The Setting Sun Film Festival celebrates the best filmmakers from around Victoria and indeed the world. In seven years, we’ve grown from being a small community festival to the largest film festival in the West and one of the biggest in Melbourne. 

Our 2019 festival screened over 100 films. We screened films from China, America, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, UK, Cuba and South Korea. 

In 2020 we will deliver a seven-day festival that will include an independently made Australian feature film, a women’s program sponsored by renowned producer Sue Maslin, a youth program sponsored by Victoria University, a broad range of short films in all genres, a forum and masterclasses.

We embrace cultural diversity, being one of the first mainstream festivals to introduce awards and programs reflecting the reality of our culturally diverse society.  Over the years, filmmakers have entered films into these award categories exploring and highlighting themes of disability, gender identity, sexuality, religion, culture, indigenous and age, in narrative and documentary films. This section has grown considerably over the years. Of the 104 films we screened in 2019, 43 explored culturally diverse themes. This year’s 11 opening night films, included four subtitled films, six directed by women and six were by people from cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds. 

We’ve done all this by working hard and delivering clever marketing. We want to give your brand the deluxe treatment through a diverse package. Let us help you get closer to the West’s urban, sophisticated community. We screen at the number one cinema in the West, the Sun Theatre Yarraville.

If you’d like to become a Setting Sun Film Festival sponsor, please fill out this contact form and we will contact you. 

Founder/Producer

The producer and creator of this festival. PKM produces the events, website content, posters, coordinates the judging, programming, administration, marketing, publicity. It produces and directs the trailers and art directs the posters and all graphics.

PARTNER

Victoria University

Victoria University will join us as Festival Partner for the fifth year. VU is proud to continue it’s a commitment to young filmmakers and will be once again supporting our Rising Sun program for secondary schools. For aspiring filmmakers, Victoria University offers a Bachelor of Screen Media.  Victoria University (VU) is the university of the west. 

Major Sponsor

City of Maribyrnong

We are proud to be part of the City of Maribyrnong’s festival calendar.  Maribyrnong boasts one of the most ethnically diverse areas in Melbourne.  It has a vibrant, artistic and cultural community. There’s always something going on. They are committed supporters to the arts.

Venue Partners

The Sun Theatre

The Sun Theatre, a beautiful Art Deco theatre, is the most prestigious in the west. They are a wonderful community contributor, and we’re proud to have them as our leading venue partner. They have been supportive and committed sponsors from the beginning. The Sun originally opened in 1938 and was a single screen 1050 seat cinema – the most luxurious in the area. Today it has 8 boutique cinemas, ranging in size from 200 seats down to 23 couches and variations in between! The cinemas have club-style seats where you can sit comfortably and enjoy a glass of wine, popcorn or another treat. The Sun will again contribute some great prizes including tickets and free theatre hire

Kindred Studios

Kindred Studios are providing the festival with an office again for the 2017 festival. Established in 2005, Kindred Studios is a purpose built space for creative professionals & projects. From rehearsal studios to coworking offices, our studios in Yarraville provide you with the perfect space to rehearse, perform and work while realising your next project.

Hummingbird Rentals

Hummingbird Rentals has quickly become one of Melbourne’s favourite boutique rental houses. Our growing inventory includes Arri and RED cameras, Cooke, Zeiss, Leica lenses and of course our flagship Hawk C Series anamorphic, the only set in Australia. Whilst we work with some of Melbourne’s best and most established DP’s we always have an eye on the next generation, with a mission to help our industry grow and thrive by helping young DP’s and filmmakers get the best camera packages for their next film. As such, we are thrilled to be a part of the Setting Sun Film Festival and offer a $1000 store credit to the winner of the Best Tertiary film, we can’t wait to see what you create with our gear! 

A $200 cash prize has been donated by the lovely Finke Family, in honour of their long time friend George Ware Dixon, who died in December 2017. The family was so moved by his creative energy- he was writing a play until a few days before his death aged 93 – that flowers seemed hardly appropriate as a tribute.

George was an actor, scholar, teacher and writer – of plays and short films.

He lived with his wife Lola Russell in Melbourne’s oldest shop, which had been Lola’s childhood home. George and Lola operated the shop as Russell’s Café, performing plays and poetry readings there through the years until the building was deemed dangerous in 2017 and the couple, both in their 90s, had to move out.

Of George’s many accomplishments, one of the most interesting was his leading role in ‘Clay’, Australia’s entry in the 1965 Cannes Film Festival, and nominated for the Golden Palm. The film was the work of arthouse filmmaker Giorgio Mangiamele, who was featured in a MIFF retrospective a few years ago. (George Dixon’s wife Lola was also in ‘Clay’).

Thank you Finke Family.

You can read more here.

Punthill Apartments

For a relaxing stay near Hobson Bay at Williamstown, stay at Punthill Melbourne Apartment Hotels. Our Williamstown hotel apartments are only a short stroll away from cafes, bars, restaurants, shops and Hobson Bay.

Located in the cosmopolitan and trendy bay side precinct of Williamstown Melbourne, the contemporary studio, one and two bedroom serviced apartments of Punthill Williamstown are only metres away from the water’s edge and wharf area.

Baby Guerrilla

Baby Guerrilla the west’s leading street artist, the mysterious Baby Guerrilla will continue her long relationship with us and again award a winner some prizes. We love her work. Her paste ups can be seen everywhere including the on the buildings of Victoria University.

Media Partners

The Westsider

We love catching up with all the news from the west by reading The Westsider. It is a  community newspaper for the western suburbs of Melbourne. It is powered by citizen journalists and publishes articles written by people who live and work in Altona, Footscray, Yarraville, Seddon, Kingsville,  Sunshine, Williamstown, Newport, Spotswood, Point Cook, Melton, Werribee and nearby suburbs.

Welcome back 3CR

Their broadcasters present over 120 radio programs every week and listeners can tune in on 855AM, stream live through the web or download podcasts of their shows. This year, they will once again provide interviews for winners. The radio station was established in 1976 to provide a voice for those denied access to the mass media, particularly the working class, women, Indigenous people and the many community groups and community issues discriminated against in and by the mass media.