The Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival will this year be returning for its 12th year of celebrating cinematography. Since its inception, the festival’s mission has been to give a stage to only the best of the best short films from around the world that encapsulate what it is to touch audiences emotionally through the magic of film making. This October Gympie will once again play host, from the 3rd of October until the 6th, to this truly important event, that places our beautiful Sunshine Coast Region on the map in the world of film making.

The four-day program includes industry master-classes, a spectacular opening night gala, awards night party and up to 30 sessions of shorts from all genres that best capture Heart of Gold’s vision to screen films that are positive, witty, entertaining, joyous, uplifting, enlightening and ground-breaking. They can be edgy, they can be thought-provoking and they can be downright hilarious – as long as they “beat with a good, strong heart”.

All films in the festival compete for the Best Short Film award, which carries a generous prize of $5000. Other award categories include: Best Australian Short Film, Best Student Short Film (University Students), Screener’s Choice, Best Cinematography, Best Script, and Younger at Heart (for budding high school film-makers). It truly is a fantastic opportunity for students and young dreamers to have their creations seen for the first time on the big screen – not to mention the generous boost to their resources and the vast amount of knowledge and expertise on offer through the master-classes. For the 2019 festival, Aaron Pederson will be taking on the role of patron. Aaron is an Australian actor and producer, best known for Mystery Road (2013), Goldstone (2016), and darklovestory; and is reportedly delighted to be able to host the Heart of Gold Film Awards night.

While the official itinerary of the event has yet to be released, teasers have begun to surface here of what is to come, along with some of the master-classes and their famous teachers – so for more information on the event as it all comes to light, or to reserve your tickets for the show now, head on over to the official website and I’ll see you on the red carpet.