Discoveries from Australia World Cinema

An imaginative stop-motion animation that looks inside our cameras at the creatures within, who are living lives defined by what they see through the lens.

This clip shows part of the official parade for the Inauguration of the Commonwealth on 1 January 1901 as it passes through the temporary gate built especially for the occasion in Hyde Park, Sydney.

During one night, 3 teenagers; James, Royston and Saskia seek to escape their troubled home lives, only to find that they may have brought the trouble with them.

The film illustrates the fact that Australia's Newcastle, like its British counterpart, has developed into a large city but still retains its essential mining atmosphere. The great steel industry which feeds on its black gold is shown in full blast. But the film reaches beyond coal, steel and the activity of a great port into the lives of the people of Newcastle. It covers not only the mines and the mills but moves into the dwelling and working places and the natural beauty of their surroundings where they find their pleasures.

Em Rusciano's 2019 comedy and music special, filmed as part of her "Rage and Rainbows" tour. Originally aired on Dec. 9, 2019 on Network 10 in Australia. In the special, Em is finally giving voice to that gnawing rage we all try to hide. It is more than a show. It's a festival for anyone who's felt fed-up and exhausted, but still maintains a passion for sequins.

This documentary focuses on the vanishing lifestyle of a family of rural residents of the island of Sardinia. For many generations, they have been goatherds in the mountains, and it was a respected and acceptable occupation. Now tourism and the lure of other occupations deeply affects the younger generation, and soon there may be no goatherds left.

Maia's grandpa was her hero. Despite his weak heart, he loved the outdoors, especially hiking the mountains near their home town. There was just one climb he couldn't finish, and her greatest wish was to finish it for him.

Identical twin mathematicians investigate what Einstein called, "The world's greatest mystery".

Music lessons can be like torture and there’s just nowhere to hide and no exits available

VESTIGE is a revealing of human crave and interconnection amid the fraught race against time of another collapsing species – the rhinoceros. In the embattled provinces surrounding Kruger National Park, South Africa, a network of individuals risk their lives everyday to save the planet's last remaining black and white rhinos - including a Zulu bush tracker, the world’s largest private rhino owner, a frontline anti-poaching unit and a non-profit organisation striving to empower local communities. As poachers continue to destabilise their environment, VESTIGE investigates the gripping realities of human life and philosophy amid a disappearing species.

A high-concept drama/scifi about a Jewish boy who must decide whether to 'cure' his homosexuality with an injection or be ostracised from his community forever.

Every morning Zoe counts and comments on Rebecca's (her daughter) nine round sneezing routine. Rebecca's sick of it. Her best friend, Cath, is trying to find a boyfriend for Rebecca but is losing hope because she's SO picky. In truth 'Becca doesn't like boys at all and is kinda smitten with Cath herself.

The story of an Afro-Cuban group who kept alive songs and dances their ancestor had brought aboard the slave ship from Africa. They were so specific that around 200 years later, a village of Africans watched them, joined in singing, and said simply, joyously: "They Are We". This film tells the story of how they found each other and how they work to be able to reunite.

In another foreign civil war, a desperate Aussie photojournalist must capture the memorable photo of exclusive death that will make her career. Even if it means creating the atrocities herself.

Join Colin Buchanan and his mate Nudge as together they sing, smash stuff and rip the wrapping off the most wonderful news of all – Jesus! Blast off with 10, 9, 8...God is Great, find out Ze Baddest Sickness in Ze World, hear the Global WarNing, take off with the Super Saviour and meet the crew of Are You Serving Cap’n Jesus?! Come and hear God’s Good News, wrapped up in over an hour of music and mayhem that will have you singing, dancing and laughing along. Special features include Behind the Scenes, Bloopers and a bonus song, Remember the Lord.

A young firebrand Aboriginal man is forced to confront his spirituality when he is beaten by the police.

Two motorcycle racers, Adam Riemann and Mark Portbury endure a 7000km mission across Europe, in hope of reaching the Pyramids of Egypt. Avoiding Syria, the find a way across the Mediterranean and venture into the aftermath of the recent Cairo massacre. Despite military confrontation, they defy the odds and make it inside the ancient compound of the Pyramids, but triumph turns to treachery as they must continue into one of the Middle East's most lawless regions... the Sinai Peninsula. Putting their lives further at risk, the boys wander into the Sinai only to stumble upon one of religion's most sacred landmarks. Motonomad isn't just a motorcycle adventure - it's a story of discovery, friendship and the undeniable power of chance.

Seven volunteer English teachers from Australia gradually confront the colonial implications of their work in rural Thailand. Over the course of six months, they contend with their inexperience as teachers, the omnipresence of Westernisation, and the ambiguity of their purpose. Directed by one of the volunteers, 'Six Months to Salvation' is a self-reflexive documentary about language, landscape and idealism lost. u16.co/6m2s

Barney O'Hara (Will Mahoney) and his young daughter Pat (Jean Hatton) tour the carnival circuit with a side show act, but when Pat is asked to sing at a party being given by a wealthy land-owner, her voice fails.

An animated government/science style public service film, circa 1981, for surviving life in Australia after Nuclear War.

An intimate portrait of a son by a mother set to the boisterously pop Batman theme song.

Torsten's existence is torn apart when he inherits a diary from his euthanized grandfather and uncovers a horrific family past.

Short directed by Bruce Petty.

Character decisions, narrative turns and plenty of conflict. CHOKER is a short film about many things. Best watched standing.

The people of Footscray are battlers and so is their football team. The 'mighty' Bulldogs haven't won a premiership since 1954. The club is close to broke and the AFL keeps trying to kill them off for the sake of the national competition. Year of the Dogs is a documentary following the fortunes of the Footscray Football club, its players, fans and staff as the club struggles to survive the 1996 Australian Football League season.

Kangaroos: Faces in the Mob is a documentary that follows award-winning Australian filmmakers Dr. Jan Aldenhoven and Glen Carruthers as they live with a mob of Eastern Grey Kangaroos in the Australian bush.

Theo leaves home seeking independence but faces adulting challenges: fines, daddy issues, scams. With best friend Johnny, he learns through mishaps that family matters most.

In a sunburnt outback town, charismatic petty thief Steven convinces his well-meaning but accident-prone friend Terry to gamble everything on a daytime job meant to set them up for life: steal an expensive painting from a supposedly low-security storage branch and sell it. The heist quickly unravels when Terry trips an alarm and a desperate chase erupts, motorcycles, sirens and a fatal confrontation in which Terry is forced to kill a guard. They make it back to their shed hideout expecting relief, but the relief never comes. A friend they thought had stayed out of the job returns, now aligned with the security forces, and the backyard sanctuary turns into a killing ground: Terry is shot dead and Steven runs for his life with nothing left but a pistol and a burning need for answers. Framed is a tense, character-driven thriller about loyalty, betrayal and how one misstep can flip a small plan into a ruinous vendetta."

In August 1857, the clipper ship Dunbar arrived at Sydney Heads after a long voyage from England, only to be smashed against the jagged cliffs at the entrance to Port Jackson during a severe rainstorm. It remains one of Australia’s worst maritime disasters, resulting in the loss of 121 lives and only a single survivor. This is a dramatic reenactment of the tale.

In a world lost to destruction, one young woman and her faceless follower travel across deserted train tracks. But what will happen once they reach the end of the line?

An idyllic run turns nightmarish for a young woman when the sun goes down.

Ethan is about to go onstage when he is hit with the sudden realisation that he cannot remember his lines. Desperate, he turns to more experienced actor, Hugo, for help, and what ensues is a violent and frantic effort to "get in the zone".

Two friends, Hazel and Pike struggle to let go of each other as they reach a cross roads in life.

Intergalactic Pirate Queen Zenobia attacks the planet Earth by awakening a giant-sized robotic creature and letting it loose on the city of Melbourne. Can the world be saved?

A secretive young woman suffering with an addiction must go to extreme lengths to protect her secret when a familiar face shows up to her NA meeting, threatening to expose her.

By using plants, mud and salt in conjunction with alternative photochemistry, images are 'grown' on motion picture film. What at first glance is perceived as abstract turns out to be a concrete precipitation from phenomena that surround us in everyday life. The 'aliveness' of the images is underlined by Andrea Szigetvári's evocative sound-design.

A film portraying the thrill of convalescence. A man bows his head, but also walks upright. Music by the Smiths.

A young Filipino boy in Western Sydney gets an enchanting crash-course in his homeland culture when his uncle reveals himself to be a cross-dresser in the ‘Bakla’ tradition.

After the cataclysmic war that all but destroyed civilization, Authan O'Reilly, a soldier now charged with building rather than destroying, has gone AWOL, in search of his past. As his long search draws to a close he arrives at a once thriving city, now a deserted ghost land, he pushes onwards in the hope that he may find some clues amongst remnants of the past.

Packing away at his late father’s apartment, a stoic man finds himself grappling with grief and anger. Unable to cope yet refusing to open up, he retreats from cold, harsh reality into a warm, fuzzy forest, where he is left alone and there’s no more emotion, no more pain, no more struggle.

Naina Sen (The Song Keepers, MIFF 2017) explores the relationship between biracial identity and generational belonging through traditional Balinese dance. A revealing, deeply personal account of artist Jocelyn Tribe’s life, Poleng utilises contemporary movement, Balinese dance, and archival and family photographs to delve into the complicated tangle of mixed-race identity, growing up with an absent parent and intergenerational relationships. Layered, luminous and presented with at times excruciating honesty, this dance documentary duets presence with absence in chronicling a life only half-understood.

Eager to leave his tumultuous past far behind, controversial author Vincent Tremblay, now lives a simple life, off-grid, in the Australian bush, alongside his close mate, veteran outbacker, Gunther. However, the men's tranquility is suddenly shattered, following a dark discovery in a nearby dam.

Carlos has a crush on Sophie and to win her affection begins to take French lessons from Mickey, who also has a crush on Sophie. As they team up to learn more about her, feelings develop that neither anticipated.

A crazy old man takes to the streets.

When a house cat begins to fear the gentle owner who feeds him, he starts noticing the subtle cracks in the man’s behaviour and realises the thing he lives with is slowly deciding whether to keep him… or silence him.

A former rugby league grand final winner still living off local legend status sells his 1991 Winfield Cup medal to fund his club’s junior presentation day, sparking a week of hustles and gambling that begins to crack the performance.

Hand-painted film combined with digital animation explores abstraction and concepts of ‘play’ as intrinsic to creative practice.

A young woman frustrated with the dating world, ends up indulging in a world completely different from her own. Although maybe it's a little too different..

the legendary live action movie where people cry and dragons die....

You've got to be tough to survive the AFL. These are the hart nuts that put their body on the line for the sake of their team. The players that put their heads over the ball no matter the consequence. The players who run back with the flight with no regard for the hit that always comes. These are the players we love to watch week after week. 'Only The Courageous' showcases the strength and skills of the modern AFL player in the 21st century.

Two strangers exchange a conversation in a cinema lobby, connections are made but awkwardness follows

A young couples' struggles as they explore the potential of parenthood.

Two strangers meet at a train station in the dead of night, but unexpectedly find more in common than they'd ever realise.

A young journalist attempts to solve a small town mystery. With the hopes of finding evidence to solve a missing persons case, things begin to unravel when the journalist makes his way inside the home of a plastic surgeon.

When two teenage girls reconnect at a sleepover, an unspoken darkness shatters their rekindled relationship.

A cat meets the end of its life (or lives?).

George Gittoes wrestles the camera off the great showman to discover just who George Gittoes is and what his work means to the world.

Tommy Carter, a notorious prankster, thrives on humiliating others for clicks and clout. His mean-spirited stunts have made him infamous but also despised. When one of his pranks crosses the line, Tommy's world crumbles, he finds himself the target of an elaborate scheme. In a fight for survival, Tommy learns the hard way that some jokes come with deadly consequences.