History

4th Annual Veterans Film Festival – 1, 2 and 3 November 2018

The 4th annual VFF returned in partnership with the RSL National as principal partner and the Australian Defence Force and the Military Shop as strategic partner. In 2018, VFF welcomed as partners CEA Technologies, Ironside Recruitment, Beyond Blue, General Dynamics, Military Bank and News Corp Australia.

The 4th VFF festival presented 4 Australian premieres including: Opening Night (Sold Out) was JOURNEY’S END, directed by Sual Dibb and starring Sam Claflin, Paul Bettany, Asa Butterfield, Stephen Graham, Toby Jones – TRANSMILITARY, directed by Gabe Silverman and Fiona Dawson. Written by Jamie Coughlin and Gabriel Silverman – SGT STUBBY: AN UNLIKELY HERO, Director by Richard Lanni and starring Logan Lerman, Helena Bonham Carter & Gérard Depardieu and Closing Night ANNA’S WAR, directed by Aleksey Fedorchenko and starring Marta Kozlova (as Anna) and 1 Canberra premiere featured SPITFIRE documentary, directed by David Fairhead and Ant Palmer, narration by Charles Dance.

The 4th annual VFF Red Poppy Awards

– Red Poppy Award for Best Feature Film – TRANSMILITARY directed by directed by Gabe Silverman and Fiona Dawson
– Red Poppy Award for Best Short Film – IRISH GOODBYE directed by: Adetokumboh M’Cormack
– Best Animation – SGT STUBBY: AN UNLIKELY HERO directed by Richard Lanni
– Best Female Actor – Marta Kozlova for ANNA’S WAR
– Best Male Actor – Sam Claflin for JOURNEY’S END
– Best Music/Sound – Atsugi Matsumoto and Vladimir Komarov for ANNA’S WAR
– Special Award Beyond Blue Prize –AN UNBEATEN PATH directed by Geraint Hill

Film Stats – 53% of the officially selected films had a leading female role i.e. Producer, Director, Writer, Cinematographer, Editor, Actor
Countries represented – Australia, Iran, USA, UK, Russia, Sierra Leone and France

 

3rd Annual Veterans Film Festival – 18, 21 and 22 October 2017

The 3rd annual VFF returned in partnership with the RSL National as principal partner and the Australian Defence Force strategic partner. The Red Poppy Awards were held at the Australian Defence Force Academy.

18 October 2017 – The Australian Premiere of Universal Pictures, DARKEST HOUR, directed by Joe Wright and starring Gary Oldman, Ben Mendelsohn, Lily James, Kristin Scott Thomas was screened at the Australian War Memorial.

The 3rd annual VFF Red Poppy Awards
– Red Poppy Award for Best Feature Film – DARKEST HOUR directed by Joe Wright
– Red Poppy Award for Best Indie Feature Film – AND WE WERE YOUNG by Andy Smetanka
– Red Poppy Award for Best Australian Short Film – MIRO by Victoria McIntyre
– Red Poppy Award for Best International Short Film – SHE WILL BE LOVED by Chadwick Pelletier
– Best Animation – ALL THE WINTERS I HAVEN’T SEEN by Omid Koshnazar
– Best Female Actor – Constance Brenneman for SHE WILL BE LOVED
– Best Male Actor – Mark Coles Smith for MIRO
– Best Music/Sound – Petra Salsjö for MIRO

2017 Special Awards
– Best Young Filmmaker Award – Miles Gibson for HOMEWARD BOUND

Film Stats
– 57% of the officially selected films had a leading female role i.e. Producer, Director, Writer, Cinematographer, Editor, Actor
– Countries represented – Australia, Iran, USA, Portugal, USSR and France

  • 1 September 2017 – VFF partners with Australian Defence Force
  • 8 March 2017 – Veterans Film Festival Incorporated is registered as a not for profit creative enterprise
  • 5 July 2017 – VFF partners again with RSL National as principal sponsor for two years
 
2nd Annual Veterans Film Festival – 13 – 15 October  2016

The 2nd annual VFF, in partnership with the RSL National, returned to Canberra at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. The 2nd VFF program presented:

  • 5 FEATURES – 2 Australian premieres were Opening Night (Sold Out) was Hyena Road directed by Paul Gross, The Camouflage Closet directed by Michael Nedelman
  • 3 SHORT FILM SCREENINGS – from Australian, Germany, Iran, Poland, Canada, Serbia, Austria, Italy, Israel, USA and the UK.

The 2nd annual VFF Red Poppy Awards
– Red Poppy Award for Best International Feature Film – Hyena Road (Canada)
– Red Poppy Award for Best Australian Feature Film – The Crater (Australia)
– Red Poppy Award for Best Australian Short Film – The Ravens (Australia) directed by Jennifer Perrott
– Red Poppy Award for Best International Short Film – Darryl (USA) directed by Christian Carmine
– Red Poppy Award for Best Male Actor – Michael E. Knight for Darryl (USA)
– Red Poppy Award for Best Female Actor – Indianna Gregg for The Ravens (Australia)
– Red Poppy Award for Best Music – Red Line (Iran) directed by Mona A. Shahi
– Red Poppy Award for Best Animation – The Little Boy (Iran) directed by Mona A. Shahi
– Red Poppy Special Award Commemorating WWI or WWII – Patient 39 (UK) directed by Dan Clifton
2016 Film Stats – 67% awards were won by female filmmakers.

  • 5 May 2016 – VFF partners with NAB (National Australia Bank) and the Military Shop as strategic partners
  • 6 April 2016 – VFF partners with RSL National as principal sponsor
 
1st Annual Veterans Film Festival – 11 November 2015

1st annual VFF Red Poppy Awards program is held at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, screening only short films from Australia and around the globe:

The 1st VFF Red Poppy Awards
– Red Poppy Award for Best Australian Short Film – Brass Razoo
– Red Poppy Award for Best International Short Film – Birthday (USA)
– Best Director Chris King – Birthday (USA)
– Best Cinematography The Last Night (New Zealand)
– Best Editing Birthday (USA)
– Best Script Brass Razoo (Australia)
– Best Music/Sound 100 Years (Australia)
– Best Male Actor Chris Gouchoe – Birthday (USA)
– Best Female Actor Mandy Moody – Birthday (USA)
– Varsity Best Film – from a Film School, University or College Haircut (USA)

Significant Dates in the Festival’s History

  • 28 April 2015 – We design the Red Poppy glass trophy
  • 30 July 2014 – Our year round committee members, Stephen Liddell (President), Paul Payten (Secretary) and Tom Papas (Festival Director) begin to develop the 1st annual VFF program
  • 29 July 2014 – Veterans Film Festival is registered as a business name
  • 28 July 2014 – recognizable hashtags are registered #veteransfilmfestival, #veteransfilmfest, #vff2018 to #vff2028, #vff18 to #vff28 and #redpoppyawards
  • 25 July 2014 – premium, identifiable and brandable social media usernames are registered
  • 22 July 2014 – We register the perfect descriptive and brandable domain name www.veteransfilmfestival.com
  • 11 July 2014 – Project Homeless Awards were held. To our surprise, the majority of winning films were about veterans – hence our decision to create the Veterans Film Festival. Best Film was won by Joshua Hoareau (Cinestudios) for Peacekeeper
  • 11 April 2014 – Filmmakers begin to write, shoot, edit, produce and upload a 3 – 10 minutes short film in just 30 days
  • 1 February 2014 – Project Homeless a global short film competition to raise awareness about the homeless, is launched in Australia and around the globe
  • 19 November 2013 – We partner with Parramatta City Council, to create, the Project Homeless short film competition, designed to engage filmmakers, to make films on the theme of ‘the homeless’. We also included homeless veterans as a subject to assess the interest of filmmakers and to audiences.