The Sydney Film Festival Awards are presented annually at the Closing Night Gala.
Prior to 2007, the festival was classified as non-competitive, although a small number of prizes existed from around the 1970s and 1980s. In 2007, the festival received NSW government funding for an international competition in new directions in film, and had subsequently acted as a competitive film festival.
The primary prize, the Sydney Film Prize (inaugurated in 2008), has never been awarded to an Australian film, but the awards for short films are usually won by Australian film-makers.
The Award for Australian Documentary was inaugurated in 2014, as was the Short Screenplay Award.
