Conditions
What makes a film eligible for the Inside Film Awards?
All current Australian films (features, short films, feature-length documentaries, short documentaries and short animations) that have screened publicly in a cinema or at an Inside Film Awards accredited film festival between 14 September 2009 and 17 September 2010 are eligible for the 2010 Inside Film Awards. In order to be eligible, a film may not have been nominated for an IF Award in a previous year. Finally, a film must have completed production within the two years prior to its appearance at an accredited film festival or in theatres.
Why do we use a rating system and not a voting system?
Good question. For a comparative, 'first past the post' voting system to be fair, everyone must have viewed all eligible films. But, as only a tiny fraction of the general film going audience ever get the chance to see every single Australian film released during the year, the Inside Film Awards ask only that audiences rate the Australian films that they have seen using a scoring system of one to five. They are not rating one film against another, but simply stating their opinion on each film. This system allows more people to fairly participate in the process.
What is an Australian film?
The Australian Film Commission Act 1975 defines an Australian film/program as one:
(a) That has been or will be made wholly or substantially in Australia and that, in the opinion of the Commission, has or will have significant Australian content; or
(b) That has been, or is to be, made in pursuance of an agreement or arrangement entered into between the Government of the Commonwealth or an authority of the Commonwealth and the Government of another country or an authority of the Government of another country.
In interpreting this definition, the AFC considers a number of factors. These include where a film or program is shot, its content, the nationality of cast and crew, the country of origin of the production company and the people who are the beneficial owners of the copyright, and sources of finance, including Australian federal government money.
*AFC is now Screen Australia.
How can I rate a film in the Inside Film Awards?
You can register your score online at www.ifawards.com or by filling out score sheets which are distributed at accredited film festivals.
How are feature films scored?
There are five audience-rated categories: Overall Score, Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Music and Script. Ratings are given out of five, ranging from a lowest score of 1 (gimme a refund) to a maximum of 5 (standing ovation).
The overall scores for any given film are then added together and averaged. The film with the highest average overall score wins the Inside Film Award for Best Feature Film. Films with the highest average score in the other categories win Inside Film Awards for: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Music and Best Script.
Why don't audiences score in the craft categories?
The Inside Film Awards are at heart a people’s choice awards. However, while it's true that audiences are often very sophisticated and film literate, industry feedback still suggests that general audiences are not really in a position to judge some of the more technical aspects of filmmaking such as editing and sound design. Therefore, the Awards for Best Direction, Editing, Sound and Production Design are judged by a suitably qualified industry panel. However, these panels only view the top seven Australian feature films as determined by general public audiences when deciding who should take the trophy in the craft categories.
The Inside Film Awards are intended as a celebration of Australian film, rather than a comprehensive recognition of craft at every level. Because of time constraints connected with our broadcast we confine the craft awards to the key areas of direction, sound, editing, music, cinematography, script and production design.
What’s the difference between the Inside Film Awards and the AFI Awards?
The AFI Awards provide comprehensive recognition of the many areas of film and television production, as judged by AFI members. In contrast, the role of the Inside Film Awards is to gauge broader audience attitudes to Australian films in areas that non-industry audience members are best able to respond to.
Another key difference is that the AFI Awards is a long and comprehensive ceremony whereas the Inside Film Awards aim for brevity - recognising only the key areas of filmmaking - with an emphasis on the celebration of both Australian films and their audience.
How do we keep it fair?
Clearly, films released theatrically are likely to receive many more scores than feature films that have only been screened at festivals. In order to make it possible for festival films to compete with theatrically released films, the system works on average overall results and not on the total number of entries received. However, a minimum number of entries must be received in order for a film to become eligible. A reasonable threshold figure, determined statistically by our auditors, ensures that only films that have received enough scores to provide a fair sample of audience opinion can qualify to compete. The Inside Film Awards use the auditing services of Money Penny.
How do audiences score non-features?
Because of time limitations in the broadcast, we only count overall scores for short films, feature-length documentaries, music video's, short documentaries and short animations. Consequently we give a single award in each area: Best Short Film, Best Feature-length Documentary, Best Music Video and Best Short Animation. These films are not eligible for craft Awards.
What about Cheat Scores?
Although no poll can be perfect, we make every effort to ensure that the process is watertight enough to be truly representative of broad audience opinion.
Everyone rating a film online is required to register with their name and a valid email address. When they do so, the email is automatically checked for validity before the score is counted.
Any score sheet that does not include an email address or a telephone number will not be counted.
Any peculiarly weighted overall scores, whether high or low, will be investigated. The sheer volume of scores received should also work to dilute any attempts to manipulate the system, which is, after all, based on highest overall average score.
The process of collating all scoring data and determining the winners is verified and supervised by Moneypenny Services www.moneypenny.com.au.