Filmmakers enter from all over the world. Our long-running partnership with SBS puts the winning films in front of a national television audience, which is a long way from where the festival started. Year on year it has changed how a lot of people think about disability.
Entrants range from seasoned directors to people who have never made a film before. Plenty of the films that stay with audiences longest come from the second group.
The festival keeps growing. There is a tour planned across Australia and New Zealand, and we have been invited to present at disability conferences overseas.
NOVA Employment CEO Martin Wren started the festival in 2009, in the belief that film would change how people see disability faster than argument would.
Films from the festival have been watched more than 4 million times across over 170 countries. We hear regularly from viewers who say a film changed their mind about something.
It finishes with a red carpet awards night where filmmakers see their work on the big screen. Some films go on to screen on national television.
