Discoveries from Australia World Cinema

An ex-convict pays for his wife's marijuana by keeping the green at a lawn-bowling club

When a children's entertainer finds that a video of him masturbating has gone viral online, his life is thrown into chaos. Amid the fierce public backlash and media scrutiny he is forced to confront the wrath of the anonymous online haters to defend and redeem himself.

Seeking connection after a yearlong research project, Casey travels to the town of a man she had met at university to see if they can pick up where they left off. Upon arriving at her lodging, she is greeted by some strange characters, staying in a room that becomes increasingly isolating as surreal interactions fragment Casey’s perception of reality. Will she realise she’s not as young as she thinks she is?

A princess, a prince, and some foul mouthed animals, all come together for 'The Tea Party'.

Paul Lawrence is a working class man who dates Cara, sells shirts at a Sydney department store, and dreams of attending art school. Cara leaves for London and Paul becomes the protege of designer Marie Rosefield. Through this he enters the 'set', the world of Sydney art society. Rosefield is friends with Mark Broniski, an artist who commissions Paul to design a set for British stage director, John L. Fredericks. Paul is helped by art student Tony Brown, who is dating Paul's cousin, Kim Sylvester. Paul and Tony begin a homosexual affair. Kim's mother Peggy has an affair with Boronoski.

An eccentric director on the rise travels to Cannes, Berlin, New Caledonia, Australia and England to create her latest art house film and jumps many entertaining hurdles before realizing her vision.

Matteo is pressured into the family business when he fails his exams. Out for his 18th birthday, he struggles to choose between his family responsibilities and his adolescent friendships, culminating in an act of violence.

Set in Colonial America, Pocahontas has become a story of historical value known and loved internationally, among children of all ages. The film tells the story of the first English settlers in Virginia and the Native Americans who lived there. It highlights the very different values of the two civilisations and particularly their attitude and respect for the land. It's a culture shock story and, on a personal level, a love story

Tom Maranta has been a 'bouncer' for years, but he has decided to give the toughs, pushers, pimps and prostitutes the flick. As he makes that decision, Pharoah, his bitter enemy, is released from prison for stabbing him in a bloody and vicious street fight three years earlier. After three years of sleepless nights and haunting nightmares, Tom realizes a showdown is inevitable and he enlists the help of a friend and together they are confronted by Pharoah and his army.

Saturday 7 February 2009 will forever be known as Black Saturday. On this day the worst bushfires in the history of Australia caused devastation across Victoria like never seen before. The effect this terrible tragedy had was felt not only here, but worldwide. Almost simultaneously Queensland was undergoing its own tragedy, with the state experiencing widespread flooding. In response to our nation's greatest ever natural disasters, Australia's music community, along with some of the biggest music names internationally, banded together for two stadium benefit concerts that ran simultaneously in both Melbourne and Sydney under the unified banner SOUND RELIEF.

Covered in blood following an attack, genderqueer Ash seeks catharsis through a church confessional. As they feverishly recall memories that led them to the present day, Ash emerges from the darkness, finding strength and power for revenge.

The friendship of two 15-year-old boys – one black, one white – begins to fall apart under the stress of a changing world.

Against the backdrop of the Australian Outback, 15-year-old Riley travels across the Outback with her father until they come across two seemingly abandoned cars at an isolated desert crossing. When an invisible force drags her father away, Riley finds herself in a life-or-death struggle against a terrifying creature only visible to its next victim.

The public facade and private life of an aspiring politician and his wife. This film reveals the little white lies that lead to revenge, blackmail and a fight for life.

A young artist teetering on the edge of a quiet collapse, who finds solace and understanding through a profound connection with Harold, an elderly resident at the care home where she works.

Peter Hehir plays full-time loser Sid McCall, professional vagrant and alcoholic on the skids. Haydon Samuels is his young son Christopher who lives with him. At the insistence of those who seek to help, child welfare workers are called-in to retrieve the lad from what authorities classify as "inappropriate living conditions." Someone seems to have overlooked the fact that Christopher does not consider his plight as distressing however and with each visit to the home, all the social workers can get in the way of co-operation, is Christopher's stock-standard reply to their questions..."I live with me dad!"

A teenage girl has to terms with her family and herself when her mother falls critically ill. She decides to leave school to look after her family, which turns outto be an enormous challenge, as she has to deal with her father’s fanatical religion, her brother’s experimentation with drugs and homosexuality, her desire for the wrong boy, and her younger brother and sister’s inability to cope with the family’s instability.

A young man leaves home in search of his fathers backgound in a small country town and gets mixed up with all sorts of weird and wild characters.

Nick McCallum is mechanic who trades in his wrench for a surfboard, going against the wishes of his father– a former surfing legend who lost his ability to walk after a horrible accident on the water.

A gay Australian man reflects on the immigration problems of his young Russian boyfriend.

An archive-based feature documentary viewing the dramatic climax of the Cold War through the lens of the ABC network, as it narrowly succeeds in producing the most watched, most controversial made-for-TV movie, THE DAY AFTER (1983). With irreverent humor and sobering apocalyptic vision, this film reveals how a commercial broadcaster seized a moment of unprecedented television viewership, made an emotional connection with an audience of over 100 million and forced an urgent conversation with the US President on how to collectively confront and resolve the most pressing issue of the time - nuclear proliferation.

Everyone's worst travel nightmare - being stuck next to an obnoxious dork on a flight where there are no spare seats.

Australian female race car driver, Renee Gracie, attempts to re-enter V8 racing after being pushed out of the sport and becoming a multi-millionaire through online adult entertainment. Using Renee’s individual experiences, the documentary uncovers the exploitation, empowerment and resilience behind Renee’s unconventional success story, and examines the greater injustices faced by women in motorsport.

This is the story of a charismatic family of endangered animals and one man’s extraordinary devotion. It unfolds in a distant wilderness, in a land forgotten by time. But change is coming. In less than a year, this magical place, along with those who live here, may be lost forever. Welcome to Quoll Farm.

Set in a world of iron dirigibles and steam powered computers, this gothic horror mystery tells the story of Jasper Morello, a disgraced aerial navigator who flees his plague-ridden home on a desperate voyage to redeem himself.

Penny returns to her childhood home for the Appleton Show and its 'world famous' potato race, she is outraged that the men's first prize pays out $2,000 and the winning woman's prize is only $200. She is determined to right this wrong.

An obsessive audio surveillance expert accepts a deadly mission to infiltrate and record a meeting at the infamous Cobra Club. When he crosses paths with a mysterious assassin, he must question the nature of his mission and confront the impending danger that awaits.

A desperate woman kidnaps and enforces rehab on her violent brother in a last-ditch effort to save their lives.

The charming and captivating true story of an Australian man's transformative experience walking the Camino de Santiago, and the people he meets along the way that changed his life forever.

Peter Ashbury is a young man who lives on Palm Beach, Sydney, with an expensive wife Mary and house he cannot afford. Their neighbours and close friends are Liz and Charles Barcher. He makes a £25,000 bet to murder Liz, the wife of the wealthy Charles. When the wife dies, blame attaches to Peter and then to his wife Mary.

The story of Julia, a disabled woman in a wheelchair and voice synthesizer, who's trapped psychologically by a cruel, manipulative caregiver. After the arrival of a mysterious man, Julia begins to question the day-to-day dramas and frustrations she's tolerated for years. An achingly genuine and profoundly moving drama about a woman born with cerebral palsy.

John Stamford, an expatriate Australian, now a private detective in Singapore, becomes involved in a fake pharmaceuticals case and a dangerous love triangle.

A short film about the relationship between an Aboriginal daughter and her white mother. The daughter, now the sole carer of her dying mother, dreams of far away places, the haunted look in her eyes loaded with a sense of what could have been. Famous Aboriginal singer, Jimmy Little, sings 'Royal Telephone', evoking the presence of Christianity and its role in the assimilation of Aboriginal people. The final scene sees the daughter lying in a foetal position next to her mother, crying. Assimilation, then, can be understood as a pain experienced by both the Aboriginal daughter as well as the white mother.

Jonah is proud to be the loner at the teenage mental health clinic, taking pleasure in making the other patients uncomfortable. But when he is forced to share a room with the newly admitted Richard, the boys become locked in a battle of wills.

Rabbit and Rongo, two dumb but kind-hearted criminals, want to help a young girl get the medical treatment she needs. Inspired by true crimes around the world, they attempt to raise money through a series of dumb plans and hopeless schemes.

In the middle of a French exam, 17 year old Charlie struggles to find the words to be true to himself…and his best friend.

A journalist finds he can see ghosts after being struck by lightning.

A boy finds a strange creature on a beach, and decides to find a home for it in a world where everyone believes there are far more important things to pay attention to.

We first meet The Darcys, a poor, working class family of tough Irish stock through whose eyes we hear their story. A story that centres on the bittersweet first and last loves of Roie, who becomes a woman too quickly living among the tenement houses, razor gangs, brothels and sly-grog shops of inner city Sydney.

The Dirty Three are the rough and ready jewels in the crown of Australian rock and roll history. Born from the need to put food on the table and spawned from the intensely collaborative local Australian music scene in the 80's and early 90's, the Dirty Three pioneered the instrumental rock and roll music scene in Australia with their cathartic, sometimes violent and always spellbinding brand of music. Within a few short years, they achieved local and international success and left Australian shores to take their Music to the world. To this day the band continues to tour the world and serve the music that they see as a real, living and breathing thing that chooses the Dirty Three's custodianship.

A young man in trouble is forced to drag his family into the problem.

A man tries to reconnect with his father who works at a laundrette.

A traumatic injury and disability, the filmmaker is also the subject, trying to find his way out of a coma like state. Searching for answers, he begins to interview strangers also experiencing extreme life circumstances.

The delusional patient of a psychiatrist believes he is actually the psychiatrist. As they each attempt to treat each other the session gets out of control.

A cynical Australian Vietnam War veteran runs a sleazy bar in the Philippines. His old flame enters his life again asking for help when her husband, an investigative journalist, is prosecuted by the junta for discovering too much.

Crossfire is Lauren Southern's third documentary film project focusing on the issues surrounding policing, brutality, race, law and order. A heated debate today which has led to a massive political divide between those supporting officers, those defending reform and even many rioting violently in the streets.

For almost half a century, Don Ritchie would approach people contemplating suicide at the edge of a cliff near his home. Teacups explores Don’s surreal interactions with hundreds of suicidal individuals and his journey to reconcile the suicide of his best friend.

On a relatively adventurous day, Lucas takes on the adventures of being a super hero in the city, saving everyone from possible crimes, but whilst on a lunch break he encounters a strange figure who posses a threat to the city and everyone in it and its up to Lucas to stop him!

An improbable love affair flares up between Karima, a modern Muslim girl, and Claudio, a local musician, in Melbourne's most notorious housing estate, where ruthless gangs rule, drug abuse spreads and racial tension grows.

A family drifts down a spiral of self-destruction and depression in the years following the death of their eldest son. Can they come to terms with what's happened before everything falls apart?

A filmmaker and a piano student, who first meet in Australia, try to make sense of a past imbued with mystery in Macau and an uncertain future in Hong Kong.

AFL legend Adam Goodes shares the story of his life and career to offer a deeper insight into race, identity, and belonging.

When home entertainment enters the market in 90s Beijing, a former projectionist ropes his young son into starting their own pirate movie company, but easy money comes with its own price tag.

With only one male grey panda left in the entire world, Ron the Zookeeper is sent in to get a sperm sample, no matter what.

After wearing a wire to catch a dirty colleague selling confiscated drugs, detective Jack Kempson is hated by his colleagues. He also gets 'promoted away' to the basement, where old files get transferred to the national computer database. Thus he comes across fingerprints, now identifiable, in the 30 year old case of Ashley, the kidnapped son of lottery winners. Although he's too late to help him now, he tracks the perpetrators down behind his boss's back.

Frank meets Madaline at a cocktail party held at a World Bank conference. He's a foreign correspondent whose recent work in Mali has left him traumatised. As the erotic connection between Frank and Madaline deepens, each gradually reveal secrets from their past that could have deadly consequences. The sensual, politically charged Embedded is an exciting anomaly in Australian cinema, marking a promising directorial debut for Sewell.

In dreams, Anthony is a villager who enjoys a fruitful lifestyle, helping his neighbourhood and creating unique friendships with the townsfolk. When he suddenly sees his long lost biological parents in one of his dreams, he journeys through his subconscious in an attempt to find them and potentially reconnect. However, throughout his journey, he crosses from his own dreamworld into an astral plane, of which he cannot return from.

Myf Warhurst is on the cusp of a big change: the change. Myf wants to know what's in store. What is menopause, what are the symptoms and what can she do about it?

A bumbling knitted dinosaur must completely unravel itself to save the love of its life.

What do you do when you have reached the top of your profession? For Andrew Gordon, the answer is don't look down. An urban tale of an accountant caught in a world where the bottom line is a matter of life and death.