The CinefestOZ $100,000 prize for excellence in Australian filmmaking gives it much needed national recognition. In a way it is the SW WA answer to an investment system.
This year Sigrid Thornton will chair the jury, a sensible move because she is active behind the scenes in the sector. Zareh Nalbandian, Mr Animal Logic, will be humanly logical over a tricky task, Tasma Walton brings a younger generation of acting smarts and besides, she is local, Tania Chambers is the local producer turned agency head turned local producer who can see the good in most projects, and Michael Caton somehow embodies popular taste.