Summer screen classics to watch over the holidays
Summer is well and truly here, which means it's the perfect time to take a break and watch some iconic Australian titles.
Find out Where to Watch these summer classics, wherever you are, with The Screen Guide.
From talking pigs to sun-soaked beaches, this list has all you'll need to make the most out of your holiday viewing! Grab your popcorn, pump the aircon, and dive in to these summer-licious titles.
Nicole Kidman stars in BMX Bandits, the peak 80s crime comedy action film directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith (The Man from Hong Kong). Three teenagers join forces to raise money to purchase BMX bikes. In their efforts they stumble on a cache of smuggled walkie-talkies desperately needed by a bunch of crooks for their next job, and stunt-filled chases result.
Welcome to sun-soaked Kangaroo Beach, summer home to four best friends and super-keen cadets training to be junior lifeguards. From mastering new water sports to scuba diving for underwater treasure, every day is action-packed for the four furry friends! This animated series, created by Tim Bain, features the voices of Kitty Flanagan (Fisk), Matt Hardie (The Crew's Ship) and Rupert Degas (Windcatcher).
Bran Nue Dae is a First Nations coming of age comedy musical celebrating the adventure of searching for home and finding your community. A feature film adaption of the 1990 stage musical of the same name, it stars Rocky McKenzie alongside Geoffrey Rush (Storm Boy 2019), Ernie Dingo (Mystery Road), Jessica Mauboy (Windcatcher), Magdza Szubanski (Memoir of a Snail) and Deborah Mailman (Last Days of the Space Age) on a madcap road trip across 1960s Central Australia.
Follow the adventures of Babe - a small pig, with a big dream - starring James Cromwell (Rebel Ridge, The Green Mile), Magda Szubanski (Memoir of a Snail), Hugo Weaving (How to Make Gravy) and Miriam Margolyes (H is for Happiness). In this Oscar-winning global phenomena, directed by Chris Noonan (Miss Potter), Babe befriends Fly, a motherly border collie, and discovers he can herd sheep... but will his fellow farm animals accept him?
Girls Can't Surf is the untold story of how a band of renegade surfer girls in the 1980s took on the male-dominated world of professional surfing to create their own professional sport – and won. Featuring surfing greats like Jodie Cooper, Pauline Menczer, Frieda Zamba, Lisa Andersen, Pam Burridge, Wendy Botha, Layne Beachley and more, discover how they changed the face of international surf culture forever.
Go behind-the-scenes with director/producer Christopher Nelius and producer Michaela Perske (After the Apology) with Carving Out the Feature Doc on Screen News.
Based on the award-winning Tim Winton novels, Lockie Leonard is a surf rat who moves with his family to Angelus, a small coastal town in WA. This is a TOTAL LIFE DISASTER: no friends, new school...but then Lockie spots the one thing that makes it all okay. This weird little town has the best surf he has ever seen.
In the animated adventure film The Wishmas Tree, a young possum’s misguided wish for a white Wishmas not only freezes her entire hometown of Sanctuary City, but also threatens the lives of all those who live there. Before the magical Wishmas Tree dies, she must undertake a perilous journey, battling self-doubt, ghostly predator gangs and ultimately, extinction itself, to reverse the damage she has caused and save Sanctuary City! The first film in the fantastic Sanctuary City series.
Celebrating one of Australia’s most beloved canine stars, Koko, the iconic red dog of the hit film Red Dog. From his extraordinary life as a puppy, show dog, film star and back to a loving pet, this heart-warming documentary tracks the amazing effect Koko had on a very diverse spectrum of people.
With their country under threat from a huge dust cloud and the mysterious Takers that lurk within, a small group of Indigenous Australian kids battle to make their way to the Thalu, a place of great power, to stop the cloud before it destroys everything in its path. Along the way they encounter friends and foe alike as they search for eight sacred stones and a special key that will unlock the power of the Thalu and, they hope, stop the Takers in their tracks. An adventure for kids of all ages.
Another for the animal-lovers! Billy boards a train to Sydney to reunite a baby kangaroo with his abducted parents, embarking on a hilarious adventure through the city's mean streets and the halls of government, finding a new best friend and justice on the way.
Don’t trust every man in a red suit at Christmas! On an outback farm ravaged by drought, a single mum and her three kids’ lives are upended when a runaway criminal dressed as Santa Claus crashes onto their property, and a wily teenager seizes the opportunity to save the farm and put her fractured family back together. Starring Daniel Henshall (How To Make Gravy) as a very bad santa and directed by Christiaan Van Vuuren of Bondi Hipsters.
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