About Us
Festival History
Established in 1954, the Sydney Film Festival is one of the leading international film festivals and a key Winter event in Sydney.
Premiering the hottest films from Australia and around the globe, the festival presents a sophisticated program of over 200 films, red carpet events, awards nights and masterclasses in a jam-packed 16-day period enjoyed by more than 133,000 film lovers each year.
The program celebrates the best of the world’s cinema and includes features, short films, animations, documentaries and retrospectives, as well as a series of forums and lectures by local and international industry professionals, critics and academics. In addition, the festival administers the highly regarded Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films, the Urban Cinefile Audience Awards and the FIPRESCI International Critics (Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique) Prize for Documentary.
Since 1974, the home of the festival has been the spectacular State Theatre, a 1929 picture palace in the heart of Sydney, acknowledged by many as one of the finest festival venues in the world. The festival also screens at the Dendy Opera Quays cinema complex on Sydney Harbour, and George Street Cinema complex in the heart of the city.
