Discoveries from Australia World Cinema

Would you give it all up for inspiration?

Frank Hurley (1885-1962) was firmly established by 1925 as Australia's most famous photographer. An artist interested less in expressing human experiences than the grandeur of nature and the romance of exotic lands, his work was known to Australians through books, newspaper features and documentary films. His journeys began in December, 1911 when he joined Mawson's expedition to Antarctica as official photographer; his stills of the Expedition were widely published around the world and this documentary "Home of the Blizzard" was released in 1913.

This feature length documentary is a personal account of the siege of Sarajevo from the point of view of a Bosnian Australian, Tahir Cambis, who spent the last six months of the war filming the conflict and its effects on the civilian population. The two main subjects in the film are a Sarajevo family whose young daughter is killed a day after she is filmed in a dance competition; and an 8 year old girl, Amira, whose eye witness account of murder and rape becomes a diary of catharsis.

An animated short film, narrated by two asylum-seeking men detained in Australia's Manus Island Offshore Processing Centre, recounting the dangerous journeys that brought them to the island and their memories of the riot that erupted in 2014.

Filmmaker Corinne Cantrill traces her fascinating life story through hundreds of photographs. Formally rigorous and emotionally profound, Corinne's insightful narration explores how photographs both reveal and hide our identity.

Q1 The Journey documents the construction of the then world's tallest residential tower, developed by the Sunland Group.

A nervous graduate. A bizarre yet excruciating job interview. Things are about to go very wrong.

This documentary follows an Ethical and Environmental expert from Nokia as she travels to China to inspect the facilities under contract to her company.

At a wilderness boot camp for difficult teens, the desperate spirit of an alleged suicide victim seeks out the help of a young girl to expose the truth about her death.

A largely intact 1911 Australian film, produced by the Photo Vista Company for Pathe Freres; A drama about a miner who is swindled out of his gold claim.

Simon Morley and David Friend made a name for themselves by traveling around the world manipulating their not-so-private parts in their popular “genital origami” show. This entertaining documentary follows the duo on their first tour of Australia.

Hillsong

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.

In 1995, Ken Holden, the actor known for portraying The Shadowman in the Australian children's television show Hug The Sun, self-funded his own expansion tape to the Australian video board game NIGHTMARE. After Ken's mysterious disappearance over 30 years ago, this tape was thought to be lost to time... Until today.

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.

After an inspiring dream, a young man becomes obsessed with a brilliant idea. He dedicates his life to the idea, a decision that could prove costly in the future.

Millie and Max have been tasked by the Outer-God Gor Shabor to throw a summoning party.

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

Niño, a sci-fi thief, utilises his tech to transport himself into video games, to steal in game currency and bring them back to the real world

A young midwife becomes entangled in the life of a young mother after a stillbirth occurs under her care.

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..

Family friends are forced to reunite when Jack's family house is being prepared to be put for rent. Tensions rise and the night turns sour as old wounds are opened, outing their skewed views of what their shared childhood really meant.

A short film that compiles the three SBS Station IDs, created by Anthony Lucas. They take place in his universe of The Shadowlands.

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

A school teacher is stalked after hours by an evil entity.

What happens when the values of the culture you’ve always known no longer align with how you see the world? The New Peasants provides an intimate look into the life of Meg, Patrick, and their sons Zephyr and Woody. A family who, for 20 years, have been transitioning away from modern industrial culture toward a radically simple, sustainable, and beautiful way of life.

The 174 Workshop's newest recruit is ready to get on the tools, but first he'll need to survive corporate's mandatory Work Health and Safety Training.

Marcus is about to watch the National Rugby League grand final game with his son Max. However he is surprised when Max brings his girlfriend Chloe and brother Jack, and an AA mediator named Yuki. It turns out it was a trap set up by Max to get Marcus into an intervention for his weight.

a short animation about internet friends who disappear...

A documentary on bouncers manning the doors of nightclubs in Melbourne, Australia.

When western treatment fails his daughter's incurable disease, an upper-class, middle-aged Londoner attends a prestigious, old-fangled ball to seek occult assistance from the mysterious, public figure the town calls The Mystic.

Signatures of Earth is an experiment in repositioning documentary narrative hierarchies in the space age. The film aggregates fragmentary encounters from varying points of view, encountering cuttlefish and quasars, and much else in between, happened upon during a transcontinental journey to film the shadow of the moon. Challenging, in the tradition of Brechtian distanciation, the film is also poetic, ethereal, roving, contemplative, richly cinematic and empathetically engaged. Signatures of Earth presents a fractured vision of the cognitive and sensory muddle that is an antipodean road trip through the Anthropocene. It all makes sense as long as you don’t want it too.

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

A poetic documentary viewing the shared experience amongst people who have experienced loss.

An ancient dragon dies and sinks into the depths of the ocean, bringing life to the barren sea floor.

Jon is a young, proud gay man living a successful life after cutting contact with his abusive dad a decade ago but when Jon’s father reaches out to him to try and make amends, Jon decides to meet with him to give him one more chance.

HORROR SHORT 2024 first short film for yr 10 media class ft. my mums voice all other credits to me:) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peMr3xRiRks

A slideshow of photographs slowly move closer to the the place where Skye is not.

Emma, Ethan and Angus are three average high school students fed up with the social hierarchy. But when they make an unexpected discovery, things may be about to change.

Workers of the word, in yellow vests, building other people's dreams.

Following the death of his estranged father, John returns to his rural childhood home, only to unexpectedly come across his brother Tommy.

Molti, Spotzl, Eigi and Pichla fall into the hands of a serial killer. Only their fans can save them.

A worker and an ambient artist, stuck in loops of work, creation and isolation, have two strained social encounters in a city of encroaching darkness.

When a Man dealing with the loss of his wife takes a dark turn when memories start coming back.

Juan Garrido Salgado immigrated to Australia from Chile in 1990, fleeing the regime that burned his poetry, imprisoned him, and tortured him for his political activism. “My verse is born by the nights of the curfew… when I was clandestine.”

Embark on a poignant journey through three captivating performances inspired by Homer's Iliad. From a Ukrainian soldier's dedication to a Sarajevo choir's resilience, to the Mediterranean island where asylum seekers face challenges, the works by Stanislava Pinchuk mirror the epic's themes of victory, grief, and loss. Experience the intersection of ancient tales with contemporary conflicts in this powerful artistic exploration.

A kidnapped thug has two minutes to make his great escape...only to get his wires crossed.

Parody trailer for a low-budget grind-house thriller in which a woman rampages men with tampons.

A teenager is enjoying a walk through the park, until an old Neighbour appears out of nowhere and costs him his day off again as he spends his day with the weird kid who used to live next door.

In a criminal ridden suburb, it's hard to keep secrets. But you remember one of the most important rules of organized crime? No witnesses. Stupidity meets coincidence in this short action comedy.

Mood Ring is a feature film by performance artist Sereima Adimate/Stelly G, Kiki Oner and Garden Reflexxx. The group examines female friendships, the idea of love letters, the challenge of unpacking heritage and the meaning of going home. In the ineffable shadow of taboo, Mood Ring is a radical sign of deliverance. In 2021 the group started a writer's room brainstorming ideas of 'First Times'. It led them to Mood Ring, a community funded project based in/on Fiji. The footage features moments from the location reconnaissance Sereima went on in early 2022. In a tangled visual poem that blends journal entries with travelogue, Kiki Oner and best friend Stelly G return to their island home Viti Lev. During this - their first trip together as adults - they make contact with a past that is unfamiliar to them yet shrouded in memories. What follows is a deeply felt trip that forces them to confront lives almost lived. There will be scenes of confronting pasts, and catastrophic futures.

This playful mix of documentary and fiction provides a vibrant record of the Second University Arts Festival held at the University of Melbourne in May 1969, while also providing a fascinating time capsule of late 1960s Bohemian Carlton.

Cleaning In Progress, by Miream Salameh presents the daily life of myself and my family following our forced displacement from Syria in 2012 and subsequent settlement in Australia. The film interrogates our family’s experiences in relation to the displacement and oppression undergone by Aboriginal people in Australia and considers the ramifications of being a displaced person settled on Indigenous (stolen) land. The film is situated between Art and Documentation as a relation between traumatic events and the recording of a truth as means for preventing the distortion and erasing of facts by colonial powers.

The 1981 murder trial of Alwyn Peter made Australian legal history when his defence lawyer successfully argued that charges of murder and manslaughter were inappropriate for dispossessed, semi-tribal Aborigines.

An operatic short drama surrounding the connection forged over an afternoon between a young aged care worker and his new elderly client, Rosetta.

Get ready to hang ten this summer with Australia’s hottest rising star – Greg Larsen! The self-described “bad boy” of comedy is going to push all your buttons, and make you squeal... in a good way! Greg has been kicking goals in comedy for a while now, and this dirty-30-something is gonna give it to you straight (with a few curve-balls thrown in for good measure!). He’s been in The Tourist on Stan, Young Rock on NBC, and with his recent gastroscopy and colonoscopy, you might say the camera loves him inside and out! But where Greg truly shines is when he treads the boards to make live audiences giggle. He’s a big Aussie giggleman and he’s not afraid to admit it! Why don’t you come along and take a journey into the twisted mind of a real comedian? Get on the gravy train 'cause this lol-rocket is about to take off!

Experimental video by Peter Newman.