M&C Saatchi Group has announced the return of the relatively new Australian Women’s Film Festival (AWFF), back for its third year after a successful run in 2022 and 2023.

The film festival was founded to support, encourage and foster the creativity of female storytellers and leaders within the industry, adding an essential platform to Sydney’s long list of yearly film festivals.

Australian presenter and media personality Lucia Hawley has come on board to host the one-day event, which will take place on Tuesday, September 17 at Event Cinemas George Street and consist of 20-minute short films.

Sydney’s rich history of both big and small film festivals has been missing one dedicated entirely to women for far too long. Having something like this to encourage more women in the screen industry adds an essential piece to the city’s overall creative scope. And while male-identifying creatives aren’t excluded AWFF, the event’s criteria rests on the Bechdel Test, the traditional measure of the representation of women in film and other fiction.

The Bechdel Test dictates that any fictional work must meet just three criteria:

The film must have at least two women in it
The two women in the film must talk to each other
The conversation must be about something other than a man

AWFF’s selection criteria require that at least three key project creatives identify as female. That could be director, producer, animator, composer, or any other role to the project.

“AWFF is such an important initiative—it presents a valuable opportunity to champion women in all our glory and to tell our stories from our perspectives,” said actor Sophie Wilde, who is part of this year’s judging panel along with Head of Screen NSW, Kyas Hepworth, director, writer and producer Leah Purcell, and actor Bella Heathcote.

Purcell will receive this year’s AWFF Trailblazer Award, while producer and disability advocate Tracey Corbin-Matchett is locked in for the AWFF Groundbreaker Award.

Kate Vinen’s 11-minute short, Hopeful Romantic, was the winner of Best Film and Best Comedy at AWFF last year. The film follows the story of a young woman with down syndrome looking for love. Other films selected for AWFF 2023 also highlighted many diverse stories from women of all different walks of life and circumstances, which shows integral diverse storytelling is to the festival. This should give you an idea of what to expect from the event, which is very affordable with tickets priced at just $36.

The night, which starts at 6pm, will include a red carpet welcome event with cocktails from Glenlivet, a curated panel discussion, and screenings followed by the award ceremony on the same night. All guests will also receive a gift bag with food and drink from the event’s sponsors.