Top of the Trops
AMERICAN Jewish filmmaker Spencer Susser and his colleague Daniel “Cloud” Campos were on cloud nine this week after winning first prize at Tropfest, Australia’s most prestigious short film festival.
AMERICAN Jewish filmmaker Spencer Susser and his colleague Daniel “Cloud” Campos were on cloud nine this week after winning first prize at Tropfest, Australia’s most prestigious short film festival.
The pair scooped the award for their collaborated on Shiny, a three-minute stop-frame animation film, that was made using life-sized clothing laid out as the characters, with an overhead camera capturing their movement.
“We’re very excited and we’ve got an international buzz because Cloud is in Los Angeles,” Susser, who was in Sydney for the competition, told The AJN on Wednesday.
“I felt like I had already won just by being part of the festival with all the other great filmmakers.”
Susser said when he collaborates with Campos they have very different views so they produce films that are a hybrid of their two styles.
“The nice thing about our collaboration is that we both have very strong opinions about what we like and don’t like, so it’s about convincing the other person that the idea we are talking about is the right one.”
Campos agreed, but said that even when they worked together well he never expected to win the prestigious event.
“We thought it would be cool to show it there, but I let the dream go a long time ago that we would win everything,” Campos told The AJN from Los Angeles.
“This is one of the first things I’ve ever won.
“It’s something that is in the books now for both of us and it will always be a great memory.”
Tropfest, which was launched 23 years ago at the Tropicana cafe in Darlinghurst, has grown to become one of the world’s largest short film festivals and is a highlight of the Sydney calendar every year.
Since its foundation, judges have included Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Naomi Watts, Toni Collette, Rose Byrne, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, Samuel L Jackson, Baz Luhrmann and Keanu Reeves.
Susser said that Sydney is his favourite city in the world and that he will stay for at least a couple of weeks.
“Even before this win I loved the place. I’ve been coming back and forth for about 16 years now.”
JOSHUA LEVI
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