Entries open for local film festival

SUBMISSIONS are now open for this year’s North Bellarine Film Festival, with the 2025 event boasting more prize money.

The film festival, to be held on November 14 and November 15, is now heading into its ninth year and aims to provide high quality cinema to the Bellarine while fostering emerging and young talent.

Participants can submit their works for consideration in the Emerging Filmmaker and Emerging Documentary Filmmaker award categories, while a People’s Choice prize will also be awarded.

North Bellarine Festival committee vice-president Robert Walton said they are hoping to get around 90 applications this year.

“We’re hoping to get a good collection of emerging filmmaker films and we’re certainly well on the track for that. We’ve got five already which is fantastic.

“We want to see some emerging filmmaker awards that’s probably a little bit more specialised and we’re hopeful that we can get a good collection of those as well.”

The Emerging Filmmaker and Emerging Documentary Filmmaker award winners will both receive a $750 prize, an increase from last year’s $500.

This will also be the second year the festival has been held in Portarlington’s Parks Hall, with an official launch for the event to be held later in the year.

Despite being run by a small committee of just five people, Mr Watson said they were delighted with last year’s event and are using feedback to improve this year’s festival.

“There’s a lot of work being spread out by only a few people but we’re pretty excited. I think it’s going to be like last year was, a real stepping stone into Portarlington,” he said.

“We’re really hopeful that we can maintain that momentum going into this year and we’re looking forward to an equally, if not a more successful, festival this year.”

Submissions for the festival close on August 31.

For more information, head to northbellarinefilmfestival.org