Sydney’s Shot on Sh!t Film Festival Triples Attendance as DIY Filmmaking Finds Its Audience

The sold-out third edition attracted more than 220 attendees and showcased 24 short films made using outdated cameras, mobile phones and unconventional technology.

Sydney’s irreverently titled Shot on Shit Film Festival has recorded its biggest turnout yet, with more than 220 film lovers packing Newtown’s Botany View Hotel for a celebration of low-budget, experimental filmmaking.

The third edition of the festival, held last Friday, October 16, attracted more than three times the audience of its previous outing, screening 24 short films created using everything from obsolete digital cameras and early mobile phones to webcams and home-security equipment.

Founded by filmmakers Parker Constantine and Flynn Boffo, who is also the programmer, the festival challenges emerging creatives to abandon expensive equipment and embrace the creative possibilities of outdated technology.

Its guiding principle is simple: make a film using the worst camera you own.

The approach has struck a chord with Sydney’s emerging filmmaking community. The festival’s first allocation of tickets disappeared within 30 minutes, followed by a second release that sold out in 15 minutes and a third that was exhausted in just 10 minutes.

All screenings, submissions and festival activities were free, with filmmakers travelling from Wollongong and the Central Coast to attend alongside representatives from Screen Australia, Screen NSW and the Blackbird Foundation.

“We are absolutely blown away by the response to the festival,” said Constantine, the festival’s programmer and co-founder.

“We got up on the Botany View stage and immediately felt the love and support of a beautiful, burgeoning, wildly eager community of filmmakers and lovers alike. Shot On Shit gives me hope for the third wave of the Australian film industry, which feels firmly in the grasp of us young, cheap, bastards!”

Boffo said the event demonstrated an appetite for filmmaking that prioritises creativity and community over production values.

“We have never seen this level of excitement for short films before. There is something special about spontaneously making films over a weekend with your friends,” he said.

“Not only were the films exceptional, there was also a profound sense of love and belonging in the room.”

The festival’s top prize went to Wollongong filmmakers Jack Tickner, Fenn Idle and Corey McCrossin of House Spirited Productions for their musical comedy Young Boy Plays with Ooshies at the Pyramids but is Interrupted by an Alien Who Wants to Destroy Planet Earth.

Shot on a 2000s-era flip phone, the film impressed the jury with its inventive storytelling, humour and unexpected musical elements. Its creators added to the evening’s unconventional atmosphere by performing a song from the film live during intermission.

Second prize went to Eve Krombas for Shot on Piss, while Jackson Perryman took third place for Taint Calico Blues.

Helena Ivy Williams won the audience-voted People’s Choice Award for Conversations, while Pizard Worn, created by Dexter Gibson-Cummins and Jesse Grima, collected both the Person’s Choice Award and the festival’s own S.O.S. Award.

Charlie Blomfield’s A Night at Epic Pizza received the E.P.I.C. Award, recognising an emerging perspective in cinema.

The awards were judged by a panel including Salt Along the Tongue producer Kristen Settinelli, Pink Flamingo founder Ing Dieckmann and The Fleapit editor Matthew Donlan, alongside audience voting.

Winners received spray-painted VHS trophies, while limited-edition VHS and DVD compilations of the festival’s films sold out before the screenings had concluded.

The festival was supported by partners including Ritz Cinema, Umbrella Entertainment and Unexpected Guest Distillery, along with a Protostars grant from the Blackbird Foundation.

Organised by the Collective of Underground Movie Lovers, which began as a university film club in 2023, Shot on Shit has evolved into a growing platform for emerging filmmakers experimenting outside conventional production methods.

Constantine and Boffo have previously organised screenings at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Ritz Cinema, SXSW Sydney and Pink Flamingo Cinema.

With its rapidly expanding audience and emphasis on accessibility, the festival is demonstrating that compelling cinema doesn’t necessarily require expensive cameras, large crews or substantial budgets.

Sometimes, all it takes is a battered old flip phone and a good idea.

Further information is available at the Shot on Shit Film Festival website.