Give it up for the crew of the 2025 Opening Night Gala!

We want to give a massive shout-out to everyone who played a part in making the 2025 Made in the West Opening Night Gala a resounding success!

We've got a lot to be grateful for! Not only do we get to throw the most epic bash of the year for our local filmmaking community, but we also have the incredible opportunity to spotlight the amazing talent and stories from our region.

All of this, mind you, happens with a dream team of friends who see our vision for a thriving, supportive and collaborative creative arts community in Sydney's west.

The filmmakers we champion are a force to be reckoned with - dedicated, creative, and unapologetically bold.

Year after year, we're blown away by the ambitious and one-of-a-kind stories coming out of the West, and the films in the 2025 Official Selection showcase exactly what Western Sydney is made of.

Opening Night was just the beginning!

We'll be screening Western Sydney films all summer long! Check out the full program and catch a movie marathon near you.

For us, the highlight of Opening Night - and a massive reason why we're in this game - is seeing a packed cinema with hundreds of filmmakers, along with their friends and family, cheering each other on and celebrating local films. It's truly the most wonderful thing!!

This year, an incredible team of contributors joined forces to bring the festival to you, alongside the legendary folks at Event Cinemas Liverpool who continue to give their unwavering support to our community.

Organising Made in the West Film Festival each year requires us to coordinate a lot of moving parts, so we owe a huge debt of gratitude to our festival crew.

We want to give a shout-out to the incredible folks who made this year's Opening Night Gala a roaring success!

A heartfelt thank you to Ashleigh, our Front of House Manager, Richard (FOH Assistant) and Christina (Merch Assistant) for ensuring everything ran smoothly from ticket check-in to doors open, merchandise sales and foyer operations. Your contributions were invaluable in making the event so seamless.

Big thanks to our incredible volunteers Gabrielle, Glen, Jayden, Katherine and Raven who brought enthusiasm and dedication to supporting the Front of House team. Thanks for helping everyone enjoy the experience!

Huge gratitude to Andrew, our Back of House Projectionist, and Riley (BOH Runner) working their magic behind the scenes to make sure the show ran smoothly. Thanks for keeping everything going!

Kudos to our red carpet photographers, Nataly Thomson, Dan Thornton, and Kal Phang, for capturing all the excitement among the crowd and the audience.

We can't wait to share the official photo albums showcasing the finalists and guests looking fabulous on the red carpet!

If you're in need of photography services, we highly recommend seeking out these talented artists online.

Special mention to Nico Mendoza, a student designer from WSU's Bachelor of Visual Design for crafting this year's festival poster that set the stage for an unforgettable Opening Night. You can follow more of Nico's work at @njmendoza.art on Instagram!

A special nod to Dee Sinnarkar, our MC for the in-cinema screening, for infusing the evening with energy. We loved having you on the mic! And thanks to Jay, our Cinema Manager, for coordinating all the moving parts inside the cinema.

Hats off to Shetu Simone, our Red Carpet TV host, Daragh (Producer), Daniel (Camera), Noah (Camera Assist) for capturing the emotion and excitement of Western Sydney film's biggest night. If you're in need of emcee or hosting services, definitely seek out Shetu online.

Mia, thanks for your work as Talent and Artist Liaison, ensuring our filmmakers had a wonderful experience on the red carpet preparing for their interviews.

A round of applause for Prudence Bernadette and James Preston, our MEGA Movie Marathon anchors, Ross (Producer), Vuk (Camera), Janaya (Camera Assist) and Gordie (Sound), for bringing the festival to viewers around the world. If you're looking for talented hosts who can bring energy and personality to your events, we highly recommend reaching out to Prudence and James.

A huge shout-out to Luke Walker of Luke Walker Productions for providing camera crew, equipment, and lighting - and even jumping on the camera himself this year to help with the capture of content for our summer-long program of events.

Your professionalism combined with your fun spirit make you a real joy to work with. We appreciate your support and friendship.

Special thanks to Kerri-Ann Hobbs for volunteering her time, skills and expertise as our Publicity Coordinator in the lead-up to Opening Night and throughout the rest of our festival season. Your dedication to spreading the word about Western Sydney films has been invaluable.

A special mention to Richard, our Event Management Intern, who has volunteered with the festival since 2023 and, this year, completed an internship with us and stepped into a Front of House Assist role. We're grateful for your support and diligence over the past three months.

A heartfelt thank you to the team at Event Cinemas: Teoni, Chris and Craig, and their incredible staff who make our guests feel welcome year in, year out. Cheers to: Chloe, Ronan, Steph, Sophia, Cynthia, Brianna, James, Mikayla, Kaylee, Maddie, Maddy, Lucas and Justin. Your ongoing support and encouragement of the filmmaking scene in Western Sydney means the world to us.

And finally, immense gratitude to the core Made in the West Creative team - Ross Page (Artistic Director), Misty McPhail (General Manager), Jay Knapp (Community and Events Manager), and Mia Gibbs-White (Admin & Operations Assist).

Your collective efforts in the weeks and months leading up to Opening Night have been the backbone of our success.

None of this would be possible without you!

HUGE thanks to all our crew for helping us pull off an amazing night for the Western Sydney film community. It was a fantastic event to kick off the biggest season Western Sydney film has ever seen!

We're excited to now prepare the presentations and DCPs for our Marathon Summer screenings coming soon in December, as well as our flagship online festival experience - our 6th annual MEGA Movie Marathon.

Over the years, Made in the West has provided hundreds of local filmmakers with a dedicated space to share their stories on the big screen.

In 2025 we've expanded our program to include 16 additional screenings across the greater Western Sydney Region.

This summer, you can choose from 8 different movie marathons in our program and head out to watch them on big screens around town. Amazing!

We're also incredibly grateful for the support offered by our sponsors, all the festival judges and our wonderful prize sponsors for making this year's festival so special.

We're giving away $32,000 in prizes including some of the most impactful and industry door-smashing awards in our festival history - we can't wait to announce the final winners on Closing Night Party!

Made in the West Film Festival is made possible by the support offered by all our contributors and WE CAN'T WAIT to continue our 2025 program with even more amazing people on our side.

Make sure you join us throughout the rest of the festival season at pop-up screenings near you and around town in Campbelltown, Liverpool, Bankstown and Parramatta or from the comfort of your own home with our MEGA Movie Marathon. Check out the 2025 Program here.

And by the way, if you're reading this and you think you'd like to work with us at Made in the West and contribute your time or talent to the festival, or join our sponsors and partners list, get in touch and tell us what you think you can do to help! We're always happy to hear from new collaborators.

Thanks again to our wonderful crew!