We are honoured that the Far South Film Festival awarded our short film Return Chute: The survival of a small town video store Best Documentary for 2023.

Congratulations to all the award winners and festival finalists.

Thank you to the festival team, Bega Cheese, for sponsoring the Best Documentary category, and all the sponsors. It is a wonderful festival and we love that it’s mission is to showcase Australian regional filmmakers.

Everything about the Far South Film Festival (FSFF) was fantastic, from the initial enquiry before submission to communication and support after the festival.

It felt like we and the other award winners and finalists were genuinely celebrated by the FSFF team. Everyone was highly professional, engaged, helpful, and communicated well every step of the way.

Return Chute is the story of Rod O’Hara, the current owner of Bellingen Video Connection – a video store that is still open in this age of global streaming! Despite many business and personal setbacks, Rod and some loyal local customers have kept this hidden gem for lovers of the screen arts alive.

Return Chute is directed and produced by Simone Atallah, with cinematography and editing by Mick Jones and sound mixing by Ryan Burrows.