This year’s Tropfest featured an intoxicating mix of brand new short films and A, B and C-list celebrities from the film and television industry. The night was aided by perfect weather and the crowd was in fine form as this year’s batch of 16 films was unveiled at The Domain in Sydney and via satellite to the rest of Australia. It was an eclectic mix of films that showed a breadth of filmmaking talent.

There was the usual audience-pleasing gag films, like Smoking Will Kill You and Last Roll of the Dice; sombre, reflective films such as Falling Backwards, with its visually arresting camera technique; as well as raw and powerful studies of emotion like Every Second Weekend. Animation made a strong showing, with 3D-animated Awakening competing with the over-the-top claymation of My Neighbourhood Has Been Overrun by Baboons.

However, the night belonged to Shock, Abe Forsythe's caustic comedy about a broken shock jock and the choices he’s made in life. The film hit a six with the audience with its punch-in-the-face to popular media and one of its biggest icons, Kyle Sandilands. This is not Abe’s first time at Tropfest, having first appeared at the festival as a 17-year-old in 1998 with Guided by the Light of the Lord. His film Being Carl Williams (2009) was also selected for competition last year, where his witty take on obsession with celebrity culture earnt him second prize.

More than ten years ago I had the pleasure of managing Tropfest and got to know Abe after seeing his hilarious Matrix send-up, Computer Boy (2000). We went on to make the feature film Ned (2003) together – Abe as director and myself as the producer. The project was a flop financially and the making of the film is a whole blog in its own right. However, the great thing is that Abe is still directing and didn’t give up. His prize at Tropfest is a testament to his talent, his commitment to his craft as well as the persistence required to keep on going.