West End is a culturally and socially diverse community that is eclectic, community orientated and artistically driven despite the rapid fast paced changing landscape the Kurilpa Peninsula has experienced. People make places and we want to invest in our people. 4101 has the highest capita of creatives of any suburb living in Brisbane, and in turn, provides the perfect place to host a progressive, artist-driven and highly engaged film festival that not only consistently delivers high quality programs for audiences but that also strives to fundamentally support filmmakers and the industry as a whole.
WECA supports and manages WEFF each year and works with all levels of government, local businesses, film-related educational institutions, film businesses, filmmakers, and Brisbane audiences.
WECA is a non-partisan, not-for-profit, incorporated association represented by a 100% volunteer-led and managed board. WECA engages with our community of 35,000 + people which includes residents, local business, organisations and government within Kurilpa (West End, Highgate Hill, Hill End, West of Montague Road, South Brisbane) in Brisbane / Meanjin on project to project based work and our signature events.
Since 2004, WECA has showcased the creative talents in our neighbourhood through the curation of film and street festivals. We know the arts and culture builds legacy and strengthens community. We focus on participatory experiences in all our initiatives.
Our vision is a connected, liveable and diverse urban community on the Kurilpa peninsula. A vibrant artistic and cultural life builds connections, enriches our lives and opens our eyes to the diversity around us.
We thank those who create and those who enjoy. We thank our volunteers who make this event possible.
We acknowledge that we gather on unceded Aboriginal land, on the territories of Jagera, Yuggera and Turrbal peoples. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging and to other First Nations people and communities in Meanjin. Sovereignty was never ceded.
The West End Film Festival (WEFF) is an Australian ‘Short Film’ competition held in one of Brisbane’s most vibrant communities, West End. WEFF, now in its 13th year, brings us together to celebrate filmmakers and artists, audiences and importantly highlights contributions for, with and from the film industry. WEFF is a conduit for the stories that people want to tell and how they do it.
WEFF was established in 2009 by a group of local film makers focused on supporting grassroots filmmaking, and continues to connect with this founding objective today. Forging relationships with local communities, and encouraging collaborations among artists, the festival highlights the importance of creativity and connection.
Traditionally, WEFF was held at Rumpus Room prior to covid between 2009 – 2019. The location of Rumpus Room in the heart of West End provided a unique opportunity to retro-fit a large shed into a cinema space from 2 film sessions and awards in its early years to 3 nights of screenings and awards. We would like to thank our previous WEFF team members Mike Witt, Despina Colada, Tracey Walker, Daniel Shultz, Jess Weber, Casey Reine-Chamberlain, Connie Huang, Rosie Hancock, Samantha Weingott, Sascha Shipley, Adam Finney, Anthony Tocci, Erin Evans, Jacqui Walters, Domenico Broonsas, Ralph Mulhberger, Tristan Swanwick, Patrick Van Weeren, Steph Vajda, Dan Baebler, Ari Balle-Bowness, Seleneah More, Harmonie Downes and our judges, volunteers and event staff.
In 2022, we sadly said goodbye to the Rumpus closing their doors for good and in doing so, we had the difficult task to reimagine what this year’s WEFF could look like, this year’s Festival design is the result of consultation through surveys and meetings with universities, businesses and peak bodies. We are thrilled to be working with new venue hosts who vary in such different models including Non-Profits, First Nations media organisations, breweries, universities, funders, performing arts venues and our much loved small businesses who sponsor awards. film screenings – community and industry streams, outdoors and indoors over an almost month long program.
WEFF22 is bringing the best of Australian film shorts to West End. Check out our public events including a mashup of live music with their video clips at Bunyapa Park, a journey into multiculturalism through Cinema, Story and Song at Parched Brewery, an evening of family friendly films with food and a bar for the little and big kids at Arafmi and multi-arts sessions at SAE Institute Brisbane. Join in on industry jams, panels and workshops on tech, networking, upskilling, the creative process, First Nations lenses and more. To top it off, we’ll be running 4 nights of the best films at Metro Arts including the WEFFY awards and industry networking events. This year’s Festival is hyper local yet national featuring flicks from chilly Melbs to humid Darwin covering content on hot topics, music videos, animation, dramas, youth, other cultures and a wonderfully inspiring, provocative, yet diverse program from our own homegrown 4101 and SEQ filmmakers. Audiences will get to view an amazing talent of multimedia events across the West End, plus find unexpected popup film events in non-traditional film settings.