Made in the West Film Festival is celebrating Western Sydney filmmakers with a HUGE night of locally produced short films and music videos coming your way on Saturday 4 December.
Did you hear? We’re celebrating our 10th birthday!!
Thanks to our awesome venue sponsors at Event Cinemas, we'll be showcasing more films than ever before at our 10th anniversary festival, taking over the V-Max cinema screen in Liverpool for an epic night of filmmaker awards and local films.
Brace yourselves for the biggest movie marathon of the year with three segments of films, ten individual awards, two intermissions, FOUR festival trophies, one live audience vote and plenty of applause for the Western Sydney Film community. We can't wait!
Doors open at 6:30pm -- get ready for the red carpet! Our festival photographers will be there to capture the night and snap a few pics of you and your cast & crew as you arrive. Dress to impress!
With three 1-hour segments and two 30-minute intermissions, you’ll have plenty of time to catch up with friends and meet a few local film stars during the breaks. We’re partying inside the cinema this year, so send one of your crew to the bar to grab some fresh drinks and then make your way down to the front of the cinema to our lounge seats to mingle.
Every year we hear of stories of filmmakers meeting future collaborators at Made in the West and we LOVE IT!
The Candy Bar will be serving hot food and snacks until late, so there’s no need to go anywhere for dinner. Order any time and the cinema team will have your hot food ready to collect during the 8pm or 9.30pm intermission.
As you can imagine, we’re chuffed as can be about returning to Event Cinemas Liverpool to throw our 10th birthday bash!
So GET READY Western Sydney!
On behalf of the Still Searchin’ Productions team and the whole Western Sydney filmmaking community, we’d like to thank our Gold+ Screen Sponsors Western Sydney University and our wonderful venue sponsors Event Cinemas in Liverpool for being champions of the local film scene.
We are absolutely thrilled to be working with them this year to grow Western Sydney film audiences and develop community support for local filmmakers.
TICKETS ARE OPEN NOW
What are you waiting for? Gather your friends and reserve your seat in the audience at this one-time-only celebration!
Tickets are FREE for general admission, with the option to reserve some of the best seats in the house for 20 bucks.
For those looking to splurge on reserved seating PLUS buy your way into the winners circle, then you can purchase one of our VIP Exclusive tickets! Here’s your chance to mingle with special guests at our exclusive Pre-Festival Party with champagne upon arrival, reserved seating during the screening and awards, plus a VIP lanyard that gets you popcorn and soft drinks all night. Sounds great, right?
The price is set high at 100 bucks, because exclusive access to VIP Filmmaker treats is not something we give away lightly! Really though, this ticket is a donation to the festival and a way to show your support for Made in the West and what we do. All proceeds from ticket sales go towards event running costs.
Our huge Vmax cinema seats 330 people very comfortably and according to the Covid-safe rules, we are currently accepting 75% and will likely be able to bump that up to 100% capacity very soon. If we reach our current limit on General Admission tickets, then we’ll run a waitlist and open up more seats closer to the date if it’s allowed.
Please bear in mind that the NSW Health guidelines currently do not allow unvaccinated folks to attend the cinema. You can read more here about how we’re preparing to host a Covid safe festival.
BUY MERCH TO WIN A VIP EXPERIENCE FOR FOUR!
Help us keep the festival going for another year with some shiny new products from our new Made in the West MERCH shop!
We've got T-SHIRTS, MASKS, SOCKS, BACKPACKS, NOTEBOOKS, HATS, DUFFLE BAGS, MUGS, COASTERS, STICKERS, BADGES, TECH ACCESSORIES and so much more.
RedBubble is a carbon neutral company with ethical work practices and sustainably sourced materials. Plus, all products are made to order, which means you’ll be doing your part for the planet, while showing your support for the festival.
Share a photo of your #Westie merch online and tag the festival to go in the draw to WIN a VIP EXPERIENCE for FOUR! Valued at $500, you and three friends will score some of the best seats in the house, plus an exclusive invite to our pre-festival party where you get to mingle with festival judges, sponsors, Western Sydney VIPs and our 2021 finalists ahead of the show, with champagne upon arrival, reserved seating during the screening and awards, plus popcorn and soft drinks all night.
We’ll announce the winner on Friday 26 October! Don’t worry if you already have tickets booked, we’ll trade yours in for the VIP Exclusive set if you are announced the WINNER.
Add-on a copy of Made in the West Magazine to your ticket purchase and we’ll have it ready for you to pick up at the festival. You’ll love this LIMITED EDITION magazine featuring all the contributors from a decade of festivals, snapshots of the red carpet, interviews with filmmakers, ten years of festival posters, a winners’ almanac, spin-offs and side projects, and of course, we look back on ten years of festival history.
The Magazine is a testament to ten years of passionate advocacy for Western Sydney filmmakers and a unique representation of the amazing community that lives, works and creates out west.
AWARDS AND TROPHIES
While the judges are deliberating over this year’s films, we’re busy wondering which filmmaker in the Official Selection will be taking home one of our gorgeous crystal trophies this year!
We’re always keen to find out the judges’ decisions. Their scores combined will determine the trophy winners for the 2021 Best Student Film and Best in the West award for indie filmmakers.
But who says they should have all the fun? We’re giving you the chance to send someone home with the highly coveted Audience Choice Award - as voted by YOU on the night!
And yes, AS you might have heard, this year there will be FOUR trophies awarded - we’re upping the ante for our 10th anniversary celebration, with our first ever Best Music Video Award!
We’re excited to be showcasing more music videos than ever before this year, so the competition for that inaugural award is going to be fierce. It’s going to be great!
Have you checked out the Official Selection films? This year’s line-up is damn impressive and we can’t wait to see it on the big screen!
Nominations for individual category awards will be announced at the end of next week too.
Did you see our final countdown to the festival? Get the full run down on awards and announcements coming up this month!
ONLINE FESTIVAL TICKETS OPEN SOON
For those of you who can’t join us at the cinema (or prefer to party at home these days), then watch out because we’re bringing the red carpet to you just one week later!
Follow the filmmakers online and tune in via your TV, laptop or mobile device. Reserve your ticket and we’ll send you the link on Friday 10 December at 5pm.
You'll have 48hours to watch the show!
Tickets will set you back a very reasonable $9 for individual access or $15 for households, with three full hours of Made in the West MAGIC including 21 short films, filmmaker interviews, red carpet highlights and all the buzz of the live festival experience.
All proceeds support Made in the West event costs and future festivals.
So no matter where you are or what your situation, if you’re tuning in for Made in the West this year then you’re in for a treat! So gather your friends, get some popcorn and a drink, then sit back and enjoy the show.
And… ACTION!