Last night was the closing night of Sydney Film Festival’s 69th Festival at the State Theatre. It was a fantastic night of celebration over the 12-day programme of over 200+ films leading to the final closing night film Broker from South Korea. The Sydney Film Prize went to Belgian filmmaker Lucas Dhont’s film Close, receiving a $60,000 which was quoted as saying the film was ‘audacious, cutting-edge and courageous ‘ by jury head David Wenham.

The Australian Documentary Prize went to Keep Stepping by director Luke Cornish about two remarkable female performers training for Australia’s biggest street dance competition and will receive $10,000 thanks to Documentary Australia.

The Dendy Award Short Films awards were awarded to two different films, With the Yoram Gross and newly created AFTRS Craft Award going to Donkey,directed by Jonathan Daw and Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM. The Best Live Action Short and the Rouben Mamoulian Award For Best Director going to The Moths Will Eat Them Up directed by Luisa Martiri and Tanya Modini.

The 2022 recipient of the $10,000 Sustainable Future Award, made possible by a syndicate of passionate climate activists led by Award sponsor Amanda Maple-Brown, is Australian documentary Delikado directed by Karl Malakunas, which reveals the tribulations of environmental crusaders on the Filipino island of Palawan.

Filmmaker and performerKylie Bracknell was awarded the 2022 Deutsche Bank Fellowship for First Nations Film Creatives. The Fellowship provides a $20,000 grant to an Australian First Nations film creative to further develop their skills through international placement or other professional development.The $10,000 Sydney-UNESCO City of Film Award, bestowed by Create NSW to a trail-blazing NSW-based screen practitioner, was presented to film composer Caitlin Yeo.