Tropfest scores $2.7m boost as stars back Aussie talent

Australia's film industry has rolled out the red carpet for Tropfest, as the beloved short film festival gears up for a return in 2027.

At Thursday's launch, industry heavyweights welcomed a $2.7 million NSW government funding boost over three years to help keep the festival free and give emerging filmmakers a platform to tell Australian stories.

Mad Max director George Miller said the return of Tropfest was important because cinema is "critical" and can carry "Australian culture to the world".

Miller recalled how overseas audiences once struggled to understand Australian voices on screen, but said local film and television has helped change that.

"When the first Mad Max was shown in America, they did not understand the Australian accent," he said.

"And now with movies like Crocodile Dundee, with shows like Home and Away and Neighbours, and with modern media, everyone understands Australians."

The NSW government's funding commitment, announced by Premier Chris Minns, would help emerging creatives share their stories on a grand scale.

Miller said it was "very critical that the support comes through", a view echoed by Tropfest Foundation chair Sarah Murdoch, who said Australia's creative identity needed to be nurtured rather than allowed to "get lost".

"There's something unique about the Australian voice, the Australian character and our sense of humour," she said.

Murdoch said Tropfest offered filmmakers a chance to prove they could build an audience at home, rather than thinking overseas success was the only measure of achievement.

"This is an opportunity to show that you can make it here in this country," she said.

For founder John Polson, that belief goes to the heart of the festival.

"If we don't celebrate our own culture, our own people and our own stories, who's going to?" he asked.

Two Hands actor Bryan Brown remembers a time when Australian stories were far less visible on screen.