MEDIA RELEASE

Winner of TropWest Scholarship Announced

Released 21 October 2008

Information and Cultural Exchange
PO Box 4033 Parramatta NSW 2124 Australia
T: +61(2) 9897 5744 / F: +61(2) 9897 5766

Winner of the Tropwest Scholarship Tresa Ponnor with The Hon. David Borger, MP

Over the weekend, Tropfest, Australia’s largest and most popular short film festival rolled into the west in a quest to find the next big thing!

TropWest saw more than one hundred up-and-coming Western Sydney filmmakers and enthusiasts gather together to hear from those in the know at Tropfest, view screenings of award-winning Tropfest 2008 films and meet with some of the best in the industry.

This year’s TropWest was particularly exciting for Hinchinbrook resident and aspiring filmmaker Tresa Ponnor who won the first ICE and SWITCH Tropwest Scholarship Award. From a large number of applications, Tresa took home the coveted award which was presented to her by The Hon. David Borger, MP (Minister for Housing and Minister for Western Sydney).

“Launched this year and valued at $5,000 the ICE and SWITCH Tropwest Scholarship Award has been created to encourage and develop the amazing filmmaking talent that exists in Western Sydney,” said Lena Nahlous, Director of ICE and SWITCH.

“Including support and mentoring by ICE with access to our state of the art SWITCH Multimedia and Digital Arts Access Centre to produce a film in Tropfest 2009 and mentoring by an experienced filmmaker, the opportunities for Tresa are endless,” said Lena.

“It’s an opportunity that rarely comes our way in the west. I never had the guts or the money to enter such a massive festival like Tropfest, and now will have no excuses of not having equipment or cash or the support of a reputable mentor and an excellent organization like ICE behind me,” said Tresa.

TropWest supporters, partners and funding bodies include; ICE, Tropfest, NSW FTO, Riverside Theatres, SWITCH, Parramatta City Council, Australia Council and Arts NSW.