Screen Submissions 2025

What we are looking for

The SXSW Sydney Screen Festival welcomes submissions from filmmakers around the globe, featuring Feature Films, Shorts, Episodic and Webseries, along with Music Videos from the APAC region.

We embrace the genre defying and genre defining, focusing stories that push boundaries. We love bold storytelling, the challenging and thought provoking, the exciting and innovative, the unconventional and the weird. Our passion lies in uncovering the future of filmmaking and sharing it with the world.

how to SUBMIT

Submit your film, music clip, episodic or web short via FilmFreeway at the link below.

Apply now

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you accept rough cuts or work-in-progress?

Yes! Rough cuts or works-in-progress are accepted, but we recommend submitting your work as complete as possible, even if it means waiting until the final submission day.The SXSW Sydney Programming Team reviews only one version, so if submitting a WIP, please note what’s incomplete and when it will be finished.

Does my project need to have been completed within a specific timeframe to be eligible for submission?

Projects must have been completed after January 1, 2024.

Am I allowed to resubmit a film I submitted last year?

If your film was completed after January 1,2024, and/or you believe it aligns with our programming vision, you are welcome to resubmit.

What premiere status do you require?

We require a State/NSW premiere.

This means the film should not have been publicly screened in Sydney or NSW before the 2025 SXSW Sydney Screen Festival.

If your status changes or if you have any questions regarding other festival acceptances leading up to the event, please don’t hesitate to contact the Screen Team.

Additional eligibility requirements and guidelines are available on the SXSW Sydney FilmFreeway page.

Screen festival mentor application

We are passionate about supporting emerging filmmakers and creators in the screen industry by equipping them with the tools, connections, and guidance they need to launch their careers and share the future of filmmaking.

Screen mentor sessions offer focused, one-on-one meetings between experiences professionals and attendees, providing personalised advice, support for navigating challenges, skill refinement, and opportunities to accelerate professional growth.

We’re on the lookout for experienced screen industry professionals, from various specialties and career stages, who are eager to contribute their expertise and help shape the next generation of creators.

Apply now

Who We Are Looking For

We are seeking mid to senior-level screen industry professionals from diverse disciplines and backgrounds who are passionate about supporting and sharing the future of our industry. Whether you’re a producer, festival programmer, marketing expert, or camera operator, we have creators ready to engage with questions!

Popular mentor requests are:

Producers
Government Funding Bodies
VFX artists
Directors
Distributors
Film Festival Programmers
Editors
Television/ Streaming Professionals
Marketing & PR Specialists

types of mentorships

One-on-One Meetings

Our one-on-one sessions provide 15-minute private meetings between creators and mentors, offering a focused setting for attendees to ask specific, tailored questions. Mentors participate in a two-hour block, engaging in a series of hand-selected meetings with attendees to provide pointed guidance and career advice.

Small Classroom Sessions

In our small classroom mentor sessions, mentors spend one hour with 20 carefully chosen applicants in an intimate, closed-door setting. Phones are set aside to ensure a distraction-free, private experience.

Mentors have the flexibility to share their session – whether it’s delivering a presentation, giving a speech, or hosting an engaging Q&A.

Key Dates & Submission Details

Applications Close

30 June

Notified By

11 July

Event Date

13–19 October

Screen mentor sessions (one-on-one)

15–17 October

Screen mentor sessions (small classroom)

14–17 October

Conference Tracks

2050

2050 programming is long range and forward looking offering a glimpse into our future or possible futures. Featuring the latest scientific and technological advancements such as life extension research, nanotech and quantum breakthroughs, interplanetary travel and habitation, and other innovations that continue to shape our world.

Advertising & Marketing

Hear from leading agencies across the Asia Pacific and globally on the power and impact of brands, and uncover strategies to engage audiences through traditional, digital and experiential marketing. These sessions are geared towards agencies, in-house teams and organisations that want to explore new ways to connect with their communities.

AI & Robotics

Discover the expansion of AI across all industries and the coming wave. Sessions in this track may also explore regulation, ethics, misinformation, cyber & data privacy, the impact of AI on an evolving workforce and the integration of AI & robotics.

Creator Economy

Hear from key opinion leaders, agencies and content creators on the trends, tools, and monetisation strategies fuelling the creator economy. From how to build communities and brands, to the opportunities and challenges that come with this shift in how people work and connect.

Culture, Society & Media

From local to global, our collective interactions, engagements and experiences give our lives meaning, influencing how communities function and individuals thrive. Programming explores the dynamic interplay of culture, communities, government, and the policy directions that impact us all.

Cyber & Your Data

Programming in this track examines the critical measures and practices designed to protect our sensitive information, and to ensure the integrity of digital systems. Topics span deepfakes, cyber threats, employee training and risk management, encryption and the future of security technologies.

Design

The designers, developers, architects, and creatives who build our physical, digital and virtual worlds, with an emphasis on design's role in fostering innovation and addressing complex challenges.

Education & Skills

Bringing together educators, industry professionals and thought leaders on the future of education and EdTech. This track explores evolving approaches in learning, from personalised learning experiences, microlearning, recruitment and workplace training, to the impact of emerging technologies across the sector.

Energy, Climate & Sustainability

Explore the latest innovations, solutions, and approaches to building a sustainable and resilient future. Programming focuses on the energy sector, including alternative and renewable energy sources, ClimateTech, and promising ideas on mitigating (and living with) the effects of climate change.

Fashion, Lifestyle & Beauty

A dynamic and ever-evolving sector, encompassing a wide range of people, styles, trends & products. From research, design and manufacturing, to logistics, retail and end-use, explore how we experience and engage with these industries and their impact on our lives.

Food

Hear from chefs, growers, creators, and tech innovators transforming the food industry and explore how we will grow, prepare, and experience food. Bringing together the brightest minds in the food industry across production, technology, agriculture, distribution, retail, and consumption.

Future of Work

With a focus on the evolution of when, where, and how we work, programming explores the changing nature of societal expectations, remote collaboration, physical workspaces, technological advancements, and the impact of these changes on individuals, organisations, and communities.

Games Industry

With the games industry's continued rise as a dominant entertainment platform, programming explores its integration across industries including new technologies, e-commerce, entertainment, social media investment opportunities and Esports.

Health & MedTech

Health & MedTech sessions explore the latest advances in healthcare, improving patient outcomes, and driving technical innovation in the medical field, from gene editing technologies, through to personalised medicine, psychedelics and mental health outcomes.

Money, Markets & FinTech

Programming examines the influences impacting a tech-driven global economy, including the changes and challenges to our systems of commerce, AI, economic trends, the evolution of financial services, the dynamics of crypto, inflation, supply chains and other disruptions in our world.

Music Industry

Explore how technology continues to re-invent how we create, discover, distribute, promote and experience music. Hear from leading figures across the industry, including artists, record labels, brands, streaming platforms, and live events on the enduring power of music to shape culture. Programming also offers professional development, touring and career guidance.

Screen Industry

The creative and business processes behind creating screen, episodic & self-produced content. Hear from iconic creatives including producers, directors, and actors; and explore current and future trends in audience engagement, screen technology, distribution, financing and streaming platforms in this ever-changing industry.

Sports Industry

From icons to innovators, discover the breakthroughs in technology, biometrics, data analysis, fan experiences, brands, health, revenue streams, media and sponsorship that continue to reshape this global industry.

Startups

These sessions will feature the brightest new entrepreneurial ideas, unexpected founders, funders, success stories and epic failures that make up the experience of launching a new venture.

Technology: Presented by CommBank

Technology sessions delve into the people, platforms and technological solutions creating the next wave of change. This track will explore emerging and existing technologies, with a focus on growth across the Asia Pacific as well as Australia and global players.

Transport & Smart Cities

Tackle the technological advances transforming transport and the development of smart cities. With a focus on electric and autonomous vehicles, sessions can also explore digital grids, aviation breakthroughs, commercial space travel, shipping technology, high speed rail, alternative fuels, and new ideas in micro-mobility.

Travel & Leisure

Discover the destinations and new experiences that have become increasingly popular as well as emerging trends, breakthrough technologies and challenges these industries continue to face.

XR & Metaverse

Explore the latest developments in immersive technologies, from virtual and augmented realities to digital identities and the metaverse. Sessions navigate the potential of these mind-bending experiences across industries - from healthcare to entertainment - through new software and hardware technologies.

Screen submissionS 2025

sxsw sydney screen festival

Key Dates & Submission Details

What we are looking for

how to SUBMIT

Frequently Asked Questions

Screen festival mentor application

Who We Are Looking For

types of mentorships

Key Dates & Submission Details

Conference Tracks

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