The Australian Film Festival celebrates the huge array of Australian creative talent in the feature film, short film, online content and television industries. Each year, the AFF is proud to shine the spotlight on our home grown talent, from our distinguished and experienced heavyweights to our up-and-coming cinematic stars. 

But that’s only part of what we do! 

The purpose of the festival is not simply the screening of Australian film - The AFF is focused on the long term development of Australian film content in a rapidly changing global environment, as well as building of audiences for Australian film.

On Wednesday 7th March 2012, Australian Film Festival will commence its third year screening from the iconic, art deco Randwick Ritz Cinema. Be inspired by unreleased features, outdoor screenings, seminars and workshops, fringe events with Q & A's by Australia's best filmmakers, and the Australian Film Walk of Fame.

Barry Watterson has been associated with the creation and development of Australian productions, events and festivals since 2004, when he became the creative director of the Coogee Arts Festival. In the six years as Director he turned a festival that began as 8 performances of Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ into a month long celebration of the arts, incorporating theatre, music, film, visual arts, charity, community and children’s events, eventually becoming the largest festival of its kind outside the Sydney Festival.

In 2006 he created the Havaianas Thong Challenge as a community based Guinness World Record event. In 2005 he became the artistic director of the Stinkwater! Short Film Festival, opening the festival to international entries in 2007. In the same year he created the Stinkwater! 24 Hour Short Film Festival and the Australian Film Walk of Fame, honouring those who have made significant contributions to the unique  Australian film culture.

In 2009, he developed the Australian Film Week, showcasing classic and new Australian features alongside the Stinkwater! short film programme. Barry’s experiences with the development of film events and festivals made him realise that a different approach was needed for festivals in Australia, one which incorporated film festivals as an important element to the development of long term audiences for Australian film content. In 2009 Barry took up the position of Festival Director of the inaugural Australian Film Festival.