An initiative of Muswellbrook Shire Council, the Blue Heeler Film Festival (BHFF) is currently in its eighth year and the 2021 edition will take place online as part of a live-stream event commencing at 6.30pm on Eventive.

The 2021 BHFF will award prizes in two categories, with the 'Open' category awarding a $10,000 prize sponsored by Bengalla and the 'Schools' category with a $5,000 prize sponsored by Muswellbrook Shire Council.

The BHFF is curated by creative industries students from the University of Newcastle (UoN) following a partnership with the council in 2019.

The director of the 2021 BHFF, UoN PhD student Joshua Belinfante, said organising the festival had been a challenging and rewarding task.

"2021 has definitely been the year of spanners being thrown in the works," Mr Belinfante said.

"We had big plans for a cinema screening at the lovely Muswellbrook Cinemas on October 30, but obviously after the lockdowns we had to pivot and go online.

"(The restrictions) meant that a lot of filmmakers in local communities sadly were in lockdown and couldn't actually make brand new films, but it's actually been really exciting and it's resulted in a lot of amazing positives because we've now had entries from all around the country."

Mr Belinfante said COVID restrictions forcing the BHFF to conduct many activities online had been a 'blessing in disguise' as it had allowed the event to celebrate not only independent filmmakers in the Hunter but across Australia.

"Hopefully it's shown to people around the country that Muswellbrook is here and we're trying to support filmmakers not just in the region but all over the place."

Muswellbrook Council's general manager Fiona Plesman was one of three jury members for the festival this year.

"I am very impressed by the quality of the entries, especially given the restrictions imposed by COVID-19," Ms Plesman said.

"It appears that filmmakers, experienced and emerging from around Australia, didn't panic at all but embraced the challenge of making a short film during a pandemic.

"There are some truly wonderful films submitted and the online event will be quite special. I urge the community to participate and register to attend the event virtually!"

Virtual film workshops with Muswellbrook High School students were also conducted as part of the festival, and Mr Belinfante said providing support and encouragement to young people interested in pursuing filmmaking had been a highlight of the festival experience for him.

"I started making films when I was probably about 12 years old, the same age as some of these kids and I think, if I was that age and I was in regional Australia and there was an opportunity like this festival, I would have been stoked," he said.

"So I'm hoping there's a few kids out there who will watch the screening and think, maybe I can do this too."

The COVID pandemic had a significant impact not just on the subject matter of many of the films, but also the logistics of organising the festival and Mr Belinfante said restrictions imposed by the pandemic resulted in creative solutions from both entrants and the organisers.

"Our festival theme in 2021 is 'Don't Panic' in the context of living in a pandemic and the theme has been interpreted in lots of really creative ways," Mr Belinfante said.

"I've seen films with people panicking about magpies attacking, people panicking friends and family will no longer accept them for who they are after the lockdown and even people panicking that they've made friends with the coronavirus.

"There's been all kinds of different interpretations and a lot of ideas that really stem from people stuck inside their bedroom or living room or kitchen and doing what we've all had to do."

Mr Belinfante said some of the strongest entries the festival had received had been from teams of two, producing films of a quality that, prior to COVID, may have required crews of more than twenty people.

One participant in the 2021 festival knows more about lockdowns than most people in the world.

Originally from Scone, Hugo Morgan currently lives in Melbourne where he studies film and television at the Victorian College of the Arts.

With Melbourne having the unenviable title of the 'world's most locked down city' during the pandemic, Mr Morgan was also forced to come up with some creative solutions to create his short film 'Bec' which has been entered in this year's festival.

"The film is about grief and loss and was inspired by the kind of panic felt during the lockdown from not being able to see our friends and family," Mr Morgan said.

Mr Morgan said he had to rely on his housemates to produce the film due to Victoria's lockdown restrictions.

"I was lucky to have a fair few people in my household, but unfortunately none of them knew how to make a film so it was kind of like a coaching process of teaching everyone their roles," he said.

With equipment borrowed from his university, he was able to overcome the obstacles imposed by COVID and said the experience had been hugely beneficial for his filmmaking skills.

"In the digital age, a lot of the art of filmmaking has been lost and I think it was Orson Welles who said 'the enemy of art is the absence of limitations' and being stuck in this environment where you can't leave your house, it's kind of pushed everyone to figure out creative solutions."

Mr Morgan, a previous winner of the BHFF in 2016 with his entry Down River Blue, said he looked forward to being able to return to the Upper Hunter when COVID restrictions were further lifted to make more films in the area, as well as hoping to organise a screening in Scone of his first feature film Collect Your Roadkill.

Another Hunter filmmaker entered in the 2021 festival is Samantha Dennis-Serhan of Muswellbrook with her film A New Hope.

Ms Dennis-Serhan said the BHFF had been a large factor in her decision to pursue filmmaking as a career.

"Growing up in the Hunter Valley we haven't always got the same opportunities in film as people in areas like Sydney and Queensland," she said.

"Muswellbrook is a coal mining area and there isn't a great focus on film in the region and I think the Blue Heeler has provided a huge outlet for people who don't have the means or the ability to go down to Sydney for filming opportunities.

"So it's always been really cool to be able to actually attend a film festival in person and the fact that it still went ahead this year, even in lockdown, has been really great."

As the BHFF will be livestreamed in 2021, Ms Dennis-Serhan encouraged people to tune in and support the work of independent filmmakers in the Upper Hunter.

"You might even be inspired yourself, because it definitely inspired me the first time I watched the screening at the 2015 Blue Heeler festival," she said.

The BHFF received 21 entries in the open category and 18 films in the secondary schools category, and Mr Belinfante said it had been difficult for the festival's jury, which includes Ryan Langford from the Muswellbrook Amateur Theatrical Society and Ron Healey from the Muswellbrook Cinema, to select a winner.

"The judges and I have been fiercely combating about which films should win, and it was really important to myself and the team to involve the local community as much as possible because due to the lockdowns we weren't able to do as much community outreach as we had originally wanted," Mr Belinfante said.

Ms Plesman agreed that selecting a winner for the 2021 festival had been a difficult task.

"Selecting the winners has been no easy task and I am grateful to my fellow jury members for their experience and input," Ms Plesman said.

"We hope to be able to roll out the red carpet in 2022 and hold a "real life" event again as the festival continues to develop and grow."

Ahead of the screening on Saturday evening, Ms Dennis-Serhan said she hoped the festival would continue to inspire young filmmakers from the Upper Hunter and across regional Australia.

"This might sound cheesy, but if you can dream it, you can do it," she said when asked for her advice for young filmmakers.

"Don't think that you can't because you're from a small town or a regional area, because you can literally start anywhere and turn nothing into something special."

The 2021 Blue Heeler Film Festival will screen live on Eventive at 6:30pm on Saturday, October 30.

Tickets are free and available on the Eventive website.