A film festival is coming to Prospect Park's Nethermead.

The roving international film event "Tropfest" is making its American landing this year ... in Brooklyn. The seven-hour event will be held on June 22,2013, weather permitting.
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Americans may not be familiar --yet-- with the saucy, fun-loving, and irreverent indie film event called "Tropfest." But with its celebrity judges, rock band pre-show and kick-back vibe, the one-day festival, which showcases 7-minute films that have never before been seen in public -- has proven itself a winning formula abroad for decades.


The festival was born in Sydney's Tropicana Café in 1992, hence the abbreviated name.

Positioned as "a springboard for emerging talent," the festival has a young, anything-goes sensibility.

Numbers of films originally screened at Tropfest have gained commercial distribution, say the organizers, citing the TV series "Wilfred" on FX, the seeds of which were first sown at the 2002 Tropfest.Other Tropfest finalists who have subsequently won accolades include Sam Worthington (Avatar); Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby, Warrior, Animal Kingdom); Alister Grierson (director of the James Cameron-produced Sanctum) and Nash Edgerton (director of "Spider' Lucky, and Bear).
Weeks before the Brooklyn premiere of Tropfest, we caught up with Tropfest's founder, chief promoter and organizer, Australian-born John Polson, who has lived in Carroll Gardens for over a half-dozen years.
Perfect for Brooklyn, an UnSnobby Film Fest Featuring Aspiring Artists

Unlike other film festivals where you might watch movies that have just won awards at prestigious Venice or Cannes film festivals, Tropfest has an Everyman sort of vibe.

"Winners might be two-minute films created on an iPhone with a budget of $40 or seven-minute films done on a budget of $10,000," said Polson."It's not about who went to film school or whose parents know celebs -- because we all know that the film and TV business is about that kind of nepotism. This is about how good your film is," said Polson, describing Tropfest as "very egalitarian with a level playing field."

Relocating the festival venue from Manhattan to Brooklyn was a no-brainer, said Polson. "Everyone knows there's a really interesting thing going on in Brooklyn in the creative communities, with a lot of young people making art and films," he said, adding that a lot of films and audience for the 2102 Tropfest in Manhattan's Bryant Park came from Brooklyn.

And this year, quite a few finalists are Brooklyn-based filmmakers.

A Film Event with Energy of a Rock Concert

Describing the event's energy, Polson said, "All of our participating filmmakers are there, and they have never seen their films shown in front of the crowd before. The audience loves it; the filmmakers are on stage, being questioned about the budget, and how they did it and how they convinced the actors to take it on."

This year, a roster of hot bands (many from Brooklyn) play for hours before dusk falls, followed by screenings of 16 short films that have been curated as finalists.

During the event, the filmmakers whose work is being shown participate in a funny, friendly, earnest discussion. In a suspenseful moment at the end of the evening, the panel of celebrity judges, including filmmakers, stars and intellectuals, chooses winners on the spot. (See who this year's panelists include).
Top prize for the winner is a large cash prize ($20,000 in 2013) plus a career-building week of networking with film industry big shots.
Thousands of guests are expected to attend.

For food, you can nosh at Brooklyn's best food trucks.

As for the movies, they range. Guests might see any of a range of genres, including documentaries, animation, drama, or comedy.
The festival starts mid-afternoon, and runs through about 10 PM. It's all fun.
And, it's free.

As Polson, the festival's founder says, "What's not to love?"

Call Themselves the World's Largest Short Film Festival

Like many Aussies, the Australian-born film event, too, has taken to the road. In addition to the US venue in Brooklyn, in 2013 Tropfests will be held in up to a half dozen different countries-- in home-turf of New Zealand and Australia of course, but also in nations in Asia and the Middle East. In, 2012 Tropfest played in Las Vegas and Manhattan.

In the competitive world of film festivals, Tropfest's organizers like to call themselves "the world's largest short film festival."

Free Advice to Filmmakers: Break the Rules

A word of advice to aspiring filmmakers? Be a non-conformist.
"Tell your own story and make a film that has your own voice," Polson advises. "Make the film you want to make, tell it in your own voice - and that pray that's a voice people respond to."
What's In It for Prospect Park?

Prospect Park needs new sources of financing to keep up with increased use and programming. In 2012, the food-and-music festival called Googa Mooga pioneered the use of public space for a private, for-profit venture in Prospect Park, to mixed reviews.

Tropfest, Polson said, will pay the Prospect Park Alliance, the nonprofit entity charged with running Prospect Park, an undisclosed fee for use of the Nethermead.

"Tropfest has done well enough in places like Australia for us to be able to give this as a gift to Brooklyn," said Polson. "There's nothing in this for us from a financial point of view; we are building a brand." He described his budget as "lying on the ground coughing up blood and its ugly, pretty ugly."

Like Googa-Mooga, Tropfest is also a large for-profit event, but with only bring-your-own blanket seating and movie screens rather than Googa Mooga's numerous food stands, it won't have as much staging, and therefore, may not have as much potential for negative environmental impact as did its predecessor.
More about Tropfest.