Discoveries from Australia World Cinema

An irreverent adult comedy that looks at our reliance on technology, but what happens when technology is as ill-informed as we are.

Dysfunctional truth rap and suspended youth - the final skate between two best friends.

Days before turning thirty, Mercy meets with her three lovers, stoner comedian Rufus, slacker musician Otis, and recovering addict Viraj, after a positive pregnancy test.

A drowning survivor must confront the dangerous fixation she has on the accident and the woman who saved her.

When a group of high-school friends posts an online rumour about a rival, it sparks a chain reaction that leaves no one untouched. Cyberbullying, sexting, filmed fights and police action ensue—will these friends be Tagged forever?

What happened in the land of Oz after Dorothy returned to Kansas? Based on the original book by L. Frank Baum “The Tin Woodman of Oz” (TWO) follows the adventures of the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow and the little boy 'Woot' as they search for the Tin Woodman's first love, Nimmie Aimee. What they find is not what they expected! TWO is the first CG-animated feature to be produced entirely as an Internet collaboration. 100+ artists around the world contributed to TWO.

A young hitman is put through the motions in being part of "the business" and a simple trip to reclaim a lost grimoire introduces him to a world of pain, where nothing is what it seems and where he too, has a price to pay.

An aspiring actor arrives at the audition of his career... only to find himself locked in the theatre alongside fellow auditionee and disgraced former child actress.

After taking the birth control pill to please her boyfriend, an insecure Mia is challenged by a series of escalating frightening symptoms.

ECO/FEMINISM is an essay film that explores the philosophical theory, ‘ecofeminism’. The idea combines feminism and environmentalism and argues that the oppression of women and the degradation of the environment are interconnected and result from patriarchy and capitalism. This film imagines what a radical restructuring of systems, from patriarchy to matriarchy may look like, and dives into the historical roots of ecofeminism and how it is manifesting currently in climate activism.

"Is This Forever" is a poignant true story that chronicles the trans-formative journey of a teenage boy grappling with his own grief and his brother's mental health challenges. Amidst the complexities of their experiences, the narrative explores the profound bond of brotherhood, revealing layers of love, respect, and shared struggles. Through a heartwarming and heartrending exploration, the protagonist discovers the resilient strength that arises from familial connections, ultimately offering a moving portrayal of personal growth and the enduring power of love.

Every year, around 3000 Indigenous students receive scholarships to attend some of Australia’s most prestigious boarding schools. It is an immense opportunity, setting many of the youngsters on a path to a bright future, but it also means they must leave their homes and communities. Over the course of a year, Off Country follows several such students, who, despite hailing from distinct nations and having vastly different circumstances, each share a commitment to doing themselves and their families proud – no matter the difficulties.

Banduk discovers that Mr Kool is smuggling birds out of Australia.

When the young and beautiful actress Maddy McCarthy (Clare Bowen), star of Ray Abbott's theatrical production, has an emotional breakdown that jeopardizes the show, Ray turns to Zac Freeman, his young and ambitious publicist, to come up with a plan to save the show. With the help of Maddy's friend and understudy Connie Burns (Natalie Blair), Zac kidnaps Maddy and plays it as a publicity stunt. While Zac and Maddy hide out in a secluded cabin deep in the woods, the press go crazy with speculation and gossip. But soon the plan begins to unravel and Maddy, Zac and Connie become pitched in a terrifying and bloody battle of survival.

Teenager Aaron used to look after his sick mother whilst his father Jacob worked day and night to afford her treatment. After her death, Jacob borrows money off his drug-dealing brother Miles to pay back her treatment bills. Buckling under grief, Jacob blames Aaron for her death and physically abuses him. Seeking refuge with Miles, Aaron realizes he cannot escape his father and retaliates against him.

Two seemingly disconnected men with mental health struggles work to hold themselves together, but will their grief drive them to a breaking point.

Let's all go for a ride in the Big Red Car! Join The Wiggles on the freeway of fun as Captain Feathersword shows us how to Nicky Nacky Nocky Noo, Dorothy the Dinosaur invites us to her Dance Party and Wags the Dog and Henry the Octopus get their waist benders and toe tappers wiggling! For the first time ever on DVD, this re-recording of Big Red Car includes the catchy songs I Want To Wear The Jacket and Sorry Again, as well as the all new animated I'm A Cow.

Horror Short: A fashion photographer sees a nightmarish aberration in the glare of his camera flash.

Thanks to his 'friend' Ollie, Zac learns how to fish.

FILMMAKER Peter Dickson spent the past 10 months studying AFL club captains, coming away from the process with a changed view of aspects of leadership. Dickson’s 90-minute film, The Chosen Few 2, was woven together from more than 100 hours of interviews conducted in some 50 locations across the country with about 30 people, including the captains of 17 clubs, some of their partners and family members, leadership experts and several former skippers. Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett declined to be involved.

Rats and cats is a dark, satirical comedy about a fallen star and broken dreams. It is about fame and our culture of obsession. Actor Darren McWarren (Jason Gann) starred in soap, mini-series and film before destroying his career with a series of indiscretions. Now McWarren is out of the industry and living in a small town in Western Victoria he can do whatever he wants. When a journalist decides to write a "Where are they now" profile on McWarren, he finds the former star has become a modern day Errol Flynn. The local girls want to fornicate with him and their fellas want to fight him. He mightn't have found love - but it's the next best thing.

The second installment in the franchise. Plot TBA.

Steven Sullivan, a lonely office worker in an Australian metropolis longs to escape his feelings of self-loathing. Forcing himself into a life of hedonism, degeneracy and high-risk situations with a complete disregard for self-preservation, Steven begins his descent from a banal but normal life into a place with no return.

An urgent and powerful documentary, shot in a detention centre where asylum seekers trying to reach Australian shores are indefinitely detained. Secretly shot on a mobile phone by Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani while detained on Manus, in Papua New Guinea, the film is a collaboration with Dutch-Iranian filmmaker Arash Kamali Sarvestani. Boochani recounts, via the testimonies of fellow inmates, the abuse and violence inflicted and the precarious state of limbo they find themselves in. Chauka, the name of the dreaded solitary confinement unit within the detention centre, was originally the name of a beautiful bird and symbol of the Manus Island. By interweaving dialogue with two Manusian men and shots of daily life on the island, the film gives a much-needed voice to Manus inhabitants, understandably distressed by the current situation. With marked restraint, the film exposes lives broken by shocking immigration policies.

After the events of a pandemic, two boys finally leave on their road trip. But not everything goes as planned.

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A mafia meeting gone wrong.

In a rural town, the shock death of a teenage boy devastates his family. As his sense of home and belonging is eroded, the boy's father Tom seeks a way to come to terms with his son's death - one which can only come from true acceptance of all that his son was.

There's a mysterious predator lurking in the depths of Australia's wild Southern Ocean, a beast that savagely devoured a great white shark in front of cinematographer David Riggs 11 years ago. Riggs's obsession to find the killer leads him to an aquatic battle zone that's remained hidden until now. Here, killer whales, colossal squid and great white sharks face off in an underwater coliseum where only the fiercest creatures of the marine world survive.

Following the recent release of Rude Bastard, the King Of R Rated Comedy is set to release his new DVD Get Rude On. Featuring hilarious routines that the fans will love, Get Rude On is an R 18+ rated DVD release!

The Legend of Lasseter is a 1979 Australian documentary about Lasseter's Reef. Lasseter's Reef refers to the purported discovery, announced by Harold Bell Lasseter in 1929 and 1930, of a fabulously rich gold deposit in a remote and desolate corner of central Australia.

A young Australian nurse Kim is about to start her new life with her boyfriend. In the middle of proposing to her, she gets the biggest news of her life; her father who she hasn't seen since she left Vietnam has died. In order to make things right, she must travel back and say her 'goodbyes'. Her family send an escort to bring her back to the village and she is not happy at all with this arrangement.

Dan Freeman an obsessive UFO Hunter roams the Nevada desert around AREA 51 searching the skies for contact, but alone in the desert he awakens to a deeper mystery.

The Wiggles, everyone's favorite Australian musical comedy group, is invited to a party at Dorothy the Dinosaur's house. Join in as the Wiggles sing songs and dance and learn a few moves in the process, ... Full Descriptionincluding info for your kids on Irish clog-dancing, counting skills, and much more

Two Australians spend a day in Paris together, discussing life, politics and the universe. You couldn’t do that in Australia – people would just think you’re a wanker.

In What's On The Flipside, filmmakers Peter Clifton and Chris McCullough take on the 60s cultural phenomenon of music through renowned Sydney radio disc jockey of the time Ward 'Pally' Austin. Featuring interviews and on-the-job footage, as Austin spins vinyl and spends time with international sensation The Rolling Stones on their 1966 Aussie tour, as well as The Searchers, local legend Normie Rowe and promoter Harry M. Miller, What's On The Flipside is a fascinating and rare insight into the Australian music scene during the 1960s.

Jane Campions first short film (Sydney College of the Arts)

A small city in the tropical north of Queensland, Cairns boasts a life that is leisurely and comfortable. The tempo quickens, however, at cane-cutting time when the sugar is harvested, and in winter when tourists come north to escape the cold. The Life In Australia series portrays Australian cities and rural centres as happy, lively places where good homes, abundant jobs, schools, hospitals and amenities provide the foundation for a relaxed lifestyle where sport, shopping, religion and even art combine to create a homogenous and prosperous society.

Follows Nellie Cameron, a real life prostitute famous on the streets of Sydney in the 1920s and 30s. Nellie is enjoying the perks of her world, the drugs, the money, the fame but in her game she can't afford love.

In 1968, John Weiley shot 'Autopsy on a Dream' - a film about the Sydney Opera House detailing its construction process and the politics of Jorn Utzon's dismissal. Weiley's film was controversial; it was screened once and then he was told it had been destroyed. Forty five years later a copy was discovered in the BBC vaults by an ABC producer looking for archive footage of the Opera House. Weiley was contacted and told about a film that had no sound track. Weiley was overjoyed; for years he had kept the original sound. So began the painstaking process of restoring this record of a unique moment in Australian culture to its former glory, complete with updated voice-over from the original narrator, Bob Ellis. It is set in context by a 30 minute prologue entitled 'The Dream of Perfection'. Made by the same filmmaker, John Weiley, forty-five years on, 'Dream of Perfection' tells the story of the 1968 film - from commission to destruction, to surprise resurrection.

In her second film, MY LIFE AS I LIVE IT (1993), Essie Coffey returns to her home in Dodge City where she and the A-Team are running in the shire elections. Inter-cutting between 1993 and 1978, the film presents the fascinating contrasts of a society in transition. Some of the kids we met in the earlier film now have families of their own and are involved in education, art and sports. Others are drifting, trying to cope with alcohol and depression. Most significantly, community programs offer the possibility of dignity and self-determination. In this film, Essie shows us the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) making a real difference. Although the CDEP has now come under attack from the Federal government, MY LIFE AS I LIVE IT portrays the CDEP as providing meaningful work and services to an impoverished remote community.

Writer-director Samia Halabi explores her struggles with speaking in this touching story of a Muslim teenager trying to rekindle friendship with a childhood playmate.

With the Middle East on the brink of war, Four Corners travels to Iran, Lebanon and Israel to investigate why a new regional war is looming.

Jim's past and present are irreconcilable. Jim lives haunted by the emotional aftermath of his past. His wife, Louise knows nothing of his former life, but Jim's past and present meet when Louise is confronted with the reality of Jim's world - his life with Catherine. Jim is taken back to the past, to relive what destroyed his future with Catherine. He has to confront the veracity of the moment - what happens when someone kills, but no one is to blame?

On July 4th 1975, Juanita Nielsen - style icon, journalist and activist - went to what she thought was a business meeting at The Carousel Club, Kings Cross and vanished, never to be seen again. Juanita was an unforgettable Sydney character with her large beehive hairdo, long false eyelashes and fashionable clothes. Glamorous and well-connected, Juanita built a powerful alliance between construction workers and residents that stopped Sydney's developers in their tracks. With millions of dollars at stake, Juanita's disappearance remained unsolved. Filmmaker and artist Zanny Begg explores this mystery through the eyes of those living in Sydney today. Bringing together a cast of actors, performers, activists, stripers, sex workers and beekeepers, Juanita Nielsen NOW probes what it means to live in a city that killed one of its own.

After a messy breakup, Heidi swears off dating and vows to get revenge on everyone that’s crossed her. But when she finds herself stuck on detention with goodie-two-shoes Saffron, Heidi’s forced to risk getting hurt again, or cut herself off from her friends forever.

An eccentric cross-section of inner-city Sydney types - a widow, a reality TV star, a teenager, a criminal and a cult leader - collide in wildly original melodrama.

The lion mask comes to life & now must deal with the concept of learning aswell as what it means to be alive & what we do with the gift of life

The Ninnies embark on their first ever recorded adventure, trekking to deep Gippsland and into the unknown, testing their wits, constitution and their friendship.

The enigmatic hero, a speechless child and a ragtag motley crew journey through a zombie filled apocalyptic landscape to seek shelter in a medieval fun park whilst being pursued by a deranged lunatic.

Aki's Imagination is imbued through Tobu Himeo aka the Floating Girls. As a Japanese born Australian artist, Aki Yaguchi moulds her artwork around the interplay between her heritage and being a women within a male dominated space.

A family embarks on a bittersweet Sunday outing to honour the memory of their departed loved one. On their way there, they engage in heartfelt conversations and share anecdotes, reminiscing about the profound impact their loved one had on their lives. The day trip becomes a cathartic experience, allowing them to confront their grief, find solace in cherished memories, and ultimately get reminded of the enduring power of love and remembrance. But not everything is as it seems…

On June 21 2007, the Howard Federal Government launched an intervention into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. It was one of the most dramatic policy shifts in the history of Aboriginal affairs. Relentless media attention focuses on ideological arguments for and against the Intervention, while the voices of those affected by the policy are rarely heard. For this film more than 40 Alice Springs town camp residents were interviewed in depth over the course of eight months to find out the answer to the question - is it working?

This is a film about 12-year-old girls, made by 12-year-old girls, for 12-year-old girls, or anyone that has been a 12-year-old girl, or will be a 12-year-old girl, or wishes they were a 12-year-old girl. This inquisitive cross between a documentary and a theatre piece was created by Tilda Cobham-Hervey and twelve 12-year-old girls, where real girls articulate what they hope for, what they remember and what it feels like to be twelve. Performing themselves in a filmed field guide, together these specimens investigate their own species.

Cinema's prodigal daughter Jennifer Lynch braves the unmapped territory of Bollywood-Hollywood movie making, where chaos is the process and filmmaking doubles as a crash course in acceptance and self-realization.

Wings perform live in this 1975 concert taped at the iconic Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, Australia.

Tim Roth Documentary (2000)

A small group of neighbours discover a mysterious car, seemingly abandoned in their suburban cul-de-sac.

Shadows of the Past is about Steve Kelly, a retired rodeo champion, who accepts a rematch with notorious bucking bull, 'Black Friday', the same bull that ended his career several years ago. Steve also must deal with the return of estranged wife Dannii. We see him battle with the prospects of a fading career and the chance to love again.

An aspiring filmmaker interrogates her father, a seasoned director stuck in creative limbo, about his unfinished project - an investigative documentary entering its 13th year of production.