A man responds with no words. From the handset we only hear huge, gasping, depths-of-despair sobs. For the viewer, it's as if the world stops.

"Hello there," Hawkins says gently. "My name's Heather, can I help at all?"

It's no surprise that The Phone Call is on the list for best short live action at next month's Oscars, featuring as it does the high-calibre cast of Blue Jasmine's Hawkins and Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent as the distressed caller.

What is striking is that one of the few chances to see it across NSW is only at the regional film and arts festival, Flix in the Stix.

The festival's short film program, curated this year by actor Deborah Mailman, includes seven other films of a similar, globally acclaimed standard. The Phone Call, she says, despite its premise, has a positive ending and is a "beautiful gift".

Is this regional festival's extraordinary standard of films surprising? "For me personally," Mailman says simply, "why not choose some of the best films in the world?"

The festival starts in Wagga Wagga on January 30 and takes in six other destinations, ending in Bowral on February 28. It's now in its fifth year and is expected to pull in 1000 to 1500 people a night.

Mailman, who grew up in Mount Isa, says being a country girl drew her to the curating gig. "I've never done anything like this before," she says. "Having grown up in the country, I understand how you can be deprived of a little bit of the good stuff that comes to the big cities, so that for me, philosophically, was a great place start."

Flix in the Stix co-founder and director Simon Rollin, an event organiser from Orange, says they sift through up to 100 short films every year, but says an important distinction is that not being a filmmaker or short-film competition, the only remit with the film selection is to entertain. "The aim of it is to provide the best night out in the bush and what we try to do is bring a unique [experience] to regional Australia, but bring the quality you would expect in metropolitan locations."

The festival's origins can be traced back to the Parkes Elvis festival in 2009. "We just took a few Elvis films because we realised that no one at the festival actually saw the real Elvis," says Rollin. "They all saw impersonators. And we had a ball."

Now five years on, it has evolved into this strong program which also includes music from My Friend the Chocolate Cake and comedy from Tripod, plus food and drinks by local producers. Rollins says however, the entertainment is just the "icing on the cake".

"What really makes the event work is the venue and the social interaction," he says. "You throw out a blanket, get the family or a group of friends together and it's really about kicking back and relaxing."

Flixinthestix.com.au.