Discoveries from Australia World Cinema

When Vanessa's friend Dave gets a girlfriend, she looks at the world with fresh eyes. It's gay versus straight, white versus black, and couples versus the rest of us. And although she's Vanessa, she could be anybody. She could be an heir to Rupert Murdoch's media empire. She could be one of the millions of people every year dying of AIDS while the rest of the world watches Big Brother. She could be Karen, who isn't talking to anyone. She could be anybody. I Could Be Anybody is a fifteen-minute film that was shot on DV over five days in September 2005. It’s funny, it’s observational, and sometimes it’s a little bit melancholy.

Animated images of the Tasmanian tiger are depicted in different environments: a zoo, suburbia and bushland, as local people recall their sightings of this now extinct animal.

An unexpected discovery brings catastrophe to the opening night of a play at a local theatre company.

FILM SAFARI GHANA explores Australian critic and filmmaker Andrew Leavold’s obsession with the work of Ghanaian action movie sensation Samuel “Ninja” Nkansah. Journeying to Kumasi to meet his hero, Andrew is soon acting in the starring-role of Ninja's slavery-themed action movie, WHITE DEVIL. Witness the birth of a partnership between two of the world's most maverick directors as they hatch a plan to reteam in Ghana to shoot Leavold’s dream-film, a four-foot kung-fu remake of THE HARDER THEY COME.

Basil is an ongoing 16mm film, currently comprised of two chapters — the first shot in 2012, the second in 2019. The third chapter in the triptych is slated to be shot in 2026. All three chapters will eventually be merged together to make a single piece spanning fifteen years.

No Exit is a one act play by Jean-Paul Sartre. It is set in the 1940s in a drawing room meant to symbolize hell. A valet brings Joseph Garcin to the room, and Garcin is trapped there. The valet leaves and brings back two more people, Inez Serrano and Estelle Rigault

Affixed is an experimental film which explores how obsession traverses in the mind, submerging one in a repetitive rhythm.

A house that slowly closes in. The ceiling churns, the dread of isolation consumes all. This is it. Time to accept it or let reality eat you.

Evoking the siren song of addiction as a grand, somewhat obtuse symbol, this distinctive film sets a mythical tale in a suburban Australian setting of Hills hoists and casserole dishes, memorably shot on 16mm.

Follows the story of Chris Collard, from his early life dealing with juvenile detention, to his experience with kickboxing and eventual rise to world champion.

A drug deal goes wrong

The beginnings of Johnny Galagher's story. A retired personal investigator in 1920's New York City is roped into a case that will lead him down a dark path.

Drawing on her experience of growing up in the Greek diaspora, Eugenia Raskopoulos' work 're-ma(r)king' reflects on how cultural knowledge is transferred across contexts and between generations through objects, rituals and stories. 're-ma(r)king' is focused on two items that belonged to the artist's grandmother, which she animates through performance. On one screen, we see Raskopoulos unraveling a woven doily then winding this into a ball of thread, restoring the crafted object to its material origins. In the other, we see her dripping olive oil onto a concrete floor, then spreading it with a rolling pin as though preparing pastry. These actions invoke the power of mnemonic triggers to bring the past into the present. A portrait of the artist can be glimpsed in the reflective surface of the oil, partial and provisional, like memory itself.

Edward Booth, a former Marine, struggles with life back home after experiencing a traumatic event during the war.

When Dr. Jordan Patrick attempts to treat his four o’clock, he comes face to face with a horror beyond his imaging.

A film made for the Melbourne Super-8 Film Group's "Postcode" series. In this case, images of 3066 (Collingwood), set to Patti Smith's "Spell" - holy, holy, all is holy.

Richmond = rich world, rich woods. 1990 to 1995. The sites which resonate with meaning and feeling for the film-maker, now leaving Richmond, heading north by northwest.

A group of different activities and things are associated according to the idea of "construction".

The world of things and movements traces itself backwards and forwards in an ecstatic vertigo of metaphysical allusion, whilst we sublimely subordinate the will to desire. "Look out", Marguerite Duras says, "you see the end of the world".

The real-life home exploits of Mary Mousoulis.

Documentary about the history of the Davis Cup.

Two Bros meet at a train station and ride a train together, catching up after a long time apart.

This Documentary explores the childhood and growing up of Ken and Nola Mackay. they tell their stories about what life was like in their childhood compared to what life is like now.

Combining animation with live action this is one of the few truly surreal works to emerge in the Australian cinema, an intensely personal reflection, by Czech artist Dusan Marek, on the importance of maintaining an inner freedom. Marek is the film's solitary character – the artist and his alter-ego who wears a de Chirico-like mask. The spare commentary poetically alludes to the artist's conflict with his subconscious culminating in liberation. The images are assembled in a manner akin to music. Marek hoped that this would allow viewers to maintain contact with their imaginations.

Gabby, a late teen freshly graduated from high school, embarks on a new chapter in her life by attending University, the beginning of which is an Orientation Week party. She is close with a girl named Leah who she has known since the end of high school. They are in that weird period where they keep questioning whether or not they are in a relationship; something all-too-familiar with queer relationships. Their building intimacy is delayed as Leah leaves the O-Week party to get a good night's sleep in preparation for her first classes, leaving Gabby alone. As Leah leaves, someone familiar quickly fills the seat next to Gabby. This is Jason, Gabby's high-school sweetheart. She is instantly taken back to that fourteen year old self. Jason and Gabby become acquainted with each other once again, old conversations and familiarities surface. Jason offers Gabby a drink and after a while she becomes intoxicated. All she remembers is Jason closing the bedroom door...

When the Silly Billies hear that their circus friends are in trouble, they decide to help. Fun and laughter follow as the Silly Billies create chaos under the big top. Don’t miss the crazy chase scene, when the scheming bank manager makes off with the takings. Will the big top be repossessed? Will the elephants be raffled? How much mayhem can a puppy cause on the high trapeze? And the big question is… who’ll save the circus from the Silly Billies? Featuring the circus performers from Baz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge.

Two unruly youths attending a backwater public school in the Australian suburbs make life a living hell for an academically gifted yet socially challenged young boy named Ebaad. Search YouTube for: Where’s Ebaad?! and watch free today!

A film which uses overlayed imagery from a range of archival sources and productions that have staged and constructed the 'image' of Thailand. Encompassing reproduced artefacts and archival objects, installation, film and photography, A Puzzlement pokes fun at pre-existing notions of taste and value – high and low, historical and sentimental – interweaving elements that may be considered ‘exotic’ or kitsch from one perspective, and mundane and every-day from another.

A young woman, seemingly jinxed by her choices, has her world thrown into turmoil after a tragic loss. Stubborn, cynical yet refreshingly candid, Lindy Lou Trentino is in constant conflict with her family, the community at large and ultimately the corrupt patriarchy in rural Queensland.

A visual onslaught of artistic ideas, showing how art relates to and intertwines with our daily lives. Art, personified here as an opera-singing Valkyrie, hang-glides down from the clouds to check on the state of the arts in Australia - from painting, writing and music to dance, theatre, puppetry and sculpture. Featuring John Bell, Anna Volska, Reg Livermore, Rory O'Donohue, David Gulpilil and the work of Thomas Keneally and Patrick White among others, this is a phantasmagoria of filmic effects.

The great grandson of the inventor of Ritalin cooks his own batch

A struggling insomniac starts to believe that they are haunted when they start hearing voices

A boy and a girl go for a walk within the saddle of the Australian Alps mountain range.

Kannava, 10 years after migrating to Australia as a 15 year old in 1974, returns to her home city of Limassol in Cyprus, to reconnect with her beloved grandmother.

A young woman, Emma studying at university and living at home with her mother and brother in the Adelaide suburbs, falls in love with a cafe waiter Nick, who lives and works in the town of Stirling in the Adelaide Hills. Entranced by the man and the town, she begins to feel a sense of excitement and vitality in her life.

Are you ready to die? Matt Okine goes on a mission to demystify death. From adding ashes into fireworks, to dying in a simulator and creating an immortal digital clone of himself - he reveals the power in confronting death.

The end of talking. The age of doing. A stirring testament to 21st century conservationism and people power in action, Reefshot is more than just a call to arms to save the Great Barrier Reef. It is the story of some of the Reef’s most loyal citizens racing against time to turn the tide on the danger facing the world’s largest living organism. Led by Andy Ridley the creator of Earth Hour, a small group of scientists, volunteers and Indigenous rangers set out to help protect and conserve the Reef by uploading data to one of the largest natural census undertaken in human history. Cutting edge technology meets 60,000 years of first-peoples know-how as the flotilla trade skills and intelligence in this herculean effort for conservation. The clock is ticking. The world is watching. But rather than getting that sinking feeling about the Reef and its fate, seeing this armada in action will inspire and empower all of us to take part in their plight.

Experimental video by Peter Newman.

A getaway driver is forced by a detective to catch incriminating conversation from the crew that raised him, in order to gain a lighter sentence for himself.

The story of how Pat O'Shane AM defied the odds to become one of Australia's most brilliant legal game changers, and a look at her ambitious federal election campaign. What does it take to make a difference? Four First Nations trailblazers – a senator, a magistrate, a media icon and a poet – put everything on the line for a brighter future. Senator Neville Bonner, a Jagera Elder, was the first Indigenous person elected to Parliament, serving 12 years across four federal governments. Former teacher and barrister Pat O’Shane, a Kuku Yalanji woman, became Australia’s first Aboriginal magistrate – a position she held from 1986 until 2013. Birri Gubba Gungalu radio host Tiga Bayles ruled the airwaves, presenting Sydney’s Radio Redfern and establishing the Brisbane Indigenous Media Association and the National Indigenous Radio Service. And Noonuccal poet, conservationist and activist Oodgeroo Noonuccal was the first Aboriginal person to publish a book of verse.

A melancholic, erotic, ironic journey through the Peruvian Amazon, made with the guidance of Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

In July 2022, The Paper Kites played a month-long residency in the small town of Campbells Creek. This film was captured during the month-long residency we performed last year in the small Australian town of Campbells Creek. It features performances from multiple nights at the roadhouse and all 16 songs from the record.

Three Government Men search for the illusive Instructions. Their efficiency is essential.

A battered young girl finds refuge in a mysterious button, with unprecedented consequences....

Over 50 species of birds in their natural habitats, the Outback, Wetlands, and Rainforests spread all over the country—the most varied collections of big and small birds, with background music and ambient sounds.

Woven Threads is dedicated to telling stories through which our shared humanity compels us to recognize and, perhaps, identify with the universality of the refugee experience.

A staccato study of street level action and inter-action. People and vehicles on everyday journeys are atomised into coursing fragments of light, shadow, angle and inertia, reiterating and disassembling the creation of motion out of still frames at the heart of cinema. Filmed in ten cities on four continents.

Lighting a Candle provides a personal insight into the life, work and vision of Dr Catherine Hamlin AC who, with her late husband Reg, founded the internationally renowned Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital and its pioneering work to improve women's health in Ethiopia.

Artists and rangers collaborate on Country to to share knowledge, stories and artwork about waru (fire).

Kate is persuaded by her niece, Lily, to take her to the Science Space in Wollongong. Lily is playing matchmaker...but is Leo perfect for Kate, or is something missing?

Over a dozen Australian Mammals are shown in the video in their natural habitats.

Sandstone cliffs, the home of ancient plants, animals and above all a wealth cultural and natural heritage. A world of discovery in this ancient landscape, a walk back in time to retrace the steps of the ancient owners of the land.

The Greatest Places south of the Orinoco, the Delta, bizarre or extravagant unique, birds, the Guiana Shield, aged over 1.5 billion years has created outstanding tabletop mountains, thousands of rivers and cascades, among which is ANGEL FALLS.

Singer- songwriter daine performs their new mixtape Shapeless for the first time, backed up by enchanting visuals, the eight song mixtape is unveiled through this captivating performance on the first day of its release.

A surreal animated documentary based on historical records, The Pioneers is a mesmerising rhythmic experience honouring the animal passengers aboard their 59 rocket test flights prior to the first human voyage to space. This film aims to remind us of the sacrifices, experiences and tragedies of these forgotten and overlooked pioneers. Directed by auteur Australian animator Simon Cottee and scored by renowned Canadian composer Kid Koala.

Surviving extract of lost 88 minute original film.

A series of visual experiments made in collaboration with the performers in the film.

A story of Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones, an extraordinarily vivacious 10-year-old-girl, and her adventures at the Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale Academy. From royal cruises to Christmas balls, the new school year holds no shortage of excitement and surprises for Alice-Miranda, Millie and Jacinta.