Calendar – Past Event

There’s twice the chance for filmmakers screening a documentary to get lucky at BBFF2013. As well as BBFF’s Best Documentary Award (documentaries must be over 30 minutes) the festival will present the $5,000 ScreenZone International Documentary Prize sponsored by ScreenZone Media. Any documentary from anywhere in the world is eligible as long as it meets the festivals entry requirements, and to be eligible for the $5,000 ScreenZone Prize, the film must be cleared to sell online within 12 months of the awarding of the prize (see www.screenzone.tv).

The winner of the 2012 award was Press Pause Play, a Swedish film directed by David Dworsky & Victor Köhler that looks at how the digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed creativity in unprecedented ways.

ScreenZone CEO Michael Weatherhead stated, "There is a growing number of high-quality documentaries that are very successful at film festivals, but are not getting to a broader audience because they cater for niche interests and because of the limited timeslots available on TV. On the internet, these films have a massive potential audience, and it becomes much more economically viable online, Because the internet is a relatively open market, ScreenZone aims to help overcome that bottleneck to create a much better outcome for both filmmakers and viewers."

With its non-exclusive contracts and worldwide delivery platform, ScreenZone offers a real incentive to filmmakers from around the globe to join a dynamic film community and celebrate the power of documentaries.

To apply for the Prize in 2013, a documentary must meet the entry requirements of the Byron Bay Film Festival and the fit the brief of the prize.