CinefestOZ today announced four unique Australian films, including two made in Western Australia, are in the running to win Australia’s richest $100,000 film prize at their 2025 festival, which will be held in Margaret River from 30th August 30 until 7th September.
CinefestOZ Board Chair, Margaret Buswell said each of the films told a distinctive Australian story.
“I’m thrilled to share our four finalists for the 2025 Film Prize, which recognises excellence in filmmaking from an Australian feature film.”
“Each of the films showcase distinctive Australian stories brought to life through clever and compelling storytelling and exceptional talent, both in front of and behind the camera,” Buswell said.
“We are delighted that these standout films will have their WA premiere at CinefestOZ, where audiences can enjoy them alongside visiting film talent and the official Film Prize Jury. The 2025 $100000 Film Prize winner will then be announced during the spectacular Film Prize Celebration on Saturday September 6.”
The four finalists are We Bury The Dead from director Zak Hilditch, Birthright from Zoe Pepper, documentary Songs Inside from filmmaker Shalom Almond, and One More Shot, a comedy from director Nicholas Clifford.
Arts Minister Simone McGurk said the WA government was committed to supporting the screen industry.
“The Cook Government has provided $620,750 in Funding for CinefestOZ 2025, to attract the best of Australian filmmaking talent to the South West region.
“It is a fantastic opportunity to promote WA’s screen industry, and an important industry event to showcase our State as a filming destination.
“We’re committed to growing local talent, building creative career pathways and attracting international investment.
“It’s part of our plan to make more events, productions, screen opportunities and creative jobs in Western Australia.” the minister said.
Find out more about the films in the running for the prize
We Bury The Dead
From acclaimed writer/director Zak Hilditch (1922, These Final Hours), We Bury The Dead is a gripping and emotional thriller set after a military experiment decimates the people of Tasmania.
Daisy Ridley stars as Ava, a desperate woman who joins a “body retrieval unit” in the hopes of finding her husband alive. Ava’s search takes a chilling turn, however, when the corpses she’s burying start showing signs of life…
Starring Daisy Ridley, (Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens), Brenton Thwaites and Mark Coles Smith, We Bury The Dead delivers unexpected twists that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats. We Bury the Dead had it’s world premiere at SXSW in Texas earlier this year.
Songs Inside
A group of incarcerated women sign up to learn an instrument and write their own songs as part of a music program inside the Adelaide Women’s Prison.
The women – who come to the program low in confidence and self-worth – are quickly thrown into a world of creativity and blossoming self-determination. But the process also opens up deep scars around trauma and addiction, threatening a once-in-a-lifetime prison performance alongside the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Written and Directed by Shalom Almond. Songs Inside comes to CinefestOZ fresh after winning Sydney Film Festival’s $20,000 Documentary Australia Award.
One More Shot
On New Year’s Eve, 1999, with Y2K anxieties in the air and ‘Coco Jamboo’ on the radio, glum anaesthetist Minnie jumps at the chance to attend a party with her ex, Joe, whom she still hasn’t gotten over. But everything goes wrong when she realises that Joe is there with a new girlfriend and plans to propose.
One swig from a bottle of tequila after midnight and, in the blink of an eye, Minnie has travelled back in time to the beginning of the party — a process that, she discovers, repeats with every drink she takes.
Each do-over presents a new opportunity to fix her mistakes or compound them further. But will any of them allow her to win back Joe’s heart, or understand what it means to live with the consequences of her actions? One More Shot is a Melbourne International Premiere Funded film.
Birthright
Evicted and jobless, Cory and his pregnant wife are forced to stay with his parents. As the younger couple’s stay extends the parents’ become worried that their disappointing son will never leave the house.
Desperate to prove himself, the edges of Cory’s reality slip away and he finds an unexpected path to success that detonates the family.
Birthright has been celebrated at Tribecca in New York and Sydney Film Festivals. It was supported through Screenwest’s West Coast visions fund for debut directors.
The full festival program will be unveiled on 17 July, but early bird tickets from some events are already available. Head to CinemafestOZ for all the details.
Declaration: Director Zak Hilditch and OUTinPerth co-editor Graeme Watson previously worked together at the Film and Television Institute WA.
