Pinch, a coming-of-age crime drama about a teenager who attempts to rip off a drug syndicate to pay for his mother's life-saving surgery, beat Paper Planes, The Reckoning and Kill Me Three Times to be crowned Best Feature Film.
The film was directed by Murdoch University media production manager and Coolbellup resident Jeffory Asselin and crewed by graduates and under-graduates from the university's screen production courses.
Coming up against films starring Simon Pegg and Sam Worthington, Mr Asselin admitted he did not rate his chances.
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READ NOW"The award comes as a total shock, it's a great honour," he said.
"Pinch was made out of passion and we begged, borrowed, stole and did everything we could to get it finished.
"We wrote our lives into this film."
With a budget of $50,000, the production team made the most of its resources by filming locally.
A mock meth lab was set up on the outskirts of the university's South Street campus, while they also used the Mandurah campus' hospital wards.
The crew also shot at the Kwinana Motorplex, the Naval Base shacks, homes and a walkway bridge in Coolbellup and a commercial property in Hamilton Hill.
Ash Gibson Greig claimed the Best Original Music - Long Form award for music featured in the film.
Murdoch's Joe Henderson and Cameron Whiteford took home the Best Student Film award for paranormal thriller short Pale Blue Eyes.