The 2005 Home Brewed International Film Festival screened across Wollongong, Canberra, Bowral and Sydney from 29 October to 5 November 2005, again combined with an intensive day of filmmaking seminars in Wollongong. With fantastic reactions and "standing room only" crowds at our first non-Wollongong venues, plans were immediately underway for a more significant expansion into Sydney and Melbourne in 2006.

The quality of films in 2005 was spectacular, highly praised by audiences and judges alike. Our move into the 10-30 minute film category was also very popular and the judges had a hard time separating the winners out of the amazing finalists in that category. With the 2004 runner-up film Splintered winning eligibility for the 2006 Academy Awards and this year's Ward 13 being shortlisted for 2005 nomination (both Australian films, with Ward 13 straight out of the Illawarra), it is easy to see why our audiences and the Home Brewed organisers were so proud of our screening films.

The Winners for Home Brewed 2005 were as follows (the filmstrip at right shows scenes from the winning films in the order in which they are presented below):

$4,000 cash Best Short Film (10-30 Minutes) - BARELY VISIBLE
Directed by Jody Dwyer and Produced by Tara Watney.

$1,000 cash Runner Up (10-30 Minutes) - THE SAVIOUR (Joint Winner)
Directed by Peter Templeman and Produced by Stuart Parkyn.

$1,000 cash Runner Up (10-30 Minutes) - WARD 13 (Joint Winner)
Directed by Peter Cornwell and Produced by Trephine Productions & AFC.

$4,000 cash Best Short Film (0-10 Minutes) - FATHER'S DAY
Directed by Simon Blyth and Produced by Katie Millington & Simon Blyth.

$1,000 cash Runner Up (0-10 Minutes) - TACKLE
Directed by Beth Armstrong and Produced by Luke Eve.

$1,000 cash Best Illawarra Short Film - WARD 13
Directed by Peter Cornwell and Produced by Trephine Productions & AFC.

The Prestigious Granny's Choice Award - NURSERY RHYME
Directed by Michael Demosthenous and Produced by Simone Lahood.

Check out other details about 2005 by accessing the links below:

  1. Best Short Film Finalists (all categories)
  2. Selected Feature Films Program
  3. Best Film, Illawarra and Grannies Choice Judges
  4. Seminar Program (Steeler's Club, Wollongong)
  5. The screening and venue program (PDF file)






  • The Highwayman
  • Method of Entry
  • Blandville
  • Aussie Idol
  • Father's Day
  • "W" - A Robert Noir Investigation
  • Tackle
  • Europe
  • Late
  • Australian Summer
  • Medusa: First Date
  • The Majesty of the Wetlands
  • Ion Films
  • Speakin' Out
  • Night
  • Freddie's Story

  • A Date With Death
  • Passion With a Pedigree
  • Neoplasia
  • Nursery Rhyme
  • Sailing the Isa
  • Framed
  • Brother
  • Dak Dak
  • Imaginary Friend
  • Looking Good
  • Rock I Gave you the Best Years of My Life
  • Wanker
  • The First Thing I Remember
  • The Twelve Months
  • Apprentice

  • The Majesty of the Wetlands
  • Lifelike (screening withdrawn by WCET)
  • The Word
  • Gongqatsi: Life in Wollongong
  • Hitch Cock
  • Vladimir Stolic
  • Murphy V Volunteers
  • Ward 13

 

 

  • Boxing Day
  • Turn
  • The Cook
  • Danya
  • Barely Visible
  • Ward 13
  • The Saviour

 

  • Swimming to the Boy
  • Broad Day
  • Reubens
  • Still Life
  • Mind The Gap
  • Numbo
  • The Intruder
HILL 16 (Ireland)
Directed & Produced by Dermot Doyle

A coming of age tragic comedy of a teenager's love for a teacher and her affair with his cousin, amidst the war on drugs, terrorism and gangs in modern-day Ireland.

 

The Actress (Western Australia)
Directed by Zak Hildtich, Produced by Zak Hildtich and Antony Webb

When Emma enters the share house of supermarket manager Tom, office drone Kevin and uni student Claire, she creates a psychologial war of jealousy as the three equally lonely housemates attempt to make her their own. How far will they go to get what they want?



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Geoffrey Burton
One of the most experienced directors and cinematographers in the business. Head of Cinematography at The Australian Film Television and Radio school from 1981 to 1983, major feature film credits as Director of Photography include Sunday Too Far Away, Storm Boy and The Year My Voice Broke. Geoff's directorial roles include The Sum of Us, The Sri Lanka Series, The Island of Dreams, Lawrence of Arabia (drama/documentary), and Flight Over The Equator (multi-award winning Documentary for the Discovery Channel) among many, many others.

Kerry Rock
Kerry Rock joined with Georgina Willis in 1995 to form Potoroo Films. Their feature film Watermark was selected for Directors' Fortnight in the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, and they kindly made the film available for screening at Home Brewed in 2004. Kerry has also produced and co-written a number of internationally successful short films.

Andy Anderson
His movie credits include Garage Days, Salem's Lot, Halifax FP (AFI Award for Best Actor in 2000) and Anaconda 2. His TV series list is endless. The Sullivans, Stingers, Xena, Neighbours, Water Rats, Mcleods Daughters, All Saints...no wonder you recognise his face! With a new CD under his belt and projects on the boil, the former Missing Links singer brought a wealth of experience to the Home Brewed panel in 2003 and 2004 and we gratefully welcome him back this year.

Steve Anderton
Currently most recognisable as the promo voice from SBS, Steve is a highly successful actor, musician, dancer and voice artist. His best-known acting credits include Through My Eyes and the Castle, with appearances on McLeod's Daughters, Home & Away and All Saints to his name among many others, combined with extensive stage experience with numerous companies.

Sharn Hammond
Sharn graduated from Theatre Nepean's actor training degree in 2001 and won a scholarship to continue her acting and film studies in London. She has been involved in various film, television and stage productions, including her soon to be released feature, 'Lost and Found', also starring Rebecca Gibney and Brett Climo. In 2004 Sharn joined with LouLou Virgona to form 'The Red Room'. They have produced various short films and stage productions including 'Codename Kev' and 'Shove People'. They are currently in pre-production for a 90min feature to be shot in late 2006.

Jackson Pellow
Jackson Pellow works in Sydney promoting documentaries produced by Film Australia's National Interest program. He is quite attractive but doesn't have much hair. His specialist knowledge includes film festival strategy yet his own short films The Adventures of Street Cruiser, The 7:33 and Rodman and Amigo have failed to make their mark on the international marketplace. Jackson has previously been employed in the AFC, as an editor with Inside Film Magazine and as an usher.

Erin Free
Editor, FilmInk Magazine. Erin has been with FilmInk since its inception, however he can also be spotted as a contributor to The Hollywood Reporter, SX News, B News, Revolver, Inpress Magazine, Ralph Magazine, Sain Unlimited, 3D World, The Big Issue and Tribe Online.

Anthony O'Connor
The last but by no means least of our Best Film judges, Anthony (apart from being our only judge whose photo is in profile) is the highly successful screenwrtier for Angst (2000), a prolific writer and self-proclaimed fan of horror films (which he promises will not influence his judgement too much).

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A judging position that we first threw open in 2004, in 2005 we ran a public competition to select our judges in this category. Carefully selected based on their absolute lack of knowledge about but keen interest in film (in 2005 this was calculated with reference to a complicated series of essays of 20 words or less produced by more than 50 entrants for these positions), we place an "Everyman" judge on each of our judging panels to add that "common denominator" feel to the process.

Our three judges this year who knew what they liked, even if they couldn't pinpoint exactly why they like it, were:

  • Mark Woolley
  • Elliot Clifford
  • Mandy McCarthy

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Simon Dulhunty
Recently appointed editor of the Illawarra Mercury, Simon is the winner of numerous media industry awards and comes from an enormously successful stint as editor of the Border Mail.

Lord Maor Alex Darling
Wolongong's Lord Mayor has served in this position since September 2002 following his time as deputy Lord Mayor and as a councillor since 1987. A long-time advocate for the Illawarra region, Mr Darling joins Home Brewed for the first time in 2005.

Marianne Saliba (State Member for the Illawarra)
As a long-serving member of the NSW Parliament and the Illawarra region, Marianne Saliba brought another important community perspective to the Home Brewed judging panel.

Nerissa Bradley
The youngest member of our Illawarra judges, this community lawyer and Kiama Council Green's councillor brings a fresh-faced approach to her judging against a background of 30 years experience in and love for the Illawarra.

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In the spirit of Festival expansion, from our original panel of 3 in 2003, the Home Brewed Granny's Choice panel expanded to 7 from 2005 (although Carmel and Lillah remain protective of their photographs!!) And they were harder to please than ever. For biographies of Lorna, Marcia and Dot, see our 2003 Judges Page. Ros, Glynis, Carmel and Lillah bring the hard bitten critique and tough-as-nails temperament of the next generation Granny to this prestigious Award.

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  • 11am CREATING AND MARKETING YOUR SHORT FILM & OTHER MEDIA
    Presented by filmmakers Peter Slee and Daniel Ilic, this session will cover short film-making with and without budgets, how to apply for funding, moving into features, internet marketing and content, and commercials.

  • 12pm THE WARD 13 EXPERIENCE
    Norma Cornwell, Executive Producer of WARD 13, a plasticine animated short film screening in Home Brewed's 10-30 Minute finalist category and the Illawarra Best Filmmaker Category in 2005, was shortlisted for Academy Award nomination in 2005 and has won an incredible array of international awards. Norma and the film's DOP and Production Designer Glenn Watson talk candidly about the filmmaking and marketing experience.

  • 1.30pm WRITING FOR FILM & TV
    Ian David, who wrote the critically acclaimed BLUE MURDER and the ABC tv series BAD COP BAD COP, talks about writing for film and television.

  • 2.30pm INDIVISION PROJECT LAB
    Megan Simpson Huberman- Australian Film Commission
    INDIVISION is an AFC initiative to foster low budget feature filmmaking in Australia. Come along and learn about the process designed to make your feature filmmaknig dreams come true.

  • 3.30pm WRITING & DIRECTING YOUR FIRST FEATURE
    Megan Simpson Huberman talks about writing and directing her first feature film, DATING THE ENEMY which
    starred Claudia Karvan and Guy Pearce.

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