Tropfest Australia have announced in partnership with CGU Insurance, the winners of both Tropfest and Trop Jr 2018. 23 year-old Greta Nash was announced as the winner for Tropfest with her film Two Piece, while 15 year-old Tadji Ulrich has been announced as the winner of the world’s largest short film festival for kids, Trop Jr, with his film Outcasts Anonymous.
The event attracted over 45,000 Trop fans to Parramatta Park, as well as being live broadcast on both ABC Comedy and YouTube for fans across the world to enjoy. Greta’s winning film is a heartwarming coming-of-age story about a young girl’s horrific and awkward shopping for a bikini with her mum. 14 year-old Two Piece lead actress Freya Van Dyke was also awarded Best Female Actress for he performance.
The film was judged by an extensive panel of stars including Academy Award Winner Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Lousie), Oscar Nominated Actress Rachel Griffiths (Muriel’s Wedding), Emmy-nominated filmmaker Garth Davis (Lion), BAFTA-nominated documentarian Jennifer Peedom (Mountain) and Logie award-winning actor Rob Collins (Cleverman).
Nash was awarded with a brand new Holden Equinox valued at $45,000 courtesy of Holden, $10,000 cash courtesy of Kennedy Miller Mitchell, a film immersion course and week of meetings in Los Angeles with with agents, studio executives and industry professionals courtesy of the Motion Picture Association. Greta will also receive a $12,500 Studio Filming Prize Package from Western Sydney University, a 12-month Event Cinema Gold Pass, and a trophy exclusively designed by Dinosaur Designs.
Meanwhile, Tadji Ulrich was awarded as the winner of Trop Jr, for his film Outcasts Anonymous, following a support group for supernatural entities such as a vampire, a ghost, and a pair of zombie brothers. The film was inspired by director Taika Waititi’s What We Do In The Shadows.
Founder and Executive Chair John Polson commented on Ulrich’s project, saying “What a brilliant film! Outcasts Anonymous was absolutely phenomenal,” It’s awe-inspiring to see such young filmmakers tackling everything from light-hearted comedies, to the real issues faced by kids and teens every day, with an incredible level of sophistication. I have no reservations in saying that Tadji and the rest of these kids really are the future of filmmaking.”
Tadji was awarded with a $1,500 cash prize, a 12 month Gold Pass courtesy of Venue and Screening Event Cinemas, a visit to an upcoming Australian film shoot to meet the director, behind the scenes visits to departments, and a DVD gift pack courtesy of the Motion Picture Association, a $500 film course voucher from supporter AFTRS, a trophy exclusively designed by Dinosaur Designs, and finally an invitation to judge Trop Jr in 2019.
This year’s competition was judged by a panel of young Aussie stars such as Lincoln Younes (Home and Away), Madeleine Clunies-Ross (A Place to Call Home), Sean Keenan (Puberty Blues), Julian Maroun (Romper Stomper), Tiarnie Coupland (Neighbours), and Trop Jr 2017 winner Nick Ward.
For the full list of winner and further details on Tropfest 2018, you can click here.
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