your film starts here.

This is your home for Tropfest 2027, from first idea to finished entry, and all the way to Festival Night. Start with the Idea to Festival Night three steps and the FAQs below.

Entries open Tuesday 1 December 2026 and close Tuesday 5 January 2027. The Filmmaker Guide is coming soon, and the entry link will be published here on 1 December.

Tropfest 2027 TSI:

“NECKLACE”

Filmmaker Journey: 1. Create, entries open 1 Dec, early bird closes 22 Dec, final deadline 5 Jan. 2. Review, results late January to early February. 3. Celebrate, Festival Night 13 Feb.

ENTRY FAQs

Choose a topic. Find your answer. These FAQs are as a guide only. The Filmmaker Guide summarises the published FAQs.

Final requirements will be confirmed in the official Entry Form Terms & Conditions, which take precedence over the information below. Tropfest reserves the right to make changes at any time.

Key areas include: Dates & Eligibility, Film and Format, AI Policy, After you Submit, Awards and Prizes

DATES & ELIGIBILITY

  • Entries open on Tuesday 1 December 2026. Enter by Tuesday 22 December 2026, 10pm AEDT for the early bird fee ($65). The final deadline is Tuesday 5 January 2027, 10pm AEDT, with the standard fee ($95) applying after the early bird closes.

  • Saturday 13 February  

  • Early bird fee: $65, enter by Tuesday 22 December 2026, 10pm AEDT.
    Standard fee: $95, enter by Tuesday 5 January 2027, 10pm AEDT.

    The entry fee is paid when you submit your film online. You can enter as many films as you like, with a fee for each one.

  • Roughcut, our filmmaker educational program runs across three days at NIDA, in the lead-up to the Tropfest Main Event: 

    • Day 1: Wednesday 10 February 2027

    • Day 2: Thursday 11 February 2027

    • Day 3: Friday 12 February 2027

  • Filmmakers may submit as many films as they like; there is no restriction. 

  • Tropfest has no age restrictions. However, if you’re under 16, there will be a different submission procedure. Full details will be available in the official submission materials, coming soon. 

  • Yes! Trop Jr 2026 is open now to anyone aged 15 or under. The Trop Jr Signature Item (TSI) for 2026 is "MAP". Entries close Friday 23 October 2026 and the Grand Final will be held at The Astor Theatre, Melbourne, on Friday 4 December 2026.

    Find out more and enter on the Trop Jr page HERE 

  • Tropfest Australia is designed to help launch Australian careers. The Director/s must be an Australian citizen/s or permanent resident on the date of entry for the film to be eligible for competition. However, filmmakers from anywhere in the world may also enter and may be selected to screen “out of competition”. This means their work is presented at the same screening, event and audience, but not eligible for prizes. If you live outside of Sydney and are selected as a finalist, in competition or out of competition, Tropfest will fly you and a guest to Sydney for the event. 

  • Yes. The only person who must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident is the Director. The Director also receives the prizes, though they may share them as they wish. 

FILM & FORMATS

  • To ensure films are produced specifically for Tropfest, each year we announce a “TSI” which must be included in your film to make it eligible for Tropfest. The TSI for 2027 is ‘NECKLACE’. You’re free to incorporate the TSI in any way you want. It can be central to your plot, a subtle moment in the background or something in between, just as long as it’s there! 

  • Tropfest films must be no longer than 7 minutes including titles and credits. But remember, you don’t need to use the entire 7 minutes. Some of the best Tropfest films, including many award winners, have been less than 7 minutes. 

  • When you enter, you'll need to provide two things:

    1. A digital file of your film, uploaded through the link provided on the entry platform. We recommend .MP4 (H.264 codec) at 1080p with stereo audio. Please make sure the file is within the maximum upload size stated on the entry platform.

    2. An unlisted YouTube link to your film. The video must be set to Unlisted, not Public or Private. Public or private YouTube links make an entry ineligible.

    If your film is selected as a finalist, we will likely request a higher-resolution version (such as ProRes 422 or DCP) for the Main Event screening and for our archives.

  • Nope! Your film can be shot on any format or aspect ratio, as long as the final file is delivered in the required digital format. Just keep in mind that unusual aspect ratios may affect how your film appears in judging and screenings. They may also impact the size of your image in the live event, which could matter outdoors in front of a large crowd. That said, if it’s a creative choice, it could also work to your advantage. 

  • If your film includes any language other than English, it must include English subtitles. Separately, all finalist films will be closed captioned for the screening event. 

  • No. All Tropfest films must have their public premiere at Tropfest. If your film has already been publicly screened, it’s not eligible, even if it has been re-edited and/or re-named. 

  • Tropfest welcomes bold storytelling, but we ask filmmakers to use discretion with content. As an outdoor, free public event attended by people of all ages, films should remain suitable for a general festival audience. Any depiction of violence must serve the story, not exist for shock value. As a guide, content should typically fall within the Australian Classification Board’s categories up to M. This includes limitations on sexual content, with sexual activity or nudity needing to be discreet and justified by context. Entries containing excessive, gratuitous, or extreme violence are unlikely to be selected, and material that is likely to exceed an M rating due to either violent or sexual content will not be considered appropriate. 

  • Yes. 

AI POLICY

  • Tropfest celebrates human creativity and storytelling.

    You may use AI tools to support your filmmaking, for example for research, transcription, editing assistance, colour grading, sound clean-up or upscaling footage.

    Films that rely substantially on generative AI to create core creative elements are not eligible. This includes generating significant parts of the screenplay, dialogue, performances, characters, likenesses, voices, imagery or animation.

    As a guide:

    • Not eligible: using AI to generate a character’s dialogue, performance, voice or likeness.

    • Eligible: using AI to clean up audio, upscale footage or assist an edit.

    All entrants must disclose in the Entry Form whether and how AI tools were used. Tropfest may request further information and will decide, at its sole discretion, whether a film meets this policy.

    Our aim is not to stop filmmakers using new tools, but to keep Tropfest focused on original human creativity.

  • While there is currently no AI-only section of Tropfest, we are a future-facing festival and open to embracing new tools. A dedicated category for AI-assisted films is something we may consider in the future. 

AFTER YOU SUBMIT

  • Once you submit, your film moves through stages:  

    (1) Submitted - your film has been received and logged in our system 

    (2) Round One Judging - Pre-selectors are watching every entry, each film is watched by 3 different Pre-Selectors 

    (3) Round Two Judging - shortlisted films go to our judging panel for consideration as finalists 

    (4) Notified - we contact every entrant directly, whether or not their film has been selected. You will be notified late January to early February.

  • Please send us your resume and details of your experience to go@tropfest.com, and we’ll add you to our database for consideration. We take the pre-selection process very seriously and ensure our pre-selectors are well qualified, i.e. people with substantial experience in the screen industries. 

  • If your film is selected as a finalist, it must premiere at Tropfest, meaning it cannot be publicly screened before the Tropfest event. After that, you are free to submit the film to other festivals or anywhere else. As a finalist, Tropfest retains non-exclusive rights to screen your film in line with our Terms & Conditions, although Tropfest has no ownership in your film. If your film is shortlisted but ultimately not chosen as a finalist, you may choose to give Tropfest non-exclusive rights to screen it on our official YouTube channel, where it can reach a large global audience, though it is not a requirement. If your film is not pre-selected, Tropfest has no further rights in it. 

  • There is a Tropfest Filmmakers Group on Facebook where you can connect with other entrants to share scripts, find collaborators, and build your team. Check it out HERE.  

prizes

  • Prizes for winning filmmakers include a share of $100,000 in the form of the CommBank Tropfest Emerging Filmmakers Fund. First, second and third prizes will be $50,000, $30,000 and $20,000 respectively, with Tropfest and CommBank actively encouraging winners to utilise those amounts towards career development and their next projects. More prizes to be announced closer to the date.

If there is anything you think we have missed or you are still not clear on of any of the above please get in touch at go@tropfest.com we are here to help