full DCP and surround sound, comfy armchairs and theatre-style seating for 330 people, it's always the best night of the year!

Made in the West Film Festival is also brought to life with generous backing from Western Sydney University, AFTRS, Luke Walker Productions, Made in the West Creative and Still Searchin Productions. Many of these organisations have been by our side for years; their support of the local film industry is inspiring and we couldn’t be more grateful.

And if you know a local business or organisation who might be keen to get behind our cause to help support and amplify local artists in Western Sydney, let us know. We’d love to chat!

Last year was unforgettable, and we’re excited to roll out the red carpet once again to celebrate local filmmakers and their work.

Feeling the FOMO? Catch last year’s highlights reel coming soon, or browse our festival photo albums here.

Finally - every year we receive plenty of submissions from emerging artists. We know it can be daunting applying for festivals and finalising your project ready for submission, so we prepared a list of FAQs below. If there is something else on your mind that we haven’t covered, let us know.

The 2025 festival is set to be another great night as we bring you the best short films and creative works from Australia’s most exciting indie film scene in Western Sydney. When November comes around, all eyes will be on the big screen at Made in the West – will your film be on it?

SUBMIT YOUR FILM and join local filmmakers on the red carpet.

We can't wait to see what you all have in store for us this year, Western Sydney!

From the team at Made in the West.

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Submission FAQs

When do submissions close? 

• Earlybird submissions and pricing are welcome until 11:59pm Tuesday 1 July 2025. 

• Main round submissions and pricing applies until 11:59pm Friday 10 October 2025. 

• Late round submissions and pricing until 11:59pm Saturday 25 October 2025.

How much does it cost to submit? 

We offer three types of entries. 

• Student entries are set at $30 throughout the year, no matter when you decide to submit (as long as your submit before the final submission deadline). 

• Indie film and music video entries are priced differently depending on the time of year you submit. Earlybird pricing is set to $35, main round pricing is set at $40 and late round pricing is set at $50.

Where can I learn more about your entry criteria or technical specifications? 

Our entry criteria is simple: your short film must include a location, cast or crew member from Western Sydney. Learn more about the entry criteria and technical specifications on our website here.

What is the maximum duration you are looking for? 

Historically, we have set a maximum duration of 15 minutes, however in 2025 we are increasing the maximum duration to 30 minutes. Learn more about the entry criteria on our website here.

Can I submit more than one film?

Absolutely! We don't place a limit on the number of films you can submit each year.

What awards and prizes could I be in the running for? 

Our awards and prizes change every year. You can check out last year’s prize haul in our 2024 Prizes blog here.

Who judges the films that are submitted? 

We assemble a different jury of industry professionals every year to judge the Official Selection films. Their scores and nominations determine the Best in the West, Best Student Film and Best Music Video winners and prizes, as well as the individual category award winners and prizes. Our live cinema audience on the night determines the Audience Choice Award winner and prize, and the MEGA Movie Marathon global online audience determines the People’s Choice Award and genre award winners and prizes. Learn more about the 2024 Judges here.

Where can I submit my film? 

See the entry form on our website here.

Where can I follow you guys or sign up for updates? 

Aw, aren’t you the best! You can check out our Linktree here (we keep it updated with relevant links all year round) or sign up to quarterly email updates using the pink banner at the top of the page.

What if I have more questions? 

Contact us using this form on our website or send us an email.