St Kilda Film Festival announces 2024 award winners

The St Kilda Film Festival is over for another year, and with that, so is Australia’s Top Short Films Competition.

Each year, the competition receives hundreds of short film submissions from around the country, that are then assessed by a panel. The shortlisted films are then judged by a jury of festival alumni and industry experts.

Australia’s Top Short Film Competition awards a $10,000 prize for Best Short Film. Other awards include Best Director, Best Achievement in Screenplay, Best Documentary and Best Achievement in Cinematography.

Accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the St Kilda Film Festival is an Academy Awards qualifying event, which means award-winning films from the competition are eligible for consideration in the Short Film Awards and Documentary Short sections of the Oscars. 

This year’s winner of Best Short Film award was the whimsical-sounding 21-minute The Dancing Girl and The Ballon Man, directed by David Ma and produced by Georgia Noe. The synopsis: ‘Romance blooms between a dim sum shop assistant and a street performer in Chinatown, who carries them in the safety of his balloon on a rainy night.’

Read: How to make an amazing short film: hacks from a festival director

Here are all the winners from the 2024 competition.

The St Kilda Film Festival 2024 short film awards winners

Best Short Film

Winner: The Dancing Girl and The Balloon Man
Director: David Ma
Producer: Georgia Noe

Under the Radar – Best Youth Short Film

Winner: Kotoba
Director: Kaede Miyamura
Producer: Evangeline Parks

Innovation Award

Winner: Yeah The Boys
Director: Stefan Hunt
Producer: Alex Taussig

Best Director

Winner: Hafekasi
Director: Annelise Hickey
Producer: Josie Baynes

Best Documentary

Winner: Marungka Tjalatjunu (Dipped in Black)
Director: Matthew Thorne, Derik Lynch
Producer: Matthew Thorne, Patrick Graham

Best Animation

Winner: Bird Drone
Director: Radheya Jang Jegatheva
Producer: Hannah Ngo

Best Actor

Winner: Kartanya Maynard (LEAN IN)

Best Young Actor

Winner: Will Wiseman (Miriam)

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Winner: Dan Macarthur (Katele (mudskipper))

Best Achievement in Indigenous Filmmaking

Winner: Katele (mudskipper)
Director: John Harvey
Producer: Gillian Moody, John Harvey

Best Achievement in Screenplay

Winner: David Ma (The Dancing Girl and The Balloon Man)

Best Achievement in Editing

Winner: 14 In February
Director: Victoria Singh-Thompson
Producer: Lily Warland, Pip Smart, Anna Mannix

Best Achievement in Sound Post-Production.

Winners: Martin Gallagher & James Tate (Earwax)

Best Original Score

Winner: The Avalanches (Yeah The Boys)

For more information, head to the St Kilda Film Festival website.