Discoveries from Australia World Cinema

The Hammerstone is an atmospheric documentary about memory, artefacts, and the generations of stories that have travelled through a single farm in rural Canada.

Freshly out of jail, Xavier teams up with a mature conman to take part in an elaborate scam. When it appears he is being double-crossed, Xavier must take control of his destiny and rewrite history to prevent being sent back inside. The art of deception is never straightforward...

A vlogger decides to investigate a mysterious sound at the door of his hotel room, leading to a frightening encounter.

A musical melodrama about the queerness of opera and the operatic in real life.

This film tells the staggering story of Melbourne's Alex Kurzem, a young boy who escaped the massacre of his family's shtetl in Belarus in 1941. He survived in the woods during one of the coldest winters on record, only to be captured by a Latvian battalion. Instead of killing him, they took pity on him and gave him a new name, adorned him with a uniform and a gun, and made him their child mascot, “Hitler's youngest soldier.” Building on the international bestselling book ‘The Mascot’ and an award-winning ABC documentary, the film goes above and beyond, tracing Alex’s journey to Australia with his adopted Latvian family, and his eventual life in the Melbourne suburb of Altona.

Forced to present as male at a Christmas party among old high school friends, a trans girl tries to hide her true identity.

A writer is kidnapped and surgically transformed into a human crash test dummy.

In late 2006, the Central Coast and western Sydney Aboriginal Men’s Groups hosted the Aboriginal Men’s Sharing and Learning Circle at Camp Wollombi. Aboriginal men from throughout NSW were invited to attend and participate in this important event, which considered many of the issues and challenges confronting Aboriginal men today. From the Message Stick series.

Fourteen-year-old Bernie must convince her religious mother that her repeated attempts to explore her body are natural, not depraved.

The present melds with the past as a quiet factory worker relives the extraordinary journey when she and her sister took to the sea as refugees in a creaky river boat in search of a better life.

A landmark video work from the cyber art scene of the 1990s. The Cyber Dada Manifesto is read out loud over a sequence of hallucinatory and distorted images.

Sir Les Patterson (Barry Humphries) as a people's show TV host, quizzing the studio audience and guests Marie Helvin and Claire Rayner, Kilroy style, about the compatability of sex and marriage. Sir Les was assisted by a busty bimbo, Christabel. It all ended in disarray, with members of the audience at loggerheads and throwing punches.

Puccini's tale of love and honour is brought to life by the world-renowned Opera Australia on a magnificent water stage, suspended over Sydney Harbour.

An attempt at an unboxing video leads to self-reflection.

A Chinese teenage girl is insecure about her nose. This story revisits her parents in 90's Hong Kong, young and in love.

The Sydney Football Stadium. Iconic. Controversial. Magical. Memorable. A centrepiece in Sydney’s sporting landscape since 1988. Follow the journey of the designers and builders who navigate the complexities of the last couple of years.

We are a constantly evolving culture. A culture eternally cycling, dying, and being reborn. The cities we live in, the jobs we have shape our direction, but are we heading in the right direction?

When Tilda wakes up to find herself the last human on earth she goes on a journey along with her bunny rabbit Shane, experiencing both the immense joy and crippling loneliness of a world without humans.

As a daughter grinds away as caretaker for her father she discovers some memories are best left hidden under the veil of dementia.

'Hollow' is a dramatic film about 'Luke' a teen in his senior years of high school. He loves swimming, hanging with his mates and being like an ordinary 17 year old kid. However, Luke has a secret - he is suffering in silence from anorexia.

The story of the 83-year-old’s life, who arrived in Australia penniless in 1956 from Sicily and became a millionaire. Part biography, part cultural celebration, Madeleine Martiniello’s film traces Cozzo’s personal fortunes alongside those of the generations of migrants who have been drawn to his ornate, ostentatious wares, viewing ownership of them as a sign of success.

Documentary about the first steps taken by 3 young women to become professional surfers.

An oddball young millionaire who can't make friends, sobers up a homeless drunk in an effort to make him his first friend.

Through ten years of stellar service to the game's most passionately supported club, Gavin Brown, Mick McGuane, Gavin Crosisca and Alan Richardson have won special places in the hearts and memories of all Magpies fans. The brilliant presentation features highlights of their careers and special moments from the testimonial dinner honoring their service to the Mighty Magpies.

Singled [Out] tells the story of five educated women in four corners of the world: Jules in Melbourne, Manu in Barcelona, Shu and Yang in Shanghai, and Melek in Istambul -they all travel solo in a world where pairing up is the norm. Together with the voices of some well-known experts in the areas of sociology, law and demography, the film unveils modern love in the era of choice, and is a journey to the heart of being a single woman today.

When a Ukrainian actress arrives in Melbourne for a festival performance, her off stage antics reveal the true nature of her visit.

This is the story of Palm Island, the tropical paradise where one morning Cameron Doomadgee swore at a policeman and forty-five minutes later lay dead in a watch-house cell. This is also the story of that policeman, the tall enigmatic Christopher Hurley who chose to work in some of the toughest and wildest places in Australia, and of the struggle to bring him to trial. The Tall Man is a story in luminous detail of two worlds clashing - and a haunting moral puzzle that no viewer will forget.

When a nationwide lockdown threatens the progress of James' budding romance with local barista, Leila, he is faced with a hard decision to avoid being alone.

An indigenous mine site worker is transported to the spirit world, where he meets the spirits and custodians of the land and learns about how they are connected to humankind, even as their sacred sites are under threat by the modern human world.

An exploration of what it is to be lost in today’s world and how to be okay with where you are.

The Snowy Mountains Scheme remains one of the greatest engineering feats in the world today but behind the story of engineering and construction is the story of the people who built the dream, the story of the people behind the power. An estimated 100,000 people worked on the Scheme between 1949 and 1974, the year of its completion. Two thirds of them were immigrants from over 40 countries around the world. The Snowy is a story of social, cultural and political change told through the experiences of those who worked on the scheme.

Join the HPI gang as they attend an HKS street drag meeting, check out demo cars from Signal and C&Y sports along with more in-car drifting action, plus more!

A detective goes to investigate a murder when he accidentally triggers a series of events that cause the apocalypse and the collapse of the United States (the world).

A story of cultural identity and rock climbing exploration as we follow one of Australia’s top rock climbers on an adventure to a remote and rugged island in the South Pacific.

Music student Tom takes a stand against the abuse of power by his teacher.

Gary Young's "Wheels On Fire" is one of the classic motor sports documentaries of all time. Mostly filmed in Liverpool, Sydney, in 1973, the documentary appeals to both "rev heads" and the wider audience, who want to relive the Australian history of the drag strip.

Losing yourself in your phone has never been more terrifying.

The story of 18-year-old Gianni who was one of thousands of Italian immigrants living in Western Australia forcibly put into camps.

Amidst the dusty bellowing of a decrepit cinema complex, a young Theo engages with a strangely familiar elderly man who presents upon him visions of disgust and euphoria.

When Rebecca runs away from home she get’s to experience life outside of her narcissistic mother’s patterns of control and can feel the water on her skin again.

It is the year 2037. Women rule the world. Rittyay and the dudes hang out and go skateboarding. They are shaken to their knees with the arrival of Bum Fluff and her team of female skaters. DURAN DURAN is a skateboarding and snowboarding adventure film of Barbarella proportions.

A man struggles to interpret the signals of a woman he walks home one night.

Liz just wants to host the perfect dinner party but an unexpected guest sends the evening into chaos, with potentially apocalyptic consequences.

Still devastated by the recent death of his brother, an Irish singer-songwriter on a solo tour of Australia finds himself in a remote West Australian town with 5 days off before the final show of the tour.

Follow the musical journey of Chelsea Elder, a young folk and jazz singer, as she seeks to break into the industry and uncover how she connects with her audience through her meaningful lyrics.

One-reeler short film.

Emma is a regular human faced with daily modern obstacles, yet underneath her smile a secret hides. (A story with no words.)

Globe-trotting Christine wakes up one ordinary day to find that her biological clock has gone off with a vengeance. But for a commitment-phobe on the wrong side of 40, the road to motherhood is strewn with bedlam, calamity and smoked out eggs. When she turns to her life long friends Margo and Mikki for support, she finds them equally embattled; Margo zealously guarding the door to her recently emptied nest, and Mikki frantically fighting her evil twin foes: Sagging and Drooping. Collectively, however, the girls are a force to be reckoned with, so together they take on the might of Mother Nature with hilarious results.

"THE DVD" is a 90-minute documentary following the rise of the Australian metal-core juggernauts Parkway Drive. The film follows the quintet from humble beginnings on the beaches of the NSW North Coast to storming stages all over the world. Part documentary, part extreme-sports video, part live footage...all metal! As an added bonus, the disc also features a full live set shot at Sydney’s Roundhouse in 2008.

A woman's flirtatious encounter at a bar explores the grey area between connection and danger.

Magick is a brief pilgrimage through a strange fictional world.

A goat with an appetite for life realises that time is dangerously delicious.

Franz & Kafka are based on the little irreverent premise that Kafkas work “Die Verwandlung” was written by two humans, this film is a great homage to Kafkas writing.

When a strange loner comes in to town, a bloody encounter with the local youth will reveal the true nature of what it means to be human.

A man has Green Fever.

One of Australia's hottest comedians (not physically) delivers a brand-new show about robots, the monarchy and death.

Ruby has started a business baking cakes from home. At the last minute, she has been tasked with creating the centrepiece cake at a friend’s wedding. Now, along with her aloof partner Tom, she must navigate a broken-down car, dismissive parents, unhelpful friends and other obstacles in order to make it to the wedding on time.

Clive likes Lauren. Lauren has no idea. Desmond is in love with Clive. Clive has no idea. Lauren and her boyfriend Tom love each other very much. Clive doesn't like Tom, because Clive was the one who put in all the friend coins and wasn't rewarded with sex and a relationship. So with Desmond's help Clive decides to start killing all of their friends and blame it on Tom, and then something something something Lauren will realise she really loves Clive. And maybe if they hang out together Clive will fall in love with Desmond. It's not the greatest of plans. And they're not the greatest of murderers. But they're going to give it a red hot go, because to do anything otherwise would make them cucks.

After a big night, a girl wakes to find her self in bed with a regretful one night stand. She does what ever she can to escape without waking him up.