The Annual CRIS JONES Debut Director Prize


CRIS JONES DEBUT DIRECTORS PRIZE


Taking great pride in helping to put a wide variety of Australian stories up on the big screen, where they belong, the society is particularly dedicated to supporting rising Australian talent.


At each festival, the society hosts a Q&A with a debut feature film director as part of the closing night gala, in honour of the late British-Australian filmmaker Cris Jones, whose debut feature The Death and Life of Otto Bloom (2016) closed the first festival. 


From 2023, the prize is named in Cris' honour as he tragically passed away only months after appearing on stage with us. We were utterly devastated and raised enough cash for seat at Regents Street Cinema to be named in his honour.


Subsequent honourees for the prize have been:

Priscilla Cameron (The Butterfly Tree, LAFF 2018)

Imogen McCluskey (Suburban Wildlife, LAFF 2019)

Renèe Webster (How To Please A Woman, LAFF 2022)

Jub Clerc (Sweet As, LAFF 2023)


Sweet As
The Death and Life of Otto Bloom
Sunday 8 July 2018 7.30pm
Regent Street Cinema
The Death and Life of Otto Bloom (2017)
Director: Cris Jones
Writer: Cris Jones
Producers: Mish Armstrong, Alicia Brown, Melanie Coombs
Cast: Xavier Samuel, Rachel Ward, Matilda Brown

An astounding debut from a director who was lost to us way too soon. Bringing Rachel Ward out of retirement to mirror real life on screen as she works alongside her daughter, Matilda Brown, this is the story of a man who is ageing backwards - and his one true love across decades. It will make you think deeply and will stay with you forever.
Sweet As
The Butterfly Tree
Sunday 8 July 2018 7.30pm
Regent Street Cinema
The Butterfly Tree (2017)
Director: Priscilla Cameron
Writer: Priscilla Cameron
Producer: Bridget Callow
Cast: Melissa George, Ewen Leslie, Ed Oxenbould

The Butterfly Tree is a delightful coming-of-age story starring Ed Oxenbould (Paper Planes, Puberty Blues TV series), who falls in love with the luminescent Melissa George when she moves into his town. But little does he know, his father, Ewan Leslie, is also rather taken with the newcomer.  
Sweet As
Suburban Wildlife
Sunday 30 June 2019, 8pm
Regent Street Cinema
Suburban Wildlife (2019)
Director: Imogen McCluskey
Writers: Béatrice Barbeau-Scurla, Imogen McCluskey
Producers: Béatrice Barbeau-Scurla, Sophie Hattch, Imogen McCluskey
Cast: Maddy McWilliam, Hannah Lehmann, Priscilla Doueihy

Produced for a miniscule $5000, but without scrimping on quality, SUBURBAN WILDLIFE is packed with raw honesty, dreamy flights of fancy, and outstanding performances from a young cast. 
Sweet As
How to Please a Woman
Sun 13 November 2022, 7.30pm
Regent Street Cinema
How to Please A Woman (2022)
Director: Renèe Webster
Writer: Renèe Webster
Producers: Tania Chambers, Judi Levine 
Cast: Sally Phillips, Hayley McElhinney, Caroline Brazier

A genuine crowd-pleaser, this film will lead you on a precarious, often hilarious and revealing journey into the vulnerable world of what women really want and how hard it can be to get it right...
Sweet As
Sweet As
24 Sept 2023, 7:30pm 
Picturehouse Central 
Sweet As (2022)
Director: Jub Clerc
Writer: Jub Clerc, Steve Rodgers
Producer: Liz Kearney 
Cast: Shantae Barnes-Cowan, Mark Coles Smith, Ngaire Pigram, Carlos Sanson Jr, Tasma Walton

An effervescent drama, inspired by Clerc’s own journey to becoming a filmmaker, it is a joyous, cinematic, life-affirming ride not to be missed.
Sweet As

The Rooster
15 Sept 2024, 7:45pm 

Picturehouse Central  

The Rooster (2023)

Director: Mark Leonard Winter

Writer: Mark Leonard Winter

Producers: Geraldine Hakewill & MahVeen Shahraki

Cast: Phoenix Raei, Hugo Weaving


An intimate psychological drama about grief, growth, and unlikely friendships, this gripping (and often surprising) film features Phoenix Raei as a country cop, whose struggle to cope with the death of a childhood friend leads him into the orbit of Hugo Weaving’s grizzled and grumpy hermit. 

Sweet As

He Ain't Heavy
13 July 2024, 7:00pm 

Finsbury Park Picturehouse

He Ain't Heavy (2024)

Director: David Vincent Smith

Writer: David Vincent Smith

Producers: Jess Parker

Cast: Leila George, Sam Corlett, Greta Scacchi


30-year-old Jade has sacrificed the better part of her life to rescue her little brother Max from drug addiction. In desperation, unbeknownst to their ever-forgiving mother Bev, Jade locks him inside their grandparent’s vacant rural home in an attempt to ‘get him clean'. But when Bev arrives, a shocking discovery leads them all to reevaluate their own lives.

Sweet As

Alphabet Lane
19 July 2024, 7:00pm 

Finsbury Park Picturehouse

Alphabet Lane (2025)

Director: James Litchfield

Writer: James Litchfield

Producers: James Litchfield, Lucinda Reynolds,

Joey Charlton

Cast: Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Nicholas Denton,

Henry Nixon, Alan Dukes


This darkly funny thriller follows Anna and Jack, a young couple who have recently moved to the country. With the reality of their new situation failing to live up to their expectations, they invent imaginary neighbours to cope with their growing loneliness. As letters begin to arrive from their new friends, what started out as a joke soon comes to take over their entire relationship.