Tropfest is Australia’s most prestigious short film festival, and is regarded as one of Australia's most iconic cultural events. It is also the largest short film festival in the world. Tropfest is known for its contribution to the development of the Australian film industry by providing unique platforms for emerging filmmakers through its events and initiatives, and new audiences for their work.

Founded in the 1993 by film director John Polson, the ‘Tropicana Short Film Festival’ [as it was originally known] started as an informal short film screening for cast, crew and friends at the Tropicana Cafe in Sydney’s Darlinghurst. More than 200 people showed up. Inspired by the turn out, John decided that a full-fledged short film festival was the next step.

Eighteen years on, Tropfest attracts a live national audience of more than 150,000 people on a single night. The event is hosted at Sydney’s Domain in the Royal Botanic Gardens, with live satellite links to outdoor locations in Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide and Surfer’s Paradise.

In 2009, for the first time, Movie Extra conducted a live television broadcast of the event as part of their naming rights sponsorship of the 2009 – 2012 Australian events. This partnership made the festival available to more than 1 million subscribers at home and at unofficial sites including pubs, clubs and community centres around the country.

The annual short film competition is open to anyone who wishes to enter – regardless of his or her background or experience. 16 Finalists are selected from an entry pool of an average 650 entries and compete for more than $200k in prizes. Tropfest films are unique in that they have all been made specifically for Tropfest, will premiere at Tropfest and include the Tropfest Signature Item (or TSI). The TSI for Movie Extra Tropfest 2010 is “DICE”.

The event is free – and open to anyone who wishes to attend. The festival itself is an outdoor celebration complete with live music and entertainment on the Gibson Artist Stage, public catering and bars, red carpet arrivals and the highly anticipated film screenings followed by an awards ceremony.

The support and involvement of film personalities from around the world has become one of the trademarks of the festival. Selection of the winning Tropfest film takes place live on the night of the festival by a panel of high profile industry and celebrity judges.

Past judges have included Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Catherine Martin, Toni Collette, Rose Byrne, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, John Woo, Samuel L Jackson, Baz Luhrmann, Keanu Reeves, Sam Neill, Ewan McGregor, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jane Campion, Salma Hayek, George Miller and Gabriel Byrne to name a few.

The festival attracts a wide degree of media coverage but it is the casual, grass roots nature of the event, rather than its high profile, which ensures the continued support of its patrons and guests.

The competition is taken very seriously and is considered the winner’s ticket to a successful career in film or television. Notable alumni include Alister Grierson, Rowan Woods, Clayton Jacobson, Nash Edgerton, Peter Carstairs, Rob Carlton and Elissa Down.