Silver Linings Film Festival 2023

In 2023 we had 11 submissions from Australia, Iran and Croatia. They were judged by members of our UNIMA Australia Committee. 

Please watch the films on our Youtube channel

Watch Films Now

Thank you to everyone who contributed! Here are the films for 2023:

1. Call of the Forest – Susie Boeselt @ominous_pigeon (SA)

2. Spring Break – Music by Fiona Finley & Evan Kerr – @dramastudioaustralia (NSW), Edited by Kay Yasugi (Pupperoos @kay_yasugi). Puppets by Sue Wallace & Steve Coupe – @sydneypuppettheatre (NSW), Angie Macmillan @angiemacm (VIC), Jill Webster – Story Bubble (NSW), Nadira Sanif @hessian_hare (VIC)

3. My Name is Lunar – Dominic Castro (NSW)

4. Call to the Forest – Kailah Cabanas & Matthew Patton @kailah_cabanas

5. Chillin’ in the Breeze –  Matt Bottos , Alex Joy, Lauren Kemp & Nadira Sanif (VIC) @shadowplay.creations @oneorangesockproductions @laurenfkemp @hessian_hare

6. Leaves – Isabella “Izzie” von Lichtan (TAS) @ChickMacGyver

7. Bandicoot – Trina Gaskell & Enio Pozzebon – @bonkeltheatre (VIC) 

8. The BB3 Live in Concert- Glenn O’Rourke @svenn.thepuppetsmith (NSW)

9. We and the Forest – Fariba Ricky @yasm3419 (Iran)

10. An Experiment in Motion Capture Puppetry – Lyle Winton (VIC)

11. The Song from the Heart – Anamarija Šerbetar and Petar Unger @weepetar (Croatia) 

UNIMA Australia is about friendship through puppetry – promoting peace and hope through our art form. We hope that everyone can find keep finding joy, hope and ‘silver linings’ wherever they may be. 

Thank you to our sponsor Lumin’s Workshop for awarding gift vouchers to our winners! Lumin’s Workshop offers a myriad of materials for makers, crafters, cosplayers and more. They are based in Melbourne, Victoria. https://www.luminsworkshop.com/

Winners also received a year’s membership to UNIMA Australia, the official puppetry organisation of Australia. Membership is open to anyone around the world. For more information please go to https://www.unima.org.au/membership/

Silver Linings Film Festival 2022

The 2022 Silver Linings Online Puppet Festival is here! Watch the trailer below:

Playlist for 2022 Silver Linings Film Festival

Watch the full playlist here:

Playlist for 2022 Silver Linings Film Festival

In 2022 we had 8 submissions from Australia and abroad. They were judged by members of our UNIMA Australia Committee. 

People voted for their favourite film with our People’s Choice Award! 🏆🏆🏆

Voting closed 29th October, 2022. Winners were announced on Sunday 30th October 2022 at our UNIMA Australia Spooky Showcase Zoom event.   

Thank you to everyone who contributed! Here are the films:

1. Tomorrow (Annie Cover) – Matt Bottos (Melbourne, VIC, Australia)

2. Her name is Joy – A Shadow Poem – Rosy Toranzo, Rambling Shadow Stories (Ocean Grove, VIC, Australia)

3. Rick-cycle – Dominic Castro from Macquarie Fields High School (Sydney, NSW, Australia)

4. Captain – Alex Joy, Alanah Parkin, Seon Williams, Scott Jackson, Alex Radovan, Oliver Midson, Emma Jevons. Musical scoring by Andrew Jason Assels, Alex Joy, Katie Wighton (Melbourne, VIC).

5. Banksia BOB…live at the opera – Glenn O’Rourke (Wollombi, NSW)

6. Hide-n-Seek – TJ Jacobs, Connor Shields and Craig Storm (Stamford, USA)

7. Love Story – a very hopeful tale – Bonkel Theatre – Trina Gaskell & Enio Pozzebon, and thanks to Dante Pozzebon (Melbourne, VIC)

8. Rain Song – Kay Yasugi (Pupperoos) – NSW, Sue Wallace (Sydney Puppet Theatre) – NSW, The Drama Studio – NSW, Trina Gaskell & Enio Pozzebon (Bonkel Theatre) – VIC, Jill Webster (Story Bubble) – NSW, Nadira Sanif – VIC, Leon Hendroff – WA.
Song by The Vegetable Plot, Written by Luke Escombe, Sung by Georgia Mooney, Produced by Michael McGlynn

UNIMA Australia is about friendship through puppetry – promoting peace and hope through our art form. We hope that everyone can find keep finding joy, hope and ‘silver linings’ wherever they may be. 

Thank you to our sponsor Lumin’s Workshop for awarding gift vouchers to our winners! Lumin’s Workshop offers a myriad of materials for makers, crafters, cosplayers and more. They are based in Melbourne, Victoria. https://www.luminsworkshop.com/

Winners also received a year’s membership to UNIMA Australia, the official puppetry organisation of Australia. Membership is open to anyone around the world. For more information please go to https://www.unima.org.au/membership/

Silver Linings Film Festival 2020

UNIMA Australia Silver Linings Project – Online Puppet Film Festival 2020!

Trailer for Silver Linings Online Puppet Festival, 2020. Featured puppet in thumbnail by Katherine Hannaford (NSW, Australia). Music (to the tune of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ by Judy Garland) was taken from one of our entries – ‘Pivoting’ by Zan Griffith.

2020 was a tough year, but we wanted to find some silver linings and put some joy out into the world. We invited people from around the world to join the UNIMA Australia Silver Linings Project – a call to submit short, uplifting puppet films.

We received entries from around Australia as well as the UK, Ireland, Canada and Uruguay. We will award prizes after the screening.

The playlist premiered on Saturday 26 September at 8pm (AEST) via Facebook @UnimaOz and on our UNIMA Australia Youtube Channel.

You can watch the playlist here:

We received entries from around Australia as well as the UK, Ireland, Canada and Uruguay. Thank you to everyone who contributed! Here are the films:

  1. Pivoting – Zan Griffith (VIC, Australia)
  2. Stretchy Pants Song – Kay Yasugi (Pupperoos), Leon Hendroff, Jill Webster (Story Bubble), Katherine Hannaford, The Drama Studio, Pete Davidson (One Orange Sock Productions), Brett Hansen and Elissa Jenkins (Larrikin Puppets), Sue Wallace and Steve Coupe (Sydney Puppet Theatre), Kristen Clerke, Dominique Croset, Angie Macmillan (NSW, QLD, VIC, WA, Australia)
    Song by Brian Buffington (USA)
  3. Cuckoo! Cuckoo! – Clare Jefferson Jones and Paul Jones, Splodge Designs (UK)
  4. ‘Nothing Much to Do’ 2020 – Angie Macmillan (VIC, Australia)
  5. In the Garden – Clare Jefferson Jones and Paul Jones, Splodge Designs (UK)
  6. The Kotzebue Shuffle – Ali DeRegt, Emma Fisher, Monica Ila, Campfire Tales (Canada and Ireland)
  7. Silver Linings with Larrikin Puppets – Brett Hansen and Elissa Jenkins (QLD, Australia)
  8. My Objects – Alena Skalova, Missing Pages Theatre (UK)
  9. Teddy Interview – La Casa del Árbol
    (Montevideo, Uruguay)
  10. The Memories She Doesn’t Need – Kristen Clerke (QLD, Australia). Song by Susie Hurley
  11. “Hope” is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson. A shadow poem – Jenn & Rosy Thurston (UK & VIC, Australia)
  12. Silver Linings – Small Actions – Gemma Rose (VIC, Australia)

Awards and Prizes

Congratulations to the following winners:

First Place – “Hope’ is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson -A shadow poem” by Jenn and Rosy Thurston (UK/VIC, Australia). Prizes: 12 months membership to UNIMA Australia and UNIMA badges

Second Place – “The Kotzebue Shuffle” by Ali DeRegt, Emma Fisher, Monica Ila, Campfire Tales (Canada and Ireland). Prizes: 6 months membership to UNIMA Australia and UNIMA badges

Honourable Mention – “Silver Linings – Small Actions” by Georgie Rose (VIC, Australia). Prize: UNIMA Badge

Thank you again to everyone who contributed to this online festival, and to our UNIMA Australia Committee judges Philip Millar (President), Larissa Deak and Adam Bennett. We hope you all enjoyed watching these puppet films.

Please share and spread the joy!

UNIMA Australia is the official puppetry organisation of Australia. Membership is open to anyone around the world. For more information please go to https://www.unima.org.au/membership/

#silverliningsunima #unimaoz