About Stinkwater Festival
Stinkwater’s roots extend all the way back to 2005 and the Coogee Arts Festival.
Initially a traditional film festival, it expanded in 2006 to include the first Stinkwater! Filmmaking Challenge and ran until the Coogee Arts Festival sadly finished.
Those of us that took part and helped run it have never forgotten the fun we had and now…. it has returned, for it’s 8th year!
WHY IS THE FESTIVAL CALLED STINKWATER!?
The word ‘Coogee’ is derived from a local indigenous word thought to mean , ‘rotting seaweed’, ‘place of bad smells’ or more memorably ‘Stinky Water’. So now you know. And also the exclamation mark is for ACTION!
WHY DO WE DO THIS?
• We are here to encourage the filmmaking potential of Sydneysiders.
• We encourage filmmakers to rally colleagues, friends and family to make films together.
• We provide a competitive and stimulating environment for filmmakers to play.
• We aim to generate interest in grassroots filmmaking both for participants and spectators.
• We just love film!
FESTIVAL PARTNERS
Stinkwater! is funded by a Creative Community Grant from Randwick City Council each year.
In 2024, we partnered with Ritz Cinema.
In 2025 we partnered with The Juniors, Kingsford (venue) and the Rotary Club of Maroubra (prizes)
Stinkwater! has also started partnering with The Sydney Fringe. Thank you to our current sponsors!
WE LOVE Coogee!
The beautiful coastal suburb of Coogee is not just the birthplace for our festival; it’s a place rich in history and culture. For many centuries, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation lived in the area, where some would have witnessed the arrival of Captain Cook when he entered what is now known as Sydney Harbour.
The village of Coogee was officially founded 12 October 1838 when the plan for the settlement was lodged at the New South Wales Colonial Secretary’s office. The village was established to prevent William Charles Wentworth from securing a large tract of the Sydney coastline, to add to his already substantial personal land holdings. Too right, he was rich enough.
A BEAUTIFUL PLACE!
By the 1920s, Coogee was marketed as “Australia’s most Beautiful Seaside Resort”. The Coogee Pier extended 183 metres into the ocean from the middle of the beach but lasted only a few years (1929-1933) before it was largely destroyed in a sea storm and had to be demolished in 1934. It is testament to Coogee’s aspiration to be a British seaside resort in the tradition of Brighton.
Wylie’s Baths opened in 1907 by Henry Wylie, and still operate today beyond the southern extremity of Coogee Beach. The Baths were the training ground for Olympic Silver medallist Mina Wylie, the first Australasian woman to win a silver medal for swimming at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. They have been beautifully restored. The Coogee Surf Life Saving Club was established in 1907 in premises at the southern end of the beach.
Today, Coogee is a bustling beach suburb with more than it’s fair share of restaurants bars and backpackers. A welcoming community of (mostly) fit and (reasonably) healthy hedonists call it home. While you might afford to rent a flat, the houses are bloody expensive now. The rest of us have generally moved to Coogee Heights, aka Kingsford & Randwick. Anyway enough ranting.
