It’s that time of year where movie buffs, directors, actors and of course, the public, converge for the worlds biggest short film festival.

Tropfest 2011 gets underway across Australia February 20th with more than 150,000 people expected to turn up at live sites across the nation.

Those in the know say this year will produce some of the greatest films in the history of the event with the talent pool exceeding what we have seen in the past.

One of the shortlisted films in this year’s competition is One Night Stand – directed, written, and produced by Melbourne local David Coussins.

The basic plot of the film is fairly simple: a young man, Joel (David Coussins) wakes in bed only to realise he’s lying next to an unknown female bed-mate, Caitlin (Rhona Rees).

The exact details of what happened the night before appear to be fairly sketchy, but as far as Joel is concerned, the quicker he gets out of there, the better.

Unfortunately for Joel, Caitlin has taken a liking to him and doesn’t let him go too easy.

Any attempts for a quick getaway are thwarted by the love sick Caitlin, who shows all the characteristics of a female obsessed stalker.

To say what happens next would spoil or the fun but it’s safe to say that anything that could go wrong, does go wrong for Joel.

The film is edited with fine precision and continues to provide laugh after laugh at a zip line pace.

David Coussins is hilarious in the lead role and conveys the perfect amount of awkwardness and fear to make the audience cringe in sympathy throughout the film.

You know you have a talented comedic actor on board when he’s able to provide some of the biggest laughs in the film by facial expressions alone.

Rhona Rees is also hilarious as Caitlin – playing out the obsessive one night stand  that every young man fears to a tee.

One Night Stand proves that as far as short comedies are concerned, the simpler, the better!

When it comes to Laugh Out Loud moments, One Night Stand wins hands down, and if is anything to go by, this years Tropfest looks to be a winner.

Rating: 4.5/5

Tropfest 2011 kicks off February 20th and live sites all around Australia

Live Festival Sites:
Sydney – The Domain
Melbourne – Federation Square
Hobart – Salamanca Square
Canberra – Commonwealth Park
Adelaide – Glenelg Bay
Surfers Paradise – Cirlce on Cavill
Perth – Princess May Park, Fremantle

And live on Movie Extra Channel from 7pm.