Discoveries from Australia World Cinema

Biographical documentary about Harry "The Breaker" Morant, an Australian drover and poet who was court-martialled and executed during the Boer War.

Located 18 miles west, Katatjuta (The Olgas) is a recurring presence in the background of Uluru. Believed by Aboriginal people to have been inhabited by mythological ancestors, it is a place to be approached with caution. There is a sense of mystery and apprehension at Katatjuta, with the complex domed structures with their own rows of "windows" suggesting an abandoned temple city where, due to its mysterious symmetry, space circulates. The uneasy feeling of having intruded and being watched influenced the filming. (Arthur Cantrill & Corinne Cantrill)

Grant Dempsey, a once-prominent actor now confined to community theatre, enters the chaotic world of an amateur stage production. As he struts through the theatre, he encounters Bella, the overwhelmed stage manager, and Tommy, a young actor balancing theatre with school assignments. Grant's narcissistic attitude and inflated sense of self-worth create friction with the cast and crew, including a bickering couple, Laura and Kyle, and the absent young star, Steve. Grant's self-centered monologues and dismissive behaviour toward others highlight his struggle to accept his diminished career. He dismisses Bella's attempts to manage the production, derides Tommy's dedication, and belittles Steve's budding success in film.

A young bookstore owner accidentally unleashes a malevolent creature who takes the form of a famous children's book character, Mr Weirdo, the vanishing magician.

The faith of a heart and the faith of a look. A period in the life of a young Australian couple.

Filmmakers Sam and Amy journey into rural Australia to explore how the legacy of an American legend has transmitted and warped itself over time, and across the globe, resulting in the 30th annual Parkes Elvis Festival.

Half of the species of Hummingbirds of Costa Rica assembled with direct sounds, comments on varied features of the birds, leading to their identification, enjoyable entertainment, and educational video for the amateur and the connoisseur.

Set sometime in the not-too-distant future, after the worldwide crisis of 2020, Mandy is a 17-year-old Filipino Australian. In her final year of high school and dealing with her parents impending divorce, she navigates a world driven by a new normal of isolation and fear. Added to this she has a crush on her tutor Serena. Meanwhile, a young girl from the backstreets of Manila tells her story.

A nine-year-old closeted evangelical Christian tomboy must prove her faith by vandalising an LGBTQIA sex shop.

Shot in three days in January 2016, the film captures the legendary jazz pianist Cecil Taylor and Japanese dancer-choreographer Tanaka Min in a delicate interaction. An impressionistic, extremely intimate portrait of the unspoken dynamics between two masters who have been collaborating for over thirty years.

After billionaire Annie Mercer was found dead in her apartment, it's up to hotshot rookie Henry Campbell to figure out who killed her within 24 hours. His suspects? A gardener, An ex-employee, A lawyer, and the victim's sister.

Harold is struggling with the changing culture at the library. When he accidentally misgenders a patron he is exiled to the returns room. But when disaster strikes, he is handed the ultimate challenge: running Rhyme Time with the toddlers.

An experimental documentary about the perils of wearing high heel shoes.

A dozen villages have been swallowed up by a volcano of mud in Indonesia, but four years on from the start of the eruption, the dispute over what’s causing it bubbles on. Some experts say a drilling accident at a nearby gas site has caused gas to constantly push mud to the surface from a depth of 3,000 metres, but the energy giant Lapindo Brantas blames an earthquake. The company was cleared of responsibility by Indonesia’s Supreme Court last year, but was still ordered to pay compensation. People in East Java though say they’ve seen little help. Video journalist Adrian Brown visits the vast lake of mud, which can even be seen from space, to hear the blame game that’s left villagers living in makeshift huts and an ecological disaster that seems to be growing bigger by the day.

Adapted from Dion Boucicault’s classic 1874 play, the story follows an unjustly exiled Irish patriot and the clever vagabond, Conn, who engineers his escape from a penal colony.

Following the misadventures of Detective Raymond Deuce on his nightly prowls in the city. A city that has shaped him. A city he hopes to change.

Across 16mm vignettes, Rejoice lives out her everyday life, roaming the streets, crashing parties and attracting trouble, all the while vividly dreaming of fighting everyone and anyone – including those close to her.

I have collected, for your enjoyment, an anthology of all the weird things I have done in my life to try and make friends. Do not attempt these methods for yourselves.

In the beautiful and towering mountains of Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, a paradise for Wingsuit professionals seeking thrills during the off-season, the lives of two men converge. Avalon, an American Wingsuit pilot, and a Filipino-Australian documentary filmmaker unite to capture Avalon’s audacious quest to leap from the mountainside as many times as humanly possible.

I want the one I can't have, and it's driving me mad. It's all over, it's all over, it's all over my face.

A man arrives home from work and relaxes. Who is he?

A bunch of true blue Aussie tradies struggle to accept the new female plumber on the job, yet as sparks begin to fly between her and an electrician, they discover a spark that might be too huge to handle...

Following the death of his friend, a troubled detective struggles to resolve the case in light of an unspoken bond with the killer.

Channelling Lye and McLaren, de Bruyn continues his explorations of ‘direct-to-film’ inspired artwork barely contained within the frame.

A girl lets her best friend in on a secret.

A young Aboriginal man heads north in search of a girl, but discovers much more than he ever expected.

A silhouette world of gothic horror, of spindly figures dwarfed by bleak landscapes and Jules Verne machines.

A team of scientific detectives from around the world attempt to crack one of science’s most enduring mysteries – what killed Australia’s megafauna?

Based on a story by Frank Moorhouse, this is a satire on left intellectual manners in Sydney at the time. Moorhouse's story was in turn based on an actual event, a party thrown by members of the Sydney Push for visiting American poet Kenneth Rexroth.

Donald wonders off at night unknowing of what he is doing gets awaken by horrifying nightmares, he makes a friend who may or may not be imaginary, that tries to help him overcome his troubles.

A documentary focused on Melbourne's music scene around the year 2006. Features bands such as HTRK, The Stabs, Cosmic Psychos, Rod Cooper, and Love of Diagrams.

An Australian sheep farmer looks to cover his wife's medical expenses by building a brothel.

Perth musician Robert Hunter was a pioneer of a musical genre, young father, digital communicator, ex drug and alcohol abuser, general hell-raiser and ultimately a terminal cancer patient. When Hunter's time on this earth was in danger of being cruelly cut short at 35, he co-opted the digital tools at his disposal and began to share his physical, emotional and musical journey in a very raw and honest way. For Hunter, the cancer became a lens through which life suddenly came sharply into focus

Set 6000 years the future, Robbie charts the existential reflections of an aging robot drifting alone through space on the last of his battery life.

1942, Croker Island, as Japanese bomb the North, 95 Aboriginal children and their missionary carers make a remarkable journey to safety 3000 miles across the Australian continent.

DELVING INTO THE FASCINATING SUBCULTURE OF JORTS, EXPLORE HOW THIS HUMBLE GARMENT HAS EVOLVED FROM PRACTICAL WORKWEAR TO A SYMBOL OF FASHION REBELLION AND SELF-EXPRESSION, WEAVING TOGETHER PERSONAL STORIES, HISTORICAL INSIGHTS, AND THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF THIS ICONIC PIECE OF CLOTHING. (DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT JORTS).

An eccentric investigator analyses the popularisation of beige in modern design trends and ultimately challenges her inherent biases.

Graeme and Melba Wood share stories.

A paranoid woman struggles to maintain her picture perfect relationship when she becomes distracted with a supposed stalker encroaching into her life.

After weeks of sleepless nights, 19 year-old insomniac Dorothy Allen begins to see hidden messages in the night sky.

A pioneer of indie music, Sarah Blasko walks the line between commercial success and artistic integrity with dignity. Narrated by Sarah herself, this film is an intimate portrait of the artist as she writes her new album.

The FIVE Provocations is a performance driven, realist drama about four intertwined stories of love, loss and unexpected confrontations by women too provocative to ignore.

A six year old boy brings home a piece of schoolwork that provokes his parents to question his sexual orientation, and their own, with disastrous and hilarious results.

Arrowhead is a movie about redemption and loneliness, set against the backdrop of a sun-baked desert planet. After an intense prison break, Kye's heroism gains him the attention of a ragtag group of rebels, led by an ex-military general. With the promise of guaranteed freedom, the general lures Kye into a dangerous hostage mission which leads him stranded alone on a planet for several years. While alone, our hero has to decide whether he wants to continue on his violent path, or undo the damage he has done. But inner peace is hindered when Kye becomes infected with a symbiotic alien creature, which periodically causes hideous transformations. It's Jekyll and Hyde meets Robinson Crusoe. The Incredible Hulk in the distant stars. A bullets-and-sand adventure that will introduce pulp science fiction to the cerebral, character-based intimacy of independent cinema.

Satirist and provocateur John Safran explores how Australia deals with speech, ideas and behaviour it deems offensive.

Three housemates bamboozle their way through a kaleidoscope of psychedelic romantic encounters in Sydney.

It is a relaxing Sunday morning. Drew and Liesel relax with books while their son, Arlo, happily runs around the backyard in his favourite fairy dress. Then there is a knock at the door, a surprise visit from Liesel's conservative parents.

Isolated and maligned by her peers, a woodworker crafts a more assured self-image. Singular in focus and with a restrained, refined aesthetic, Craftsman is an engrossing exploration of cultural identity, agency and empowerment.

Fire, wind and smoke have been the fundamental elements for Aboriginal people for thousands of years. Their knowledge of the original power of fire is passed on from one generation to the next. A creative development of oral storytelling in audio-visual form.

Jemimah is five years old and desperate for her dog, Tilly, to have puppies. When she learns her parents plan to have Tilly desexed, Jemimah embarks on a quest to get Tilly pregnant.

Plot TBA. Described as an urban crime drama with aspects of social realism.

After a rough breakup, a young man tries his hand at camping as an approach strategy to handle the consequential stress. Unbeknownst to him, something lurks in the shadows nearby. Mustering all his confidence and skills, he attempts to escape the impending imminente danger, and overcome the various demons both mental and physical that plague him.

In the final weeks of his High School journey, musician Andrew struggles to navigate his way through university applications and a tenuous relationship with his girlfriend, Ellie.

When an enormous mine threatens the Sepik River, Papua New Guinean activist Manu Peni and his people launch an urgent mission to protect the waterway, by recognising the river’s own Right to Life.

The adventures of Ginger Mick take him from slums and backyards to lock-ups and racecourses. He romances Rose, works as a rabbitoh and enlists to fight in World War I.

In the liminal space between the jungle and the wide river that runs through it, steeped in myths of anacondas, piranhas and jaguars, a man has lived alone in a secluded hut for twenty years. A hunter’s voice from the past shares a dream with his wife in which wild animals seek revenge on him, placing into question how everyday life will be lived in their future. While the couple’s human drama unfolds, nature remains unphased, time and the river moving forward – or is it backwards? This film was made in the Amazon Jungle, Peru, during PlayLab Films’ Director’s Lab with Apichatpong Weerasethakul.