Creative Wollongong Short Film Competition and Festival
Short Film Competition 2025/26 - now open
The Creative Wollongong Short Film Competition is back! Presented in partnership with Screen Illawarra, the competition provides opportunities for emerging and professional filmmakers to hone and showcase their craft by entering a short film.
We're inviting emerging and established filmmakers and storytellers to enter the Creative Wollongong Short Film Competition 2025/26.
There are three categories: Open, 12 - 18 years and Commissioned and pitched films.
Mirroring a Tropfest tradition, all entries are required to hero the same ‘signature item’. In past years, this was a banana, a bike helmet, and water. This year, each entry needs to add the key feature of birds - which can be included as an object, an overall theme, or something else!
Competition entries close on 30 January 2026, with the best entries going on to be screened at the Creative Wollongong Short Film Festival, a free community event on 7 March 2026 being held as part of the Sunset Cinema program.
Important information
The Creative Wollongong Short Film Competition is open to film makers over 12 years old, residing in the Wollongong or Shellharbour Local Government Area. Residents must also be Australian citizens or permanent residents.
Entries into the competition are free, and you can submit as many films as you like.
Make sure to read the full terms and conditions along with the competition guidelines before you enter.
- Read the Competition Guidelines and Terms and Conditions
- Create your short film and upload it to YouTube as an unlisted or private video
- Complete our online form. You'll need to include:
- Your name, date of birth and contact details,
- The link to your video (and if applicable, the password so we can view it),
- Permission from your parent or guardian if you are under 18.
Entries open: Entries are open now!
Entries close: Midnight, Friday 30 January 2026
Winners announced: At the Creative Wollongong Short Film Festival screening, stay tuned for details.
$5,000 in cash and industry training prizes are up for grabs.
We are thrilled to confirm award-winning film and television producer Vincent Sheehan (Fisk, Mullet, Jasper Jones), actor and activist Yael Stone (Orange is the New Black), and one of Australia’s most experienced producers Ian Collie (Colin from Accounts, The Twelve), as the judges for the Creative Wollongong Short Film Competition 2025/26.
Creative Wollongong Short Film Festival
This free community film festival will be held on Saturday 7 March 2026 at the Wollongong Botanic Garden as part of Sunset Cinema.
The Creative Wollongong Short Film Festival will showcase the best entries from the Short Film competition along with commissioned films, all referencing this year's signature theme item - birds.
Stay tuned for more details!
Short Film Commissions
| Short film commission recipient | Producer | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| Elkie Chadwick / Firebird | Eye Candy Productions | Wollongong City Council |
| Ruth Larner / Mama Bird | Relativity Films | Wollongong City Council |
| Jane Fullerton-Smith / Bin Day | Moonlander Media | Wollongong City Council |
| Vlad Zokitch / Birdwatcher | Who & Why Media | Wollongong City Council |
| Glenn Hanns / Mimick | Sketchbook TV | Wollongong City Council |
| Rose Newland / Faye | Ten Alphas | NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water |
| Lake Illawarra High School | CoEqual | Wollongong City Council Coastal team in conjunction with Shellharbour Council |
| Bus Stop Films | Bus Stop Films | Wollongong City Council |
Thank you to our supporters
Supported by Sunset Cinema, the Guardians of the Grassy Woodlands project led by the Illawarra Ecosystems and Threatened Species Team, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Coequal, Bus Stop Films, ITeC Academy, TAFE NSW , TEN ALPHAS, Yours & Owls, Illawarra Film Society, Moonlander Films, Relativity Films, Sketchbook TV , Who & Why Media and Eye Candy Film Productions.
Past winners
In 2024, the hero item of the competition was 'water'.
The inaugural Creative Wollongong Short Film Festival was held at Lakeside Reserve on 7 September 2024 and featured the "best of" entries from the 2024 competition, hosted in partnership with Screen Illawarra, Shellharbour City Council and the NSW Government.
The winners shared in $6,000 worth of prizes, short courses and equipment hire from Australian Film Television and Radio School, Ten Alphas, Wollongong Camera Hire and SF3.
Best film
| Category | Winners |
|---|---|
| Ages 12 to 24 |
|
| Ages 25+ |
|
| Commissioned films |
|
Best performance
| Category | Winners |
|---|---|
| All ages |
|
| Commissioned films |
|
Congratulations to the winners of the 2021 Creative Wollongong Short Film Competition, which was bike-themed to celebrate the 2022 UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong.
| Category | Winners |
|---|---|
| 8 to 12 years |
|
| 13 to 19 years |
|
| Best performance |
|