In the wake of White Night becoming a winter event, a major Melbourne film festival has announced it will shift to the coldest season in 2019. St Kilda Film Festival will take place June 21-30 at its usual home of the Palais Theatre, instead of May as in previous years.
Produced in conjunction with the City of Port Phillip, the festival is one of Australia’s most important showcases of short films and has Academy Accreditation, meaning award winners in short film categories at St Kilda are eligible to be nominated for the Academy Awards.
The change is one of several planned to improve the festival in 2019 and was decided upon because June was thought a better fit within Melbourne’s film festival calendar. The move away from May also puts distance between St Kilda and the Cannes Film Festival, meaning more film professionals and guests will be free to attend.
St Kilda Film Festival producer Richard Moore notes that the new start date is appropriate as June 21 is the shortest day of the year. “We will also be aiming for the shortest speeches in St Kilda Film Festival history,” he adds.
Submissions into the short film competition are set to open in November.
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