thumb|Tropfest in [[Sydney, February 2011]]
Tropfest, originally named Tropicana Short Film Festival, is an Australian short film festival held in Sydney. After being founded by actor/director John Polson in 1993, it became the largest platform for short films in the world. Lack of funding caused its cancellation in 2015, with the next festival taking place in Centennial Park in February 2016 after funding was sourced. The 2017 Tropfest was held in Parramatta Park. It went on hiatus after the 2019 event after experiencing financial difficulties, but returned in February 2026 at Centennial Park.
History
Australia
The festival's name is derived from the first year's location—the Tropicana Caffe in Darlinghurst, an inner-eastern suburb of Sydney. It was established in 1993 by Australian-born filmmaker John Polson, who had originally, by arrangement with the proprietor of the Tropicana Caffe, screened his short film Surry Hills: 902 Spring Roll there, for an audience comprising cast, crew, and friends which grew to 200. In 1993, he oversaw the first "Tropicana Short Film Festival", which screened nine short films.
By 2008, Tropfest had the backing and marketing power of the Sony Corporation.
In 2014, the organisers moved the festival from its usual month of February to December, hoping to reduce the chance of rainy weather. However, severe storms led to the evacuation of the festival site.
On 11 November 2015 Polson announced that the 2015 Sydney Tropfest had been cancelled. Polson said he had discovered that to his "surprise" Tropfest was facing a financial crisis and could not proceed due to a lack of funds. An outpouring of support for Tropfest quickly appeared over social media, including Twitter and Facebook, with calls for generous benefactors, state or federal government support, or crowd-funding.
On 6 December, the day that the 16 Tropfest finalist films were to have screened at Centennial Park, In February 2016, Polson said that there had been "massive, massive financial mismanagement" by Tropfest managing director John Laverty, who had been managing the Vivid Sydney festival for several years, and had not responded to attempts to contact him. Polson also announced that they would be changing the festival licensing model, no longer asking for exclusive rights in perpetuity to the films screened at the festival. Mel Gibson was invited to be one of the 2016 Tropfest judges, "because he's an Australian icon", although the move attracted some criticism because of his recent racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic comments.
In 2017, Mad Max filmmaker George Miller joined the Tropfest board.
On 1 September 2025, it was announced that Tropfest would be returning after a six-year hiatus in February 2026, with the help of industry partners YouTube and Commonwealth Bank, with Nine Network as a major broadcaster. Sarah Murdoch was appointed chairwoman of the new organisation, The Tropfest Foundation, with Peter V'landys and Bryan Brown on the board of directors. The February 2026 edition of Tropfest, held at Centennial Park on 22 February, attracted an audience of over 35,000 people. Margot Robbie was president of the jury. At least until 2015, founder-organiser Polson selected the finalists himself.
- 1st Prize: $50,000
- 2nd Prize: $30,000
- 3rd Prize: $20,000
Locations and broadcast in Australia
The main event from 1993 to 2016 took place in Sydney but live satellite events have also been staged in Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart, Perth, and other cities. The event has been broadcast live on television by ABC Comedy, Movie Network, SBS and other networks and webcast to viewers around Australia and the world. In August 2016 it was announced that, beginning in February 2017, the venue would be moved to Parramatta in western Sydney.
Tropfest finalists and legacy
Patrick Hughes, whose film Lighter won in 2001, has gone on to direct numerous Hollywood movies, including War Machine, The Hitman's Bodyguard, and The Expendables 3.
Abe Forsythe, who won in 2010 (with Shock) and finished second in 2009 (with Being Carl Williams), directed the feature films Ned, Down Under, and Little Monsters, and the TV series Wolf Like Me.
Emma Freeman, who won in 2002 with Lamb, has gone on to direct on TV, including episodes of Love My Way, Offspring, Puberty Blues, The Secret Life of Us and Glitch.
Damon Gameau won Tropfest 2011 for Animal Beatbox, going on to make a name for himself with That Sugar Film and others. Counter (2007), Photo Booth (2012), Remote (2013), Evil Mexican Child (2014), Accomplice (2017) and Notes to Salma (2019)
The NFSA holds copies of many Tropfest entries, as well as documents and artefacts related to Tropfest, for example, in 2001, entry guidelines; a VIP invitation; festival program; posters; a sponsorship and promotional prospectus as well as the trailer titled The Pitch, featuring a young Rose Byrne and Joel Edgerton.
- 2019Candle
- 2018Rose
- 2017Pineapple
- 2016Card
- 2014Mirror
- 2013, DecemberChange