Romance Rules Film Festival 2025 – A Fantastic Night of Film
The Romance Rules Film Festival at Studio 138 was a huge success. Thank you to everyone who joined us for a night of short films exploring romance in all its forms. There were plenty of laughs, moments of reflection, and a great sense of community as we enjoyed films from around the world.
The audience favourite ended in a three-way tie:
• Little Issues – Directed by Jerah Milligan (USA)
• The Meaning Of No – Directed by Reid McGowan, Mik Gojic (Australia)
• 26 eXes – Directed by Tess Lafia (USA)
Congratulations to these filmmakers for their outstanding work.
Thank you for being part of this celebration of storytelling. We look forward to welcoming you to our next event.
We had a terrific night at the screening for the 2024 Thrills and Chills Fantasy, Sci Fi and Horror Fest screening. The audience loved the incredibly diverse genre short films from around the world.
Congratulations to the category winners (see below). As per the rules, we have reserved the right not to award winners in a small number of categories.
A big thank you to filmmakers Kalina Davis (“Hidden Prey”) and Julianna Purnell who attended the screening in person.
We’ll be opening entries soon for the 2025 season.
Official selections screened at the event
‘They’re Coming’ Country of origin: United States Director(s): Camy “Cameron” Arnett
‘Unit 17: Week 3’ Country of origin: United States Director(s): David Kaye, Theresa Stefaniak
‘Reboot’ Country of origin: China Director: CHRIS QI YAO
‘Hidden Prey’ Country of origin: Australia Director: Kalina Davis
‘Lab Rat’ Country of origin: Australia Director: Ben Hargreaves
‘La Soglia’ Country of origin: Italy Director(s): Nicolò Tonani, Sofia Gasparetti, Simone Colombo
‘I Was’ Country of origin: Italy Director(s): Matteo Capatti, Lorenzo Mazzucchi
‘Demon Dog’ Country of origin: Australia Director: Juliana Purnell
‘Ruined Date’ Country of origin: Mexico Director: Antonio Rotunno
‘Doom Scroll’ Country of origin: Australia Director: Roy Weiland
‘Moonbeans: A Tale of Two Astronauts’ Country of origin: United States Director: James G. Maynard
‘The Missing’ Country of origin: Australia Director: Lovejeet Singh
‘The Man in the Red Pants’ Country of origin: Australia Director(s): Liam Govan, Hassibullah Kushkaki
‘Delivery’ Country of origin: United States Director: Braydon Leadbetter
Category award winners
Poster for “The Missing”
Audience favourite – “The Missing”
Short film – Horror / Thriller – “The Missing”
Short film – Sci Fi – “Lab Rat”
Director – Lovejeet Singh “The Missing”
Actor – Alex Botto – “The Missing”
Song / score – Paul Shrofel (score) “Hinter-Land”
Production design – “The Man in the Red Pants”
Sound design – “I Was”
Mobile phone / tablet film – “Demon Dog” & “Hidden Prey”
Trailer – “I Was”
Poster – “They’re Coming”
Screenplay – horror / thriller – “Chrysalis” by Lachlan Anderson-Schmidt
We’re excited to announce our June 2024 monthly semi-finalists of our Thrills and Chills Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Horror Fest. Our semi-finalist films will be in consideration to be selected for our live screening in October 2024, where the annual winners for each category will be announced.
Join us for the 2024 screening of the Romance Rules Film Festival. We have a great line-up of short films from around the world all about romance – the good, the bad and the ugly!
When: February 16, 2024 @ 7.30 pm Venue: Black Box Theatre, Western Plains Cultural Centre, 76 Wingewarra Street, Dubbo, New South Wales, 2830 BYO: Drinks & snacks Some films include adult themes, sexual references and occasional coarse language
Tickets: $12 each (including GST) online and at the door
Featured film (non-competition) “Greek Philosophia And Chickens”
We are so excited to present the award winning short Greek Philosophia And Chickens, written by Despina Moraitu Politzi, directed by Aimiende Negbenebor Sela and starring Germaine Gaudet (How to Successfully Fail in Hollywood, River of Ghosts), Brian D Cohen (Nash Bridges, The Rookie), Lukas Hassel (Blacklist, Slapface, Limitless) and Lainie Kazan (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Gigli, Tango Shalom).
Part drama, part comedy with a hint of romance, Greek Philosophia and Chickens follows a sixty-something best-selling romance author who, feeling invisible as woman, hires an assassin to take her out. An encounter with chef/restaurant owner, Niko, and his vivacious waitress mother, Katina, from whom she learns a Greek philosophy/saying that really gets her thinking maybe…?
Official Selections
Beta Days, dir Dan Walls (Australia)
A Rose in the Mud, dir Kailey McComas (United States)
Bud, dir Jamie Martinez (United States)
For a Moment, dir Coco Tolentino (United States)
Dear Heartbreak, dir Ffion Pritchard (United Kingdom)
The Holidaze of Noelle Snow, dir Courtney Anne McLaren (United States)
Slow Dating, dir Adam Szudrich (Australia)
TutuTango, dir Dorothee Elfring, Michael Finbar Sheehan (United States)
All official selections will be eligible to be voted as “Audience Favourite”.
Finalists
Category winners will be announced at the end of the screening.
