A love letter to Shot on Sh!t 2026

Attended by Matthew Donlan

Swimming in a sea of slop takes its toll on an individual's sanity. As the waste water from the data centre's pipes fill my lungs like not-quite-right spaghetti into Will Smith's, I reach a hand out. One final desperate attempt to escape back to reality. Before I hit rock bottom (along side The Block's AI jingles) something grasps by hand. Lifted up, I see it clearly. Lit-up in piss-yellow lights was my beacon of hope. Like the golden arches to Russian eyes during perestroika or the sunrise over the moon for those on Artemis II, it called to me.

"Shot on Sh!t 2026"

Held at the Botany View Hotel on Friday 16 October, the Shot on Sh!t film festival was a celebration of human-made art. The requirements were simple; make a short film on a camera with worse fidelity than an iPhone. It needed to be good story but bad to look at. Artists had free-reign over what story they told, and how they told it. From Nokia flip phones to thermal cameras, Kodak key-chains and X-Box 360s, audience eyes were subjected to it all.

I had the distinct pleasure of being a member of the jury, alongside three other incredibly talented people. With Nick Annas, Ing Dieckmann and Kristen Settinelli, the four of us deliberated for hours over each film. Were there enough shocks, enough wows, enough laughs? Were the camera's limitations used to their full extent? Were we seeing things you could never see anywhere else? Were we seeing a voice being discovered and tested?

It is one thing to watch each film comfortably in a living room with a few people. It's another to watch it with 200 people in a pub, with friends and filmmakers in attendance. Tone and jokes suddenly take on a whole new meaning. The anticipation of what comes next bursts out of people when the first frame appears.

The energy was electric almost immediately. A palpable buzz skipped around the room as more and more trickled in. Seats were reserved, drinks collected and plenty of hugs given out. There were even a few "I know your face but can't work out where from" looks shared between people.

At one point during the final package of films, and after a few red wines (thank you again to those who shouted me a drink) I stopped looking at the screen. Instead, I looked around the room, at all the faces starring forward. People were leaning forward, as if the films themselves were a magnetic lure. The blue light flicked over all the faces and twinkled in the eyes. It was beautiful to see the crowd share this experience, and to be a part of it myself.

Each film in the package deserved to be there. And each film received the respect and attention they required. It is so rare to see every single film in a package of shorts work perfectly on the audience. Laughs erupted at the right time, hush filled the room during quieter moments, and even tears fell with the beauty on screen. That is a testament to the talent of every filmmaker for creating amazing works of art.

Shot on Sh!t is vital for Sydney. On that night, the room was filled with the next generation of directors, performers, editors, writers, cinematographers, boom operators, make-up artists and composers. It was a celebration of humans making things together and sharing it. It was a chance to be vulnerable, to take risks, to try new things, without fear of failure or loss. It reminded people that art can be made on a shoe-string budget.

Thank you to Flynn, Parker and every filmmaker who submitted a film.

The winners at Shot on Sh!t 2026
First Place: 'Young Boy Plays With Ooshies At The Pyramids But Is Interrupted By An Alien Who Wants to Destroy Planet Earth' by Jack Tickner, Corey McCrossin and Fenn Idle

Second Place: 'Shot on Piss' by Eve Kombras

Third Place: 'Taint Calico Blues' by Jackson Perryman

The Experimental Perspective in Cinema Award (Jury Prize): 'A Night at Epic Pizza' by Charlie Blomfield

The Sydney on Screen Award (Host Prize): 'Pizard Worn' by Dexter Gibson Cummins

The Person's Choice Award: 'Pizard Worn' by Dexter Gibson Cummins

The People's Choice Award: 'Conversations' by Helena Williams

Yes that's right! Our very own Helena won the audience award (so you can't even accuse me of rigging the jury!). She might hate this but her film brought tears to my eyes that night. It is incredibly vulnerable, tender and deeply-human. It's no surprise it won the audience award because it is a film that resonates with everyone. I'd like to let Helena have the last word on her film though:

If it wasn't obvious from me being on a smoko upstairs when they announced the award, I did not anticipate being on stage. I did, however, anticipate the anxiety of screening a personal film to 200 people in a pub and consumed 5 double whiskey cokes beforehand, which felt super appropriate at the time. So, having been effectively speechless on the night, let's all pretend this is what I actually said:

"I have been making films like this for a couple of years, and I have resigned myself to the fact that sometimes they land, and sometimes they really don't (mama I could tell u stories). In saying that, I think with all cinema but especially essay films like the one I made, the film is only really half the battle. If anything, I think its resonance with the audience speaks to their ability to empathise with the material I presented them with, their ability to digest and interpret it, and their ability to then reflect on how it makes them feel/relates to them. I feel I can safely assume the crowd of people Flynn and Parker brought together are the sorts of empathetic people who were ready to do that, and if anything, my film was just the conduit."

Pick of the Week
This week, I suggest you catch a preview screening of Lance Oppenheim's Primetime. You'll be hearing more about this film from me next week! Preview screenings are at Hayden Orpheum, the Ritz and Dendy.

New Releases - THURSDAY 22 October

• Clayface (James Watkins)
• Klara and the Sun (Taika Waititi)
• Wildwood (Travis Knight)
• Possible Love (Lee Chang-dong)