Tropfest, the world’s largest short film festival, announced its official return on 1 September 2025, with submissions opening this December.
Following the announcement, filmmakers and fans alike are beginning to wonder what the new and improved festival will look like in 2026 – and whether it’ll be the same tried-and-true formula it was six years ago, or if big changes are on the horizon.
In a wide-ranging discussion with ScreenHub, Tropfest founder John Polson revealed the thinking behind a year-round revival, mentorship programs, AI transparency, and (possible) vertical video spin-offs.
Tropfest’s John Polson: quick links
From hiatus to relaunch
John Polson traced Tropfest’s six-year absence to a combination of factors. In 2019, a three-year contract in Parramatta (where the festival screens its winning short films) had run its course – and then there was Covid-19. ‘Next thing you know, everybody went underground,’ Polson said.
The years went by, and during that time Polson said that many people approached him with plans to relaunch – but nothing that felt right to him. ‘I’d rather have no Tropfest than the wrong one,’ he said.
‘There’s definitely a bad version of Tropfest, where someone’s trying to make a lot of money out of ticket sales and destroying the filmmakers.’
It was only when actor Bryan Brown, sports boss Peter V’landys and billionaires Sarah Murdoch and Richard Weinberg came on board that the festival’s revival took shape.
‘It was very clear to me that they wanted to bring Tropfest back the same way I did,’ Polson confirmed. ‘They wanted to really focus on – not just the “one night event” of it all, but the real “propelling the filmmaker to the next level of their career”.’
Is AI in Tropfest’s future?
When asked about the rise of AI in filmmaking, and whether that constituted the aforementioned ‘wrong kind of Tropfest’, Polson said it was complicated, and ‘pretty controversial,’ though he wouldn’t make it ‘completely out of the question’.
‘My approach as a human being is not to be afraid of technology,’ he clarified. ‘Tropfest filmmakers should be very transparent about where they’ve used AI. That’s the first thing I know for sure. But the second thing I know for sure is that we shouldn’t be having our heads in the sand about technology.’
‘It’s like when people were riding horses and the car got invented,’ he said.
Regarding entry guidelines and creative policy, Polson said Tropfest hadn’t yet finalised its stance. ‘Fortunately, we don’t have to open our entries until the first of December, so we have a little time to figure some things out,’ he said. ‘But my earliest stance is that it should be very transparent.’
‘I’m trying to figure out the exact take on it, but that’s my best guess right now,’ he said.
Polson also confirmed the festival itself will stick to a standard 16:9 aspect ratio for submissions – the widescreen format suited to Centennial Park’s giant screens. ‘Having said that, if someone made an amazing 9:16 film and it was brilliant, we’re going to put it on,’ he said, acknowledging the growing popularity of vertical formats on TikTok and Instagram.
Tropfest Runways and Trop Labs
Polson shared plans for new programs designed to extend Tropfest’s reach beyond the screening event. The festival’s educational arm – provisionally known as Trop Labs – will offer masterclasses, panels, workshops and practical sessions in writing, directing, editing and emerging tech like AI. Polson said these would be aimed at practitioners rather than casual audiences.
‘There’ll be some big people at that,’ he said, not willing to name names at this time.
There’ll also be Tropfest Runways, a year-round mentorship incubator. A small group of finalists will be invited to pitch for places in the program. Successful applicants would receive mentorship, internships, potential trips to LA, and structured support designed to launch their careers – though Polson emphasised that this was still in development and dependent on the ‘right partner’.
‘It’s ambitious,’ he said.
International drawcards still under wraps
When asked whether major filmmakers like Martin Scorsese – who recently praised Tropfest’s return on social media – would be involved, Polson confirmed conversations were happening to bring ‘big names’ in, but noted he could not confirm. ‘I think it’s fair to say we’ll have some pretty good people,’ he said.
Wrapping up, Polson reflected on the popularity of Tropfest in the past – a status that grew exponentially when DVDs of the top short films were packaged in with the Sydney Morning Herald and Herald Sun newspapers. ‘I loved those DVDs,’ he said, grabbing a colourful stack of them near his arm chair.
‘I remember going to my dentist’s office. And when you go to the dentist and you’re sitting back, they always have a screen. He would play the Tropfest videos – not because of me, but because that was what they did.’
Tropfest returns in February of 2026.
