Flickerfest 2013

Overview

Few things spell summer so much as outdoor cinema, and Flickerfest does it with highlighter pens and capital letters. The festival sets up shop at Sydney's quintessential beach, Bondi, for 10 days in January to showcase its impeccably picked short films.

Flickerfest is renowned for being Australia's only competition accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science and recognised by BAFTA, which means award winners here go on to be considered for Oscars. In 2013, this recognition has extended from the Best Short Film and Best Animation categories to cover the Best Australian Short, too. It's a huge badge of honour for Flickerfest, which had its humble beginnings 22 years ago at Balmain High School.

For us in the audience, it means 116 fine films selected from 2300 fierce local and international contenders. They're shown in programs of about 100 minutes, which include Australian and international competition streams in five parts, the Greenflicks environmentally themed films, and a Celebrity Shorts grouping studded with stars from Michael Fassbender to Judi Dench.

With their not-so-commercial prerogatives and YouTube-able length, short films are a very fun watch — and yet we rarely get to see them in public screenings. Flickerfest is our premier remedy for this, first in Sydney and then around the country as it goes on national tour. You'll find day and stormy-weather sessions in the art deco Bondi Pavilion, as well as the accompanying bar.