The 60th annual Sydney Film Festival, held last June 5 to 16, had a soaring audience attendance breaking other viewer turnout in previous years. The SFF organizers were delighted as the festival begins to draw more popularity among attendees in one of Australia's major film events.

According to Sydney Film Festival CEO Leigh Small, "Attendances at films and talks grew by 17% to 143, 050," and "There was also a 22% increase in tickets issued leading to a 20% increase in revenue."

Festival Director Nashen Moodley expressed his appreciation for the success of the event. "Seeing such growing popularity with audiences for the screenings, talks and other events makes all the hard work seem so worthwhile. The filmmakers who participated in the festival were delighted with the response of the audience, and it was great to see so many Australian and international filmmakers interacting and sharing ideas, approaches and inspiration," he said.

The 12-day film fest had an impressive reading attended by over 150 Australian and international filmmakers and a total of 278 sessions including 192 films from 55 countries, 20 world premieres, 4 international premieres and 124 Australian premieres, 17 retrospective titles, 82 features, 51 documentaries and 30short films shown across six venues.

Screen Australia's Chief Executive Ruth Harley shared the importance of the Sydney Film Festival in the capital's cultural event and the Australian film industry. ""The Festival is significant in the development of fostering the talents of new Australian filmmakers and showcasing the best new Australian films," he said.

Big Winners

Nicolas Winding Refn's violent film "Only God Forgives" and "The Rocket" by Australian filmmaker Kim Mordaunt were the biggest winners of the SFF 2013.

Refn won the most coveted Sydney Film Prize for his controversial film starring Ryan Gosling. ""I am very honoured and extremely excited to have received this honourable award from a country that in my opinion has one of the great film histories of the world," he said.

"The Rocket", on the other hand, won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. It features the story of a 10-year-old boy named Ahlo from Laos who joined a rocket competition to prove to his family and community that he is not cursed. Apart from winning in Sydney, the film already won awards from Berlin and Tribeca this year.

Other winners were "The Crossing" directed by Julian Harvey, which bagged the Audience Award for Best Documentary and Dylan McDonald's "Buckskin" as the 2013 Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize winner.

The Dendy Award for Best Live Action Short went to "Perception" directed by Miranda Nation. Isabelle Peppard's "Butterflies" won the distinguished Best Australian Animated Short Film, where it becomes eligible for the Academy Awards.

Film fans can catch the theatrical release of "Only God Forgives" in Australia on July 18 while "The Rocket" will be released on August 29.