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Tropfest Revived After 'Very Tough Few Weeks'

Tropfest Revived, To Go Ahead In February
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 07: Filmmaker finalists at Tropfest 2014 on December 7, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Caroline McCredie/Getty Images for Tropfest)
Caroline McCredie via Getty Images
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 07: Filmmaker finalists at Tropfest 2014 on December 7, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Caroline McCredie/Getty Images for Tropfest)

The Tropfest short film festival will take place in February after an earlier announcement it would be cancelled due to financial problems.

Festival founder John Polson said on Sunday that Tropfest would go ahead on Valentine's Day 2016 due to support from CGU Insurance.

The event had been scheduled for December 6 but was shelved because of what Polson called "terrible and irresponsible mismanagement" of funds.

"This event ... will be taking place in February, February 14 actually, Valentine's Day, so a very exciting day," Polson told Channel 9.

"We are finally meeting all the filmmakers today after a very, very tough few weeks.

"It has been obviously the toughest month in the 23 years of Tropfest we have ever had."

In November, the NSW government said it would be looking into the problems encountered by Tropfest, but indicated government funding for the event would not be significantly boosted.

The festival began life with short film screenings at Sydney's Tropicana cafe in 1993, and is said to cost more than $1 million a year to run.

Hollywood star Susan Sarandon was due to head the jury this year.

Standing alongside actor Simon Baker, Polson said he had doubted the festival would be revived.

"I honestly thought it was never going to come back. I was not sure how we would ever rebound from this disaster," he said.

"It will be Tropfest business as usual and we are working behind the scenes to find out what happened."

Baker said it was important for the event to go ahead.

"The big thing about Tropfest is that it encourages people to actually make films and to get out there and people celebrated that by showing up," the The Mentalist star said.

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