MacKILLOP from 5sprocket on Vimeo.

Roll up! Roll up! Film buffs unite! Cine-philes at attention! TV eyes at the ready! Next Monday, the infamous Red Rattler plays host to the 47th Kino: Epics of Miniature Proportions. For the uninitiated, Kate Britton caught up with Sydney event manager Adele about the friendliest short film festival on the circuit.

Flog: Could you give me a bit of background to the night? How did Kino first get going?

Kino: Kino Sydney was created by our not-for-profit company called The Festivalists in November in 2006. However there are Kino groups all over the world, the first began in Montreal in 2000.

Kino is a monthly film night we run in Sydney. People make a short film for the night then have it screened in front of a live audience. Any film that is made for the night and abides by the Kino rules will be screened. There is no pre-selection or submission fees. It is a really friendly, chilled out environment where filmmakers, actors and film lovers come together to enjoy new films and meet like-minded people. There are no awards or judging panels, anyone can feel comfortable to come along and bust out there film no matter what their level of experience is.

Would you say there's more or less opportunity for emerging filmmakers now than in the past, say when Kino first began?

There is probably less available. With cameras becoming cheaper and therefore more easily accessible, more people can make films. Therefore getting your film into a festival has probably become harder. I think that is why events like Kino are so important as it eliminates that stress of submissions and selection processes.

What are the selection criteria for films at Kino? What should we expect on the night?

Every film that is bought along on the night will be screened, as long as the film abides by Kino's 3 rules:

1. The film must be a premiere and be made for Kino, it cannot be a recycled university project or TVC you made for a client.
2. The film must run for less then 5 mins
3. The film must feature the Kino logo and screening number at the end

You expect to arrive at an awesome venue, pay 15 bucks, get given two free delicious alcoholic beverages, some free pizza and home cooked cakes and cookies. You then sit back and enjoy 12 – 20 short films that were made by filmmakers within the room.

Filmmakers make their way to the stage after their film has been screened to discuss the film and answer questions from the audience. Half time entails live entertainment by local musicians or performance artists. We also run some competitions and give away film tickets. The DJ kicks in at the end when we mingle with the other 120 approx people who have come to enjoy the night.

We also through out filmmaking 'challenges' every week to push filmmakers who want something a little bit harder. A challenge is a genre or parameter that their next film has to abide by. The next months challenge is to make an 'animal mocumentary!' Should be interesting…

Have you had any particularly memorable entries to past events? A personal fave or future celebrity?

There is this awesome video called MACKILLOP by Josh Wheatley which has a bit of a cult following (above). One of my favourites is When Sally Met Frank by Victoria Waghorn which went on to win best cinematorg