About Us

Tropfest is Australia’s most prestigious short film festival and one of its most iconic cultural events. It is also the largest short film festival in the world. Founded in 1993 by film director John Polson as a small screening for family and friends at Sydney’s Tropicana Café, the Festival now attracts a national event audience of around 150,000 people. The event is hosted in Sydney with a live national broadcast on SBS 2. The short film competition is unique in that every film must be made specifically for Tropfest, will premiere at Tropfest Australia and include the Tropfest Signature Item (TSI), which changes each year. 16 Finalists are selected from an average 650 entries. Tropfest has expanded internationally to include new competitions and festivals in North America, (New York), the Middle East, New Zealand and South East Asia.