BOFA aims to play an important role in the development of Tasmania as a creative state with an appealing lifestyle and a vibrant screen industry. BOFA  wants to be seen as THE Tasmanian film festival which is ‘owned’ by the local screen industry with competitions, prizes and awards to aim towards – competitions that promote excellence and are a benchmark for the state.

In 2013 the intention is to conduct three screen competitions:

• Essence of Tasmania short film competition with prizes up to $20,000. Now open. Entries close 31st May 2013 at 5pm AEDST (details below)
• The Make a Difference (MAD) short film competition with prizes of $8,000 – opening in March 2013
• The BOFA Script competition (in partnership with AWG and Screen Tasmania) with prizes of AWG membership, software and mentoring – confirmation details to be announced mid year

The Tasmanian Breath of Fresh Air (BOFA) Film Festival “Essence of Tasmania” Short Film Competition. Now open. Entries close 31st May 2013 at 5pm AEDST

Tourism Tasmania is sponsoring 4 x AUD5,000 prizes to filmmakers who can capture the essence of Tasmania.

Brief

Do you have the creative flair to capture the essence of Tasmania in less than three minutes?

Engage and inspire others to explore Tasmania and pick up AUD5,000 for your troubles.

Tourism Tasmania believes that short film is the perfect medium to showcase all that is brilliant about Tassie; from its natural beauty to the characters that dwell here. This is not about making a television commercial or travelogue; this is about telling Tasmania’s story in your way. Be as creative as you wish. You might see Tasmania through the eyes of a visitor, follow the path of your convict ancestors, tell an evocative tale, or take a quirky approach.

Context*

Visitors to Tasmania are ‘Life Long Learners’ and they look to Tasmania as an opportunity for exploration and to spend quality time – whether that be with family and friends or away from the everyday grind. Tasmania rewards visitors with a rich journey of discovery and while in Tasmania our Life Long Learners are spoilt with experiences that are “in the raw”, with stories to be told at every turn, unexpected revelations and nooks and crannies that make Tasmania truly bigger on the inside.

Tasmania moves at a different pace; the discoveries are richer and allow them to truly absorb the surroundings. When you come to Tasmania you turn your brain ‘on not off’ and over the period of your stay you find yourself developing an emotional entanglement that will see you wishing to come back time and time again.

Your film could be used to promote Tasmania to the world in various forms of communication including social media.

Practical Requirements

The Tasmanian Breath of Fresh Air (BOFA) Film Festival, Australia’s newest and freshest film festival in conjunction with Tourism Tasmania invites you to capture the “Essence of Tasmania” in a short film in English or subtitled, shot in high definition and no longer than 3 minutes in any of the following genres:

• drama;
• documentary;
• humour (comedy);
• romance;
• grand adventure;
• sci-fi

Tell us a story, with a beginning, middle and end. It may be quirky; unique; distinctive; imaginative; unforgettable; breathtaking; funny; sad; evocative; exciting; or simply beautiful. The context for your film is Tasmania; but the context does not necessitate footage shot in Tasmania. Entry is open to anyone anywhere in the world.

A summary of the winning entries from our 2012 Essence of Tasmania Short Film Competition can be found here http://campaigns.discovertasmania.com/national/bofa2012

Please read the Terms and Conditions in detail. For any queries contact Owen Tilbury,Festival Director,M.0407 501 287 P.03 6331 8158 owentilbury at bofa.com.au

Entry Form   Entry Brief and Terms & Conditions

BOFA Devil Screen Awards

The annual BOFA Devil Screen Awards are curated by the Artistic Directors, Trish Lake and Rowan Woods, and are presented at the BOFA Devil Screen Awards dinner (Saturday November 9th, 2013) in the categories of:

• Career – for a life-time of excellence in screen production (won in 2012 by Andrew Knight)
• Director – for excellence in screen direction (won in 2012 by Robert Connolly)
• Actor – for excellence in screen acting (won in 2012 by Jimi Bani)
• Writer- for excellence in Tasmanian screen writing (as judged in the BOFA Script competition) (won in 2012 by Franz Docherty and Belinda Bradley)
• Innovator – for the innovative production of and/or use of Tasmanian screen based stories (judged in collaboration with Screen Tasmania) (won in 2012 by Niall Doran of Bookend Trust)
• Short – for excellence in short screen production (as judged in the BOFA MAD short film competition)(won in 2012 by Paul Jerndal of Sweden)

Subscribe to the free BOFA newsletter to get updates as the programme firms up

Highlights from BOFA 2012

2012 BOFA Script Competition

Download the entry form here

Tasmanian Breath Of Fresh Air Film Festival, Screen Tasmania, Final Draft and the Australian Writers’ Guild are proud to present a joint initiative for Tasmanian performance writers.

If you have written a script for a feature film, short film, TV series, tele-movie or documentary, don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to win 12-months free membership of the Australian Writers’ Guild, a copy of Final Draft 8 professional script writing software AND get your work read by industry experts.

In an effort to give promising Tasmanian projects the best possible chance of production, the short-listed and winning scripts of the BOFA Competition will be added to the AWG’s Pathways Program, an initiative designed to fast-track potential projects by matching the writer with targeted producers, production executives and/or directors.

This is an invaluable prize as the hardest aspect of being a writer is getting your work read and produced. Here’s an opportunity to get your foot in the door.

Criteria

To be eligible you must:

• Be a Tasmanian resident
• Have a completed script for feature film, short film, TV series, tele-movie or documentary
• Have paid the entry fee at the time of submission
• Own all the rights to the project

Application Information

To apply you will need to submit the following via admin@awg.com.au in PDF format:

• Log line (one sentence synopsis of the story)
• One paragraph synopsis of the story
• First 15-pages of your script
• Payment details (see below)

Originals are not to be supplied, as applications and supporting material will not be returned.

Judging

An industry panel will judge the competition. In the first round judges will
assess the applications for:

• Excellence in craft and skill
• The ability to engage the reader in the writer’s vision
• The potential for the project to be produced

A short list will be determined according to the above criteria. Shortlisted
applicants will be contacted by telephone at the end of the first round. In the second round, the short-listed applicant’s full script will be assessed. The shortlist will be publicly announced and the winner(s) announced at the BOFA Film Festival.

ENTRIES NOW CLOSED

“Make A Difference” Short Film Competition

BOFA showcases shorts, features and documentaries which provide a fresh perspective on and/or an innovative approach to screen-based story telling that inspires positive change.

But, the heart and soul of the festival lies in inspiring people to make changes at a personal, local and global level. The stories we choose, the film makers we recognise, the community events we run, the ideas we debate, the competitions we run, the money we raise and the hopes we nurture, are all about leaving the world better than we found it.

In conjunction with Bendigo Bank, Volunteering Tasmania and Rotary Club of Tamar Sunrise, plus prize givers Jackson Volkswagen, UTAS, Tasmanian Centre for Global Learning and Launceston City Council, BOFA is offering short film-makers of all ages the chance to show us in three (3) minutes a story (real or imaginary) about making a positive difference.

Tell us a well constructed story, with a beginning, middle and end. It may be inspiring; sad; amazing; imaginative; challenging; instructive; exciting; or simply a wonderful story. It must be in English or subtitled, shot in high definition and under 3 minutes in any of the following genres: drama; documentary; humour (comedy); romance; grand adventure; or even sci-fi.

Films will be judged in terms of their: excellence in story telling; excellence in film making; excellence in capturing the Make a Difference theme.
Your idea for this short film is limited only by your own creativity. Perhaps you already know a volunteer in the community or know someone who volunteers and want to tell their story? Or you may be passionate about preserving the environment, protecting animals or promoting human rights? Do you have an inspiring personal story of overcoming adversity? Is there a story about a technology or programme which is making a difference?
There are prizes for:

1. BOFA Make A Difference Open Award $5,000 donated by Jackson Volkswagen - Short film-makers or organisations from anywhere in the world engaged in making a difference are invited to tell us your story or create a film that powerfully tells a story of making a difference.

2. BOFA Make A Difference Australian Youth under twenty five Award, $2,000 donated by UTAS and Launceston City Council – If you are an Australian film maker under the age of thirty we want your perspective on making a difference. Using your own experience, a news story or from your imagination you would need to capture dramatically a story of making a difference

3. BOFA Make A Difference Tasmanian Grade 9-12 Students Award, $1,000 donated by Tasmanian Centre for Global Learning – Are you a Tasmanian school student in grade 9-12 who is interested in filmmaking? Do you dream of one day becoming a famous film maker? Or do you have a creative flair and want to see what you can achieve with a video camera and a big idea?

The best of the films from each category will be shown for free at the Tasmanian Breath of Fresh Air Film Festival in the QVMAG Exhibition Gallery during the festival (8-11 November 2012) and ideally for weeks afterwards.

As well, the Make a Difference message will be distributed further by uploading the best films onto YouTube and ideally running a People’s Choice competition via Facebook to find the best short film in the eyes of the viewers.

ENTRIES NOW CLOSED

People Choose the Essence of Tasmania -
and win free tickets

The Tasmanian Breath of Fresh Air (BOFA) Film Festival has launched a new twist on a short film competition – a crowd-sourcing competition for YouTube viewers to choose their favourite.

In early 2012 film-makers were invited by Tourism Tasmania and BOFA Film Festival to attempt to capture the “Essence of Tasmania” in a short film in English or subtitled, shot in high definition and no longer than 3 minutes in any of the following genres: drama; documentary; humour (comedy); romance; grand adventure; sci-fi.

Their task was to tell us a story, with a beginning, middle and end. It could be quirky; unique; distinctive; imaginative; unforgettable; breathtaking; funny; sad; evocative; exciting; or simply beautiful. The context was Tasmania; but the context did not necessitate footage shot in Tasmania.

Announcing the judges decisions of the best seven 3 minute short films BOFA Festival Director , Owen Tilbury, praised the story-telling skills of the winning entries and of those commended.

These were films that made us laugh, films that made us pause and think, and most of all films that captured the essence of Tasmania in its many facets.

Tony Mayell, CEO of Tourism Tasmania, said

We are delighted by the way the entries presented such different views of Tasmania. Each captured an essence of Tasmania that went beyond the predictable.

The winning seven shorts have all been loaded onto YouTube at:

Essence of Tasmania Short Film Competition 2012 WInners

• Nick Stranger: A Portrait of Tasmanian Surfing – Simon Treweek
• Mr Thomkins’ Pies – by David Broadfield
• My Tasmania – by Saige Dingemanse
• The Grim Experience – Andrew Quaile
• The Tigers – by Tristan Klein
• Best Kept Secret – David Pyefinch
• Heaven of Spirituality, Home of Peace – by Shung Yiu Wong

BOFA is now offering all people the opportunity to vote for their favourite. The short which gets the most votes as favourite will be voted People’s Choice. All voters will be given a half price ticket to the BOFA film festival in November (www.bofa.com.au) and five lucky voters will get a free full festival pass to attend the whole festival for free.

Voters should go to our Facebook voting page

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED