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The myth of childhood: idyllic and carefree. A glimpse into the hectic, overscheduled lives of today's children. Not only are they dreaming of the future, they are already being forced to plan it.
A man and woman fill their need for companionship through the retelling of the 1001 Arabian Nights tales.
The filmmaker returns to her hometown in New Zealand, taking the journey south with her father. During this visit she meets Maxwell, who has transformed his house into a 100 seat cinema, and discovers a history of local documentary filmmaking and the elderly men and women who made them.
In an environment that exists only in its immediacy, a man stumbles over familiarity in the darkness.
One man, one place, one day.
Thirty seconds to climax of wargasm, or is it just television?
When you're seven, 62 sleeps is a very long time - and Tobey can't wait to take a precious letter to school for show and tell. When she loses the letter and is punished, Tobey misses her absent father more than ever.
God commands Abraham to take his son, Isaac, to the sacred mountain and sacrifice him there. Abraham tells Sarah of God’s demand. She packs Isaac’s clothes into a small bag for the journey while Abraham selects his killing knife. Abraham drives Isaac to the mountain while Sarah waits at home. Father and son spend the night in a motel. The next morning Abraham drives his son to the mountain. When they arrive Isaac asks his father “where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” Abraham tells him God will provide it. Abraham walks his son to the top of the mountain and binds his hands. He prostrates the youth, obedient to God, raises his knife, set to run the deep cut. But, as in the original version Abraham isn’t compelled to complete the sacrifice. But, unlike the original, he’s left alone on the mountain, devastated by what he’s done, while Isaac runs away.
Ever try to say something only to find you're saying something else? Ever feel like doing something only to find yourself doing the opposite? There are two reasons for this. Those reasons are Brian and Hearty.
Nothing could stop Siamak Noory from playing music.
The final moments in the life of a young girl.
Parallel lives with separate conflicts converge in a disconnected relationship.
In Easter 2002, Amanda and 1000 others travelled to the township of Woomera to protest against the cruel detention of refugees. Ali, along with 30 others, escaped that afternoon and later that night, back at the camp, he met Amanda.
Taking advantage of a case of mistaken identity, Slobodan is drawn into the familial conflicts of a Bosnian migrant.
AMERICA is a hard-hitting comedy examining the hidden roller-coaster ride through the boundaries of camaraderie. The film deals with four individuals who are caught in a world that has been created by the recurring statement that Australia is the little brother of America. This raises the question as to whether or not they can still call Australia home.
Two of Australia's finest acors, Jo Kennedy and Paul Chubb, combine in this delicate two-hander that explores the relationship between a middle-aged man who has left the Church, and a rock singer.
Sisters Abbey and Melinda have made the journey to the phone box many times before. But today standing at the crossroads, in an environment that is rapidly changing around them, Melinda dreams of another life, a new beginning. Their futures lie in the phone call. Will they make it?
A strawberry awakes to the harsh reality of its inevitable destiny. A bittersweet journey, jam-packed with exotic fruits and delectable delights, where our tasty hero barely escapes the dangers that true excitement brings. A glossy tale with a sticky end.
Sam believes in family loyalty. But being from an Indigenous minority, in a small country town, a night in the cells is about to teach her a far more disturbing lesson.
An exploration of childhood memories points out the tenuous nature of the present, past and future. There is no progress!
Memories, betrayals and secrets emerge from the past when Katina's mother comes from Greece to visit the family. The bitter embrace between mother and daughter is observed by Katina's own daughter Sophia who must play her own role in this moving drama of estrangement.
Where were you the day Neil Armstrong walked on the moon? For the small and struggling Pilgrim Brothers Circus it was the day the world changed forever. The launch of the Apollo 11 Mission begins as creditors arrive to close down the circus.
Imagine a world where nature no longer exists. Imagine a world where every aspect of life is controlled by a corporation. Welcome to Leila's world. But what happens when you find something so beautiful you cannot bear to be parted from it, yet so dangerous it will kill you?
It's Tom's first day on the job. He's already having doubts about his chosen career. Jimmy's not making life any easier.
A documentary about how we use history and how it arrives in the present. It looks at the 2001 Federation Arch erected in St. Kilda.
Rebellious penguins ignite a revolution in an arctic zoo.
Mid-16th century Tahiti sets the stage for this mythic story of a young girl who yearns to dance as part of the privileged Arioi Tribe. The magical movements of the dancers mimic the rhythms of the earth, nature and Woman. But the young girl finds herself part of those very same rhythms, an extraordinary sacrifice is expected.
The film tells the story of an 8-year-old girl who's sick of having to wash the dishes while her brother gets to mow the lawn. Her plea to swap jobs is ignored by her father because mowing is 'for boys'. So she takes matters into her own hands and ends up with a very humourous and telling result.
When you have a hole in the top of your head from which your thoughts cascade it doesn't pay to think too hard. The bigger the thought, the more it hurts as Arnold soon discovers.
What is Stuckism? 'A revolution waiting to happen', said The Times when the anti-anti-art non-movement emerged from London in 1999. Made with Stuckist simplicity, this fast-paced de-mocumentary introduced the Stuckist manifesto and four Melbourne members, providing a provocative insight into the controversial backlash against conceptual art.
A story of a family's displacement as seen through a young girl's eyes, between the years 1945 - 1957.
A retired hitman living in the suburbs awaits the next step.
Jack Fisher has been in the game for over ten years now, cleaning up the human waste left behind. THE ATTENDANT is a film about a Melbourne inner city toilet cleaner and his personal philosophies.
Babcia (Grandmother), once a circus performer, and her granddaughter, Kasia share a world of enchantment and magic. Babcia plans to return home to Poland with Kasia, but events do not go as planned and Kasia's childhood world is shattered.
A movement piece inspired by the Australian landscape. BACKBONE: a dance, a theme, a dream within a dream. Weaving its way through time, across the land, embodying change. If nature could speak, what would she say? Would we hear her story...?
Leon has a dream to open up his barber shop. So he did. Now he has a new dream.
Dave gets his lifestyle rewired after finding a new high-tech fridge on the street.
It is a story of an unusual friendship between Ben, who is waiting for a better, more exciting life and Manfred, a misfit in today's indifferent society who believes himself to be the past World War I flying ace the Red Baron.
BATHTIME explores the consequences of remaining in the bath tub after the plug has been pulled.
The once safe haven of suburbia is now a combat zone. Francis tries to live a normal life while Special Forces raid a neighbour's house. But still Francis is determined to have his BBQ.
In a world of the fitness centre, looks are everything. But can Wilson discover this before its too late?
Joanna, a young girl living in the shadow of her family's burping success, begins to lose hope. When reality begins to fade and fantasy takes over, Jo begins a downhill battle with her friends, family and bodily gases.
Sam is 25 and drives a courier van; he dreams of excitement and adventure. An other-worldly visitation brings him new responsibilities and opportunities he could not have imagined.
In a broken down car, on a deserted road in the middle of nowhere, sits a father who can't remember his sons and two brothers who don't want to remember each other.
May the best man win!
Single Frank has written a sci-fi story, but its romantic ending is unconvincing (according to the publishers). He goes camping with two couples to find inspiration. He is set up with another girl, but she is happily single, and the couples have problems with each other. Maybe romance isn't the happy ending Frank wants...
An Iraqi refugee is offered asylum in Australia but struggles to adapt to a radically different way of life.
Australian Hip Hop culture has developed into an art form which represents a suburban experience and memory.
An office is plunged into crisis when one worker refuses to buy milk. Even the fridge mould is up in arms - and soon a mould monster is stalking the communal kitchen in search of sustenance.
A twisted fairytale of obsession. A kingdom is robbed of every single book by a greedy and obsessive Thomas Phillips, whose quest, at any cost, is to own every printed work in the land.
A young girl uncovers the dark secrets of a large company as an employee.
For one desperado birthday-boy a quick heist seems like a fitting revenge on a world that doesn't care. But at the bank counter other possibilities intervene for this lonesome poet and one very bored teller.
The story of Billy, a character who yearns for a new life somewhere different. He escapes to the country with disastrous results.
Through a chance encounter with an Irish Wolfhound a thrill-seeking albino boy is forced to realise an essential truth.
A drama concerning a modern young Chinese woman obliged by tradition to move into the family business, an old-fashioned tailor's shop, to care for her father after her mother's death. She wants to become a designer in her own right, to find her own way, but her father is resentful of change. When she decides she must leave, and put the past behind her, her father finally comes to understand.
A Gothic punk girl and her skinhead boyfriend move next door to a Vietnamese couple in an outer suburb of Melbourne. A film about love, hate and bulldogs.
It's the night of the party, a country camp-out, a celebration for the eclipse of the moon. Sam has returned home from the city. Danny is still trying to find a way out. One winter night changes their lives forever...
Lucy is tempted by a mysterious presence in the forest. Her mother, believing it to be malevolent, tries to protect her.
‘Blackbird’ tells the story of Solomon Islander siblings, Rosa & Kiko, who were kidnapped from their island home to work on a sugar cane plantation in Queensland, Australia in the late 1800s. Rosa struggles to keep an eye on her young spirited brother who comes into conflict with their Overseer. And as Kiko journeys into adulthood, amidst oppression and severe loss of culture and identity, he must find his will to survive.
Robert, Annie, Mark and Emma have been friends for years. Lately things have started to go wrong. They decide to spend a week-end together to get back to how they were. It's too late. Sometimes the price of infidelity is a life.
From his bedroom window Jason discovers the entrance to a new exciting world. The object of his love and jealous rage is unsuspecting of the bleak consequences that arise from unrequited desire. A stylish film for those of us who desire at a distance. Featuring Alex Dimitriades as a bouncer in a gay bar.
A dark musical set in the 19th century. BLOOD BALLAD deals with love, loss and the varying ways people cope with guilt and grief.
A menacing house. A cat. A mouse. Two women. They are the family. This dark tale of life within walls built on bitterness and hatred, is an analogist view on the way an environment can infect a child's mind.
A bride and groom enter unsettling territory after their wedding.
Two sons tell the story of their father, Boaz Bischofs Werder, a rabbi and musician who flees fascist Germany but is caught in an unexpected turn of events. The brothers' title of their father's journey reveals much of their own distinct life paths.
The ancient Israelites believed that the world rested on a vast ocean. Any farmer who has seen their land destroyed by salinity knows they were right. This is a story about land, salt and a minor biblical deity in a vegemite jar.
Two young women on a bush hike with a charismatic leader find more than just the tranquility of the outdoors when the leader reveals himself as a prophet with all the answers.
The Bowerbird, an enigmatic collector and creator, constructs a magical home from others' rubbish. A particularly extraordinary discovery at the tip sets the Bowerbird off on his greatest challenge, the creation of a wife.
Set in the 1830s, an orphan named Jasmine plays the violin on the street to beg for money. She buys herself a wish, but it comes at a cost and she is faced with the brutal reality of life.
A love for the rain is ended by a new infatuation. Is nature the jealous type?
In a quiet suburban setting an old Italian grandmother makes bread in the traditional way. She has created her own world in an effort to retain her fading culture. Around her the rest of the family try desperately to assimilate and reject their origins. Each generation has its own way. Is she losing touch with reality or are they?
Eva is having an affair with one of her father's friends and the time has come for the truth to come out. But everyone finds out more than they want to as many doors close on their lives.
Tim is an unruly young man. Walter is an unruly old man. They are breakfast mates brought together by circumstance. Together they form an unlikely couple. This is a film that explores the complexities of male friendships.
Sexual repression. Extreme devotion. A 'bride of Christ' takes to the road.
BREATH is the story of a young man's experience as a refugee. Escaping Vietnam by boat and arriving on the shore of Hong Kong 28 days later, he and his family hope to find freedom.
Damian and Angela are now Mum and Dad. Anxious about their newborn's fragile health and his uncertain future, their relationship and trust are put to the test.
Sheriff Senley is an unstoppable force when his intentions are righteous.Yet with a starving family he accepts a bribe, tainting his mettle and his aim.
People say if you wanted to get rid of a body Launch would be the place to dump it. Danny is stuck there with her unhappy family, the Cravens, All seems hopeless until Gary arrives.
A portrayal of fate as a bridge that binds and separates, a story of emotional birth and death of a relationship.
Waverley Park, the stadium which was once the pride of Australian Rules Football is to be sold. The local community are outraged and take action. A battle between suits and tracksuits ensues. Will economic rationalism prevail or will the people's heritage survive?
In the midst of a challenging family situation, a married couple scrutinise every decision they have made.
Buck returns to town to avenge the brutal murder of his brother. Aided by his long time love, Tess the truckstop girl, he battles the forces of evil that grip his town. An adventure into an impossible western where the real has become unreal but bullets and blood still stain the earth.
A surreal, nightmarish story of an abandoned child who stumbles into the life of an old woman. The child's mind constantly wanders into a fantasy world prompted by fears of being unloved.
A small dog protects his home from a late night intruder.
Cooking, animation and politics - Burmese style.
Night falls, his anxiety builds. What dark places will Joe go while his lover sleeps?
Sylvie is a late night television newsreader prone to obsessions and she has a new one - firemen. Not just any fireman, but the fireman of her dreams - Tex, the tall dark fireman captured on newsreel video footage saving a child from a burning building. Sylvie decides she must have this man in her life. The question is how badly does Sylvie want this man and how far will she go to get him.
A household unexpectedly changes overnight. Terri, the unconventional matriarch of the house, is burnt out. A new member to the house brings change.
On 14 February 1981, in a situation of 'kill or be killed', Carole stabbed her husband with a knife. Carole tells us how the bad events in our lives make us stronger. A tragic story of husband and wife transforms to one of survival of a mother and daughter.
Callum Jordan is 17, he wants to put his past behind him and start again. Dustin Leberman is a missing person. He disappeared in September and hasn't been seen since. It seemed like the perfect identity to step into.
Tinitus, an unrelenting buzzing in the ears, affects one in four Australians. Musicians Richard Pleasance (Boom Crash Opera) and Fionna Horne (Def FX) tell of the devastating consequences this condition has had on their lives and careers. It serves as a warning to all of us who love our music loud, be it nightclubbing, garage bands or walkman pumping.
When Keiren transforms himself for the love of Anna, their blossoming romance turns prickly as his world is thrown into a horrific fairytale.
Sam Caper, cadet journalist at The Maronville Voice, reckons he has outgrown the small-time news his suburban paper covers. Hungry for a scoop, he compiles a conspiracy theory centred on the entrepreneurial activities of 'colourful Sydney racing identity', Abe Satin, and the curious rise of retirement villages in the area. Following a tip-off meant for someone else, Sam finds himself caught up in a revenge plot deep in the 'burbs.
Laurie, an actress, cannot cope with the closure of her theatre and her failed relationship. Distressed, she leaves the city at night in the company of Caleopy, a 10-year-old girl. She had been put in charge of her for two weeks and is now to drop the child at her mother's country house. Caleopy's care, courage and need for affection finally rekindles Laurie's dying spirit. Together they reaffirm the magical possibility of life. In pursuit of the transcendent possibilities art affords, they are ready to journey on.
All good girl Madeleine O'Connor wants is to be a ballerina. When Sister Margaret Mary tells the class God is on the look out for girls to become nuns, Madeleine becomes obsessed she will be the chosen one.
An animation of mixed techniques, photographs, live action and stop frame tell the story of suppressed rage and frustration. Vernon is trapped in a box.
Mark's absence from work has both his boss and his girlfriend bewildered. CAROUSEL is a film about psychological self-discovery... of knowing thyself.
In a magical world of shipwrecks and castaways, Mietta learns the adult consequences of childhood fantasies.
Somewhere between life and death, a woman waits... pursued by her ravenous cat.
I don't eat fish.
Dorothy, 14, is in love with her art teacher/softball coach, Mrs Huckleby, who is leaving Dorothy's school. Dorothy is desperate to win her affection, to the point of following Mrs Huckleby to the new school.
Jane's days are filled with awful customers, sleazy men and endless fish in her job at the fish markets. Her nights are filled with dreams of rescuing knights in shining armour. To get through the days, she often imagines her customers as looking like the fish she scales, fillets and sells, or she dreams of being out on the boats with live and happy fish leaping about her. But this her boss would never allow, and Jane's patience is running out.
Dad, clad only in his underclothes, lies stiffening on the kitchen table. Once dressed, he begins his last journey to join us, the mesmerized audience, in the dark flicker of the cinema. A glitteringly sombre fable.
The front door is the gateway to the home. Anh and Mang reflect on betel chewing, teeth lacquering and their displaced past while creating future memories for their grandchild, Tran.
A hectic world and a chance meeting with a long lost friend, where do you start?
An angel toys with his imagination. Unsuspecting fools are caught in the process.
His father's gambling plunges Christian into a quiet world of violence and despair. A moment of damage and sensory loss forces him onto a path from resignation to resistance.
Are you happy with the way you look?
An uncooperative ex, an argumentative landlord, and a broken door; Linda's life is just peachy. Her daughter escapes reality through a fascination with Native Americans, subconsciously assuming her mum's anger.
CHERRY BOMB is a film noir crime drama set in Melbourne, 1958. Phil Speck works for the local crime lord Ivan Klaw, until Phil is set up for Ivan's murder. With the burlesque killers 'the Hellcats' on his trail, Phil must run and hide until the real killer surfaces.
This film is about what happens in a room over one hour and in the imagination of three siblings as they recall past events and fantasize about future ones. In a documentary style the dialogue narrates their fantasies and the pictures express their feelings.
THE CHILLI QUEEN is a quirky love story involving magical transformation, spontaneous combustion, and the sticky splendour of dripping cheese. It culminates in the union of a truly odd couple and celebrates romance that prevails over both cultural and aesthetic obstacles.
Jo's 18. Head's full of music. Heart's full of unfathomable boy.
After 19 years, Alan returns home because of an illness. For his son, Denis, the years have left him numb. Denis invites Alan to Christmas but is he really part of Denis's family?
An old book, thrown out by an older woman, is found by a little girl. As she goes through its pages her life is revealed from beginning to end. Was the older lady also young when she found the book?
How far must Joshua Wright sink into waiting room obscurity before he will need a modern icon to haul him out?
Kay can't eat, Kay can't sleep and Kay can't do anything about the city as it slowly consumes the people around him; but what is this thing growing on his chest?
A young Italian girl, finding herself suddenly in the strange and foreign land of Australia, uses her talent for storytelling to transcend all cultural and linguistic barriers - with a little help from her shadow.
Jesse is a young woman in her late 20s who is frustrated with her partner Faber, and drawn towards the visionary extremes of an older man called Clay. Clay is an environmentalist who has been campaigning against the go-ahead of a new woodchipping mill. When Jesse becomes involved in one of Clay's anti-logging protests, she witnesses a brutal murder, and is invited to commit an audacious crime.
The heroin crisis in the late 90s in Melbourne, through the eyes of three nice middle-class kids.
A man haunted by a life-long recurring dream confronts his father for the first time about the death of his mother.
A beautifully drawn tale about a moontown and its eccentric residents.
A victim. An addict. A life to be pieced together and worn.
Newt, a frustrated artistic dog, is suffering from an inspiration crisis. In a desperate attempt to finish his masterpiece, he turns to God for help. While Newt is suffering for his work, a curious bird enters the studio, causing mayhem.
'People get hooked on drugs, well I'm afraid I'm hooked on Frogs' (Margot Archibald). With direct to camera monologues and stylised camera framings, COLLECTORS explores obsession and celebrates a unique Australian eccentricity.
Journey into the mind of Frank, a blind painter who sees sound as colours. A tentative passion for a cellist who lives in his apartment block will give rise to a whole new palette of experience.
The Comeback is a colourful, hand-drawn animation following the adventures of Angus, a young man who is blessed with scientific genius yet can’t grasp the intricacies of social life. Angered at his failings and jilted by love, Angus’ powerful mind births the Comeback Retrieval Astro Portal, a trans-dimensional retort-delivery system capable of smiting any jerk who’d again dare get the better of him.
A 14-year-old boy's sexual awakening as he tries to work out how he fits into the sexual jigsaw puzzle of life in the 1970s.
Five artists, five activist, five ordinary people and the ways in which they are fighting the commodification of reality. A DIY look at culture jamming and political graffiti.
Mae, a Japanese exchange student visits a dysfunctional Australian family who are under siege from Possums in the roof. While the mother desperately attempts to maintain a veneer of normality, obsessed father Gordon electrifies the roof to trap the possums. Mae wants to get a picture of them. Suicidal son Daniel wants Mae's love. Daughter Tamara takes her frustrations out on anyone she can, anyway she can.
Not able to take the bullying from her peers, Hannah hides in her secret spot. Upset and alone she is verbally attacked by a voice in her head. In desperation Hannah turns to her art as a means of escape only to find that escape alone is not enough.
Adele, who is struggling to find herself after a break-up travels to Croatia in 2001, not long after Yugoslavia was torn apart by civil war. Staying in an abandoned school building by the sea, a love triangle develops between her and a couple she meets, who are on the run from Serbian black-market gangs. This moody, romantic drama explores the uncanny intimacy that can develop between strangers, and the poignancy of ephemeral romance.
A couple in their suburban garden. Outwardly polite, their real thoughts snake through the undergrowth.
The story of Nadine, a lonely and misunderstood secretary who's constantly degraded by her sleazy boss. After being forced to work late one night she discovers that the faculty photocopier holds all the answers to her problems.
Doug and Phil are best mates from way back. Doug is the local up-and-coming football hero and Phil is the one who doesn't fit in, the one who is tolerated because of his friendship with Doug. One very drunken night in front of the television the invisible line is crossed and Phil must pay the price for his difference and the inevitable crash must happen.
Rex and Nola frequent the same haunts, often with antagonistic results. On one such occasion - as a dare - 'souless' Rex sells his soul to Nola for four shillings. Thus begins a downward spiral for Rex as his subconscious and amphetamines plunge him into destruction.
The television has become the retina of the human mind, a window to the violent world we live in. Can 'Crimestoppers' help make this world a safer place, or are its viewers out of reach?
In 1942 the Jewish refugees of Nazi Europe needed a homeland. Critchley Parker thought he'd found it in Tasmania's remote wilderness.
When the world around her isn't straight, an old lady takes matters into her own hands.
In a country town there’s not much to excite teenagers except for each other. Crush is a drama about Anelise, a 16-year-old girl whose best friends are missing and wanted for murder. The girls are navigating through their affection for the local boys and much of what anyone wants is lost in an emotional fog. The film takes place a day after the body of a teenage boy is found. Anelise must come to terms with the fact that her two best friends might be the killers and that Toby, the boy she loves, may have caused it all.
Western society is on the verge of collapse. A conspiracy eats away at its fabric. A global network of activists organises to fight for the truth, but a suspicious death raises questions.
Sometimes money is more than currency. And sometimes currency is more than money.
Jan returns home to an abusive relationship. He is wasted after a 'bender'. After catharting a memory of his own sexual abuse as a child, he emerges a stronger and kinder man.
The story of a guy with not much of a life, who decides to take on the role of a hero when he finds a mysterious box in a laundromat that may be connected to a recent spate of bombings in the area.
An insane, mad hatteresque girl named Cylone Clare takes medication in order to have friends, only to discover that the cure is truly worse than the disease.
Being in a mixed marriage in former Yugoslavia was not a matter of simply choosing a side, it meant being a stranger in your own street. Now, in the middle of Melbourne suburbia, friends hold regular parties where dancing singing and feasting are all that matter.
A journey of discovery, healing and cultural survival for an Aboriginal mother and her daughter. Each are ripped from their mother's arms, one generation after the next, their identity and culture stolen and replaced with another until all connection is broken and lost... Until now, when they are reunited in time to learn the truth.
Deception and desire live quietly with Maggie and Syd. In the middle of nowhere it can be hard to escape.
'Credit supports agriculture like a rope supports a hanged man.' Where do you go when you're at the end of your rope? A mother, a son, a dog and his hen.
An overnight news cameraman undergoes disturbing changes as his complacency, his desensitisation and ultimately his world begin to fall away.
A morning stroll, a rockabilly dance, a muddy creek, a death, a ghost and creaking leather.
Driving between blood red fields, James meets Denise lying in front of a smoking car wreck. Has James met her before? James hasn't long to find out and realises that ignorance isn't always bliss.
Desire, film, videos, chocolate, touch, trains and nipples - as boy remembers, meets and imagines girls, his purpose is seduced by pain, and their pleasure is occluded by pretence.
Bert the undertaker has a funeral to organise. The only problem is he won't be around to see it. How can Bert trust his uncooperative family to pull off the job without him.
Mrs Fox moves into No.29. Mrs Donahoe welcomes her. Despite their attempts at neighbourliness, a small matter of pet preference becomes an occasion for dispute. A parable of passion and denial, and a few ... trying to do their best.
A new adventure starring Nathan Beresford. When Nathan is declared dead he does his best not to care, but with the disgruntled Narrator unhappy with the film he is in, Nathan still doesn't care.
A couple of old crusts, Joyce and Kevin Harvey, cash a cheque that doesn't belong to them. Is their worldly boarder, Roy, going to steer them right?
A video tape is stolen that contains information dangerous to both the government and the casino and they will do anything to get it back. The man who stole it has other plans, as do a third party of heavies who turn up out of nowhere.
Sergei Gregorov will be the first man on Mars (with the first bottle of Deep Space Cola).
The story of an unlikely friendship between two survivors - Barbara, a middle-aged woman who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, and Robert, a 90-year-old man who was a German POW of the French Resistance during World War II.
A daughter haunted by the past, a father frozen in the present.
Ameda struggles to understand the complex worlds of philosophy and religion. A fable about growing up in a society where the universe of dreams and philosophy is demolished by reality and religion.
Kane is a 14-year-old with a plan. Using his little brother as bait, he steals some money from a man with a model train-set. But the plan goes wrong. If Kane is not careful the things he wants to keep hidden will be let out. When you're 14 and in trouble confusion builds on confusion. Kane's secret has become too complicated, too dangerous and too painful. This film deals with the issue of sexual abuse through the eyes of a teenage boy who wants to forget.
Dependence comes in many forms.
DESERT (ABANDON, CEASE AND WITHDRAW) a jilting fragmented montage reflects the shock and emotional dislocation of an attack on a young Middle Eastern family. The script is based on tensions and Middle Eastern community feedback caught between 9/11 and the Australian refugee crisis.
Veterans recall a long ago desert war fought entirely by animals. Using stills and newsreel clips, they all pay tribute to the outstanding leadership abilities of one animal – the desert fox.
DESIRE is a short comic drama made in the Film Noir tradition. The film follows a lonely, pathetic laboratory worker, Dylan, who becomes obsessed with a parcel left behind by a strange woman on a commuter train, with deadly consequences.
Despite wars, tragedies and constant loss, Desiree Montan experienced a life and a love (or two, or three) that's nothing short of inspiring.
DHARKAN is the story about a young boy who astral travels to mend the hole in his heart.
Beneath our superficial wounds, we're all different cuts of the same meat.
DIG is a handwrought, historical, ethnographic, live-action, animated evocation of an industry, some people, a place and the humble potato.
Over 150 years ago, the Chinese passed through an Australian goldfields town and left behind a legacy. A series of stories about searching for identity and confirming authenticity.
With the film industry now run by money, commercialism and greed, the art of cinema seems doomed forever. But Jack is a director on a mission and he has unlocked the age old war of 'art versus entertainment'. Just pray to God his next location isn't near you.
A half rate animator gets knocked out by his characters so they can finish his film.
Max is a professional pest exterminator coming to grips with a life surrounded by roaches, rats, spiders and crazy customers. In recounting his stories Max struggles to tease some meaning from the absurdity that engulfs him.
People disappear. It's annoying. According to the statistics, thousands of people disappear every day. My friend disappeared one day when we were sitting on the beach, waiting for the perfect wave. I waited for him for a while, but soon I started to suspect magical powers.
A hospital drama in which a man's fears are surgically removed.
Winning a dishlicker in a raffle would seem lucky, wouldn't it? Tom's luck appears to be running out when the ill-fated pair can't seem to find victory. What do you do when it appears your life has gone to the dogs.
The year is 1941, and Australia is at war with Japan. In the United States plans for the first atomic bomb are underway. Maggie, like many Melbourne children, is evacuated to the country. Here she experiences a war of isolation.
Fido is brought to a strange prison where inmates are subjected to weird experiments. Slowly he comes to realise his fate but it's too late. Fido is operated on and his tail is amputated. Eventually he becomes like all the rest of the inmates.
Throw, Fetch, Deliver. It's all in a day's work.
A young man numbed by his environment throws himself into the world. He bowls forth to make change and save the environment. A visual banquet of collage and colour.
When the war ends Owen is finally free to return home. Finding himself forced to take part in a mysterious referendum, he must make a crucial decision, double tick or double cross.
When looking after Lorraine's dad gets to be too much, Lorraine and her family head on down to the harness racing track in a bid to win enough money to get the old man into a home. A win. A place.
A cheesy digital film about a heinous experiment that deprives a lab rat of its love for the moonlight, attempting to leave it helpless.
A lady walks alone on a foggy beach in the early morning. A turtle appears from the sea. She takes possession of the turtle until her younger sister takes it away from her.
Secret dreams are contemplated in the dark, and as each new day dawns, hope battles with uncertainty in an effort to reach towards the light. A young woman patiently waits for miracles and signs of wonder to transform the life she lives only in dreams to become one of reality. She holds fast to fragmentary memories, building a fragile world around elusive moments. The first meeting illuminates her life, breaks open her heart to forever yearn for connection.
A woman is driving home, listening to the radio.
Maria, a young woman driven by unrequited love, hits the road to Sydney. She finds herself reluctantly in the company of Doug, an eccentric academic. In an emergency on the dark stretches of the Hume Highway they face death together and find a human connection.
Having just arrived in a new country a young girl realises that her journey has just begun.
An ex-laboratory scientist returns to full time study at University, working part time to make ends meet. This documentary brings viewers along for a night on the job.
What happens when you throw a flute out a window while you're on the road? DRIVING SIDEWAYS is a laugh-out-loud comedy about how two kids, William and Lisa, execute revenge on Melbourne's favourite footy coach, John Duncan, who just happens to be their father.
I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away, I don't know where my soul is, I don't know where my home is...Nelly Furtado
Set in an urban jungle, Sam is coming to terms with failure in an inescapable life style. Destined for self destruction, a chance meeting with a figment of his imagination leads him on a journey of self discovery. The sepulchre, Tom, traps Sam into a deadly bout of self reflection with a tragically passionate end.
A whimsical tale about a very special friendship between two elderly neighbours. Physically divided by a single brick wall, Elsie and Dora have to break down personal obstacles before their friendship can develop. Through a series of events and a little magic the women rediscover a sense of purpose and being.
Success, love and death. Dusty, a failed uni-cycling, fire-breathing juggler, loses his job and his father in one night. He responds by taking his own life, again, again and again.
Growing up Poeti dreamt of becoming a dancer within the sacred Arioi tribe. Now she must decide if she will make the ultimate sacrifice to remain amongst them.
EAT THE SUBURBS takes the oil debate from the bowser to the backyard and follows Melbourne's 'Perma-Blitzers' as they prepare for the end of the oil age... one garden at a time.
Can the world afford space and time for those stuck on the substitution bench in the game of life?
The landscape turns out to be a body with some kind of electrical problem. After a discharge all seems to be well.
At midnight, Ellah finds a room inside her closet. She finds out the room inside is exactly like hers but in reverse. She also finds her identical self in the identical room.
Sixteen-year-old Jessie spends her day working at the local Mini-Mart in a small Australian suburb where she lives. Fred Flame, the 'space cadet' who works at the local video library, provides Jessie with a fantasy science fiction romance. But as Jessie discovers, Fred Flame's powers are limited. The only person who can rocket her into outer space is herself.
END OF TOWN is the story of a girl who wants out of her small country town. Tired of her mother and looking after her younger brother, she decides that enough is enough.
A story about memory, time and place. In narrative shorthand we experience the mime of Shannon's attempt to relocate herself in the present. Escaping from the public space to the personal, sound and vision arrest the power of memory and the sentiment of love.
CYRANO de BERGERAC meets NEIGHBOURS in a tale of doomed cross-cultural romance set in Broadmeadows and Richmond. Vinh is learning English from daytime soap opera and Narelle, across town in a juvenile remand home, watches the same show.
A security guard at a battery-hen factory discovers that one of the chickens has escaped!
During a Phrenotch crime team briefing, Boss' attention is drawn to his missing cream bun. Disturbed at his team's indiscretion, Boss puts his science to work and proves more than a match for the unwitting culprit.
Held hostage in a suburban backyard in 1989, Grandpa wishes he were in 1920s Berlin.
Everyone begins the morning by trading with his soul; he either wins it or ruins it. (Hadith).
Home movies that lie, an uncommonly extended family, and a woman whose past crumbles to pieces in front of her like a broken film.
It's a trip. It's a nightmare. It's your life (not that you'd care to admit it). It's happening all around you. You'll see soon enough. A big, warm welcome for ANYMINUTENOW! Watch it. Bring a friend.
A man is forced to deal with issues related to his personal identity, after he meets and falls in love with an amputee.
Fourteen-year-old Frida is discovering her sexuality and experimenting with drugs and alcohol. When she is faced with actual sexuality in the form of her older sister's boyfriend, she discovers she is out of her depth.
When cat was a little girl she used to dream that she could fly. Now she only ever dreams about falling. This is a slack fairytale about a girl who wants to fly again.
Jasmine is a young woman too close to her art and her ex-lover. The opening night of her exhibition is a journey which may free her from both.
On the 21st of October 2002 Alan Huan Yun Xiang went to the last statistics tutorial of the year with seven handguns and over a hundred bullets with the intention of causing a massacre. The survivors, Alan's teachers and classmates, reflect on the events leading up to the shooting.
Once again she waits impatiently. Perhaps today will be the day her mother returned home. A pocket watch she keeps fuels her hope and longing while bizarre events warn of danger. Not everyone shares her hopes and longings.
Frankie is a female crane driver. She is a woman in control. But when her secret life demands more, making her choose between her private life and work, Frankie’s three very contained worlds are exposed.
In the isolation of a country town, faith may take a boy away from his father.
A scientist successfully makes a formula discovering time travels through a theory stimulated by the chaos theory, then learns that the Earth was inhabited by identical human intelligence billions of years ago. Unfortunately only the conscious makes it to the past, not the physical body.
Fact or fantasy? A black panther escapes the circus and roams the Australian countryside, creating a prevailing myth.
Fairfield Industrial Dog Object, FIDO, is a six metre tall wooden dog. It's part of the Darebin City Council's Public Art Program. The giant dog has raised the hackles of residents and put into question the council's decision making process and the relevance of public art. FIDO is a satirical look at democracy at a local government level.
A woman and her lover search, in the city, for their past.
Bobby's first fight, his mother is excited, his father is ecstatic: will Bobby fight?
Anoka feels deep emptiness in the world around her, until one day her heart starts glowing. She finds filling her heart can mean breaking it, when the one you love is possessed by something else.
In a dead-end job and facing an uncertain future, Robert tries change for the sake of change. With the help of his high-flying housemates, he transforms his life, discovering that in the end, maybe all he needed was a little space.
During the 1930s Depression a desperate young mother leaves her son, Tommy, at an orphanage. With the help of the orphanage's caretaker, Mr Barnsworth, Tommy embarks on a journey to find his home.
Ivy's thoughts and actions are controlled by 1885 social etiquette. She is struggling to find happiness through self help books and videos in the hope of attracting the attention of a potential female suitor.
A sassy kid and a klutzy dragon defeat the renovation plans of the evil Count Plastic.
A portrait of 'Fingal Rapskallion' who is a busker, musician and writer. An observational/interview based documentary, it follows Fingal through the alleyways, streets and subways of Melbourne. Busking is a way of life for some and others just do it for fun. This documentary explores themes about perception, creativity and human kind.
A series of inter-linking portraits of a diverse group of individuals. Each of whom reveals something of themselves.
Living on the edge of a giant, remote salt lake, a father and daughter eke out a frugal existence in self-imposed exile. Their calm yet monotonous world is shattered with the discovery of a mysterious stranger. On the verge of death, the mans' arrival throws them into conflict, stirring up fears and forcing them to confront the very things they've been hiding from. FIRST CONTACT not only tells a story of family but also raises questions to do with the fear of change and Australia's attitudes of race, origin and immigration.
Mike Wilde is a young doctor haunted by the death of his wife. Suffering from terrifying nightmares, he visits a psychiatrist. In confronting his inner demons shocking revelations are uncovered with devastating results.
A student film crew, a neglected actor... a first person snippet about film making anxiety.
Dustyn Lovett is about to do something fishy. Her name is Missy. Seriously flaky.
A young man is about to leave home and break from the violence that permeates his family. But the more he struggles for independence, the more entangled he becomes in his father's violent image. The net is cast – look out!
An exploration of what goes on in the mind of a political prisoner as he is tortured.
Detective Betty Silver is called upon by the local police force to bail out her teenage daughter, who's been picked up for shoplifting. Once there she unravels a shoplifting syndicate run by the blind guitar shop owner and his evil sidekick Maggie Jones.
Bean, Byron's friend, is probably dead. No-one's saying anything for sure but a lot's being said. It's probably nothing, possibly not. A hypothetical homicide, a kidney, a llama, bluster and bluff.
Love is transforming. To what lengths will an old dog go to re-win the affection of his angsty teen owner?
An urban fairytale of childhood and rememberance.
Take a clean bowl. Add some loaves of bread, a few religious icons and a healthy dollop of television. Beat vigorously and bake on high for several minutes. Serve hot.
In a repetitive world, two alienated characters transfer symbols to unravel tradition and authority.
A middle-aged migrant receives news from his past home and begins to realize the sacrifices he has made in moving to a new country.
Sasha had lost everything - her health, her marriage, her sanity (almost). But the only thing people were concerned about was the fact that she'd lost her figure.
Eddie is approached by his young protege, Ral, who has some rather shocking news about his supposedly innocent friendship with the mute boarder... Pokie.
When Alistair Baxter is found in Hong Kong, his kidney has been removed. An Australian detective is called in to piece together the events which led to his death.
Lost in a world of his own, Ernie sees no clear distinction between a stranger and friend, and the woman he loves.
The story of a traditional Italian family living in the 1960s in Australia. Anna's bond with her younger, Downs Syndrome sister is broken through the deception and patriarchal prejudice of her father and lover.
What motivates someone to protest one issue for eleven years? 'Lead us not into abortion clinics and deliver all babies now and forever amen!'
A pioneer widow finds a wounded fugitive on her remote and isolated property. If she leaves him to his fate he will surely die. But helping him could bring more grief than it's worth...
A simple 'day in the life' tale about being bored, frustrated and 18. Mary's looking for a moment of clarity in a place that's full of questions.
A couple who have spent all their lives together, and care for each other, have no understanding of each other's needs.
Two bachelors end their unhappy collaboration on a short story about puberty, vermin and antisemetism.
High above the Earth, the doomed astronaut dreams of his childhood and the man who inspired him to become what he is. Awake and forced to abandon his crippled spacecraft, his last thought is of his father as he launches himself into the void.
A greasy spoon cafe late at night. A girl with a gun. The three inhabitants each believe she is a woman from their past come for revenge. But what have each of them done to feel so guilty? And just who is she after?
Jaded comic 'maestro' leaves daughter Juliette, and ex-wife Carole overseas for a final Melbourne tour. The past bleeds into the present; art imitates life; comedy is no laughing matter.
Set in the late '50s, Lina, the daughter of Italian migrants escapes family pressure to marry a young Italian farmer by moving to Melbourne. Lina studies at night to improve her education while fighting for better conditions in the clothing factory where she works.
Gareth Lands arrives home after a long trip abroad. As he tries to pick up his life from where he left it, he soon discovers that more has changed than he could have possibly imagined.
Investigations and discourses about biological causes of sexual orientation has received widespread publicity in scientific and popular press. Mocking these 'great discoveries' and the seemingly objective vehicle of genetics, 'we discover' that bigger is not necessarily better.
GENESIS: A NEW CHAPTER IN AUSTRALIAN DANCE is a four minute mockumentary about a cutting edge dance form, Liturgical dance. It focuses on two rising stars in Liturgical dance, Simon and Cath. Though dance partners, Simon and Cath share a volatile relationship centred around the 'correct' way to perform Liturgical dance.
The end of the world has come around, but the last mutant blue horse of the apocalypse isn't ready...
This musical set in a strip club seeks not to judge but explore the many reasons for being there on one given night. The club's inhabitants, like moths, are just trying to find their own way and their own lights.
An open road, a suspected pregnancy and a guardian angel who wants to play hide and seek.
Stifling glimpses of a couple who play together, lay together, fray together and stay together.
A Rubik's Cube gameshow gets scrambled as a young man straddles the puzzling poles of a God-given duty and a man-made desire.
How can we measure beauty?
A boy, a girl and the ultimate question.
The story of a servant girl.
Trying to silence a noisy neighbour, Jen is knocked unconscious. Due to a busy day at the hospital she is mistaken for dead. Regaining consciousness in her coffin she is plunged into the claustrophobic nightmare of watching her own funeral.
Jamie's a very pissed off kid, drifting between domestic violence and the streets of an unfriendly city. But he's a fighter and survivor and he's armed...with a walkman. This teenage accessory becomes a powerful weapon when he uses it to document the violence being inflicted on his mother by her boyfriend. The violence exists. Jamie has it on tape. They can't ignore it.
Four women around their thirties. None of them are married. They don't have children. An invitation for dinner and the question 'what is it, that you want?'
THE GREAT PRETENDER is the story of a girl called Laura who decides the answer to her problems is to buy a padded bra. However Laura soon discovers that life with breasts isn't too different to life without them.
Roland is living his dream lifestyle: girls, sunshine, relaxation... and rehabilitation. However being told you're healthy means being told you're going home. This is not the news Roland wants to hear. Poor guy.
The subconscious mind evolves through a plethora of experiences. What makes us who we are? Do we have a destiny? A preordained life plan? How do we know when we reach that goal? It is all a bit weird. This is one interpretation of what might be.
The sport of roller derby is back in Australia. As the first Mebourne team in over 25 years prepare for their debut game, tow members reflect on their love of skating, and how derby is changing who they are.
One truck...one baby...and an eagle?
A plasticine heavy metal odyssey.
A story of a security guard who is working to help support his parents. When confronted with an ethical dilemma imposed upon him by his boss, he chooses to protect his economic security at the expense of his personal morality.
Guy is in limbo. A road, two mangled cars and a landscape as barren as his memory. Can you cry when you don't remember? Can you love just in case? And can you lose what you never had?
Ka-Yin Kwok tries to find out what life is like for a teenager living in the flats. She returns to the public housing estate where she grew up. There she attemps to hang out with fifteen year old Jack.
Floyd's had enough. He's tired of witnessing stupidity. When he hires Spider to make the pain go away, she teaches him that life means risk and love takes courage.
Chad is a compulsive liar, a thief and general creep. Gerard is a middle class mummy's boy. Together they embark on an epic quest for some speed. When this fails they are forced to take desperate measures. The events that follow somehow inspire an unlikely friendship.
Harry's an annoying little bastard who lives in a sewer. But Harry has a plan...
Billy is a fugitive, the only sailor AWOL from the American ships bound for the Gulf. International and personal crises collide – Billy discovers that jumping ship was just not a simple question of war versus peace – rather than reasons buried somewhere in the past.
Jason holds a mugger in a headlock while they wait for the police. A crowd gathers, day becomes night, the victim leaves, the police don't come...
A conflict between two laws: Anti Discrimination and the Fair Trade Practices as experienced by the dating agencies of Victoria. Is it possible to push political correctness?
The surface of the water is Rema's doorway out of a harsh reality. She sinks into her bath and escapes to a dream world...but she cannot stay there forever.
Jamie is left for dead after a hit and run. Lost and alone, he finds his way to a train station where he meets the enigmatic Charlotte. The hours pass, and with no train in sight, their connection grows and they begin to realize that their meeting may not be as random as they first thought.
In 1822, eight convicts escaped from Macquarie Harbour, a place of ultra banishment and punishment, only to find a world less forgiving.. the Van Diemen's Land wilderness. Abandon all hope you who enter.
An exploration of the lives of Australians for whom the caravan is an important icon - from holiday makers to permanent caravan park dwellers. This character-driven documentary uncovers contradictions in their search for freedom.
A television's point of view of society.
'There's history remaining in the grass, or hidden in the wind or tossing behind the waves'... (Seno Ajidarma). This documentary begins sometime in the future. After many years of Indonesian occupation, East Timor is finally independent. 'Australia's largely unacknowledged debt to the people of East Timor, is examined powerfully in HIDDEN IN THE WIND' (Michael Schembri, The Age 12/12/97.
HIGH INFIDELITY dives into the world of swinging; a world where sexual partners are interchangeable, a world where one's deepest sexual desires are fulfilled without feeling betrayed, a world where polygamy reins supreme and its lonesome counterpart, monogamy, is taboo.
The usual morning blunders of a hapless priest take a surprising turn when a clan of ninja appear from the shadows to lend a silent hand.
Halina rediscovers her past in an old Super 8 film.
Two Japanese lovers and a gun - when things go wrong, can love survive?
HOLLY'S GRAIL is a dark comedy set in a world where love no longer has a place. Holly finds herself in an institution that specialises in romantic rehabilitation.
The story of a father and son coming to terms with the growing pains of adolescence.
When the Collins family accidentally and unintentionally find themselves together at the family beachhouse, old ghosts are revisited and sparks fly.
Boy brings hunky barman home to meet Ma and Pa. Mum wants to make a bed on the couch whereas Boy wants barman to sleep in his room. Barman wants to catch the first bus out of there.
HOPE AND THE JACUZZI is the story of an 18-year-old girl who hosts an S&M party. Her best girlfriend dies in the proceedings and Hope is forced to reappraise the crass values instilled in her by her schlock movie producer father.
Ingredients: one girl, one boy, one Mexican cantina...
A woman makes a phone call that has a deep impact on her. A bent look at a bloody break-up.
A smoking, rock 'n' rolling, alcoholic Orthodox Jew ghostwrites passionate sermons for the community's most popular Rabbi. Starring musician and actor Tim Rogers, this dark comedy, with a soundtrack by Matt Walker, is a quirky road movie with a twisted ending.
HUNTING THE B3 is a film about the most important musical invention of the 20th century and the men who have made it their life mission to revive its glory days.
An energetic, Hong Kong style, roller coaster ride combining the gunplay of John Woo with the martial arts spectacle of Jackie Chan. Lee, a hitman, must choose between his job and the woman he loves. Fists and bullets fly in the finale.
A story of two sisters and the secret they share.
An accountant and a housewife have the same problem. They were addicted to gambling. For them, suicide was the only way to stop. But now, they have turned their lives around and become the compulsive gamblers who chose not to gamble.
A masochistic organ transporter sells a heart to black market traders before discovering a dying girl was the intended recipient. To make amends, he and a sadistic cop endeavour to retrieve the heart. Things don't quite go according to plan.
What is the price to pay for bringing the dead back to life? When Igor brings his dead brother Mal to see a mysterious suburban psychic, he unwittingly becomes drawn into an afterlife that is beyond all human comprehension.
A look at various Elvis Presley fans and the influence that the King of Rock 'n' Roll has had on their lives.
The past and the present sit together in the shadows.
Friendship. Immigration. Identity. Four Japanese girls learn about Australia...and themselves.
Jim is not your average family man. He works irregularly, has a passion for music and a troublesome drug habit. This imaginatively photographed and beautifully directed black and white film successfully explores the grief and the changes that father and daughter must make.
Images of life in an Indian Ashram strung together with music written in the Bhimpalasi raga, invoking peace.
A son of Nazi Holocaust survivors struggles to understand his father's faith. Michael's inheritance is a past which he is not allowed to acknowledge but which controls his destiny.
The once-celebrated graphic designer Paul Andrews has fallen from grace. Battling against the demands of vacuous clients, deprived of his voice, he descends into an obsessive and distorted search for creative expression.
David, a 30-year-old vet, remains detached from his present life, unable to communicate with his young son, and alienated from others around him. The film proceeds in a series of flashbacks, as he searches for something in his own childhood, a memory or image, on which to build a relationship with his son.
From the furthest reaches of space, unspeakable horrors come to destroy mankind. Darryl the truck driver is hoping that one of them might be free for drinks on Saturday.
The Kupa Piti Kungka Tijuta, a council of elder Aboriginal women from Cooper Pedy, have been campaigning against the Federal government's plans to build a national radioactive was the repository in the South Australian desert. Their stories reveal the ongoing dangers of the nuclear industry and their distrust of a government which tells them radioactive waste in their backyard will not affect them.
A former advertising man challenges two paranormal skeptics to sign a pact with the devil.
A modern day nightmare! A pregnant woman is too busy to have her baby.
Joe, a philosophical bus driver gives life lessons about love, marriage and the perfect cup of coffee.
Irenie plays mother, sibling, lover for Johnny. Johnny is drowning in claustrophobia. Irenie refuses to see how things are until Johnny forces her to.
Ganja, weed, dope! Whatever you call it, never has marijuana been more popular and lucrative than it is today. So much so that governors all over Australia are finding out that the police are no longer their greatest threat, the competition is.
In the space of one night, 12-year-old Erwin Sauerwein lost his father, his home, friends, relatives, his sense of security, and most of all, his childhood innocence.
'Where I am spiritually is beyond my religion.' This is Miriam's story. From the traditions of her Jewish past, Miriam takes us on her journey of self-discovery to 'sychronicity hi-tech meditation.'
Dream of life, dream or truth. THE JOURNEY is about the psychological and spiritual quest undertaken by a symbolic 'everyman' character, and is told through three metaphorical vignettes which span the character's life.
People hassle Tracey for looking different; for her scars, her tatts and 'in your face' attitude. Tracey was doing drugs before she could talk, but now she and her boyfriend Dennis are learning to juggle the elements.
An elderly couple, Frank and Joyce, undergo the sudden breakdown in their marriage after 40 years of repressed desire.
A film which cannot be described.
For a little while, in the late 90s in Melbourne, nothing was cooler than heroin. JUSTIFY MY LOVE takes a look at the romance, protest and despair of the 'heroin years'.
When Pra finds herself bored to death in a yuppie bar she meets someone interesting - a woman who may be a goddess of destruction - and her night takes an unexpected turn.
Kevin the flea is a love struck social reject whose wife is killed in a horrific accident on their wedding day. Kevin's grief is so great that he can't bear the thought of living... that is until he finds fame.
Julia is emotionally attached to her old brother Paul. A close bond was formed in their youth and continued into adulthood. THE KEY is an exploration of Julia's psychological state revealing her desires and fears in an attempt at understanding this relationship.
Footy training is supposed to be a simple thing. But when you hear the rumour your best mate kissed a bloke at the pub last night you know the shit's gonna hit the fan.
A struggling writer at the end of his wits decides to kill himself, only to find in an ironic twist of fate that his suicide note will be published.
Lewis and Warren are at a dead end. Their bus is late, they're incredibly bored and they have no girls. They are KILLING TIME. Most would see this as a down fall, they however, with their ability to create characters and situations out of their bleak surroundings, see it as an opening into the world of make believe.
Jack comes home, but it's broken.
Lauchlan and his older brother Rory must recover their missing father from the snowy mountains. In his journey through the snow, Lauchlan will come to realise that his father’s mental health will change his family, forever.
Department of Human Services. Case 417: Harry Cousins.
The lift operator in Cathedral Arcade has a secret. After 28 years her life is about to change. A story about adoption through the eyes of three women: a mother, a daughter and a social worker who won't let go.
Alex lives in a boarding house with his mother and his mother's lover, the butcher. In the street below lurks his father.
A story about the relationship between a father and his daughter, the daughter and her cat, the cat and the father, the father and his chair.
Ford Maddox Ford's kitchen tableau evokes a disquieting atmosphere of the forbidden world of adulthood. Pamela Woods' animation uses three-dimensional objects and cut-outs to emphasize the unsettling mood of the narration.
Imagine an imaginary friend that managed to manhandle the management of your magical mind. 'Man, what a maniacal menagerie!' said she. KITTY 5 - RESISTANCE IS FUTILE - where weeds are a killer but the boys are better!!
Girls, guitars and heartache. Cat, Violet and Melody are KittySpit. A low end of the food chain band ready to take on the world and each other! A dysfunctional family who discover their music is all that matters. The rest - it all disappears in the end.
The haunting, uncompromising story of Joseph, a boy coming to terms with the death of his grandfather. Life, death and a drawing.
When a German soldier takes a Russian soldier prisoner during WWII, he is faced with a critical decision to choose between his country and his humanity.
In 1996 Heather Osland was convicted to 14.5 years prison for the murder of her violent husband. In an historic test case of the law of self-defence, her defence group took her case to the High Court of Australia.
'Sleep is when all the unsorted stiff comes flying out as from a dustbin upset in a high wind...' William Golding
In the middle of the night two strangers are left waiting alone on a platform after their train is cancelled. Sometimes the briefest connections have the most impact.
A psycho sexual thriller. A small coastal fishing town is the scene of a set of strange serial murders.
At what point do you give up a dream?
Was it real or was it a hoax? A mysterious stranger wins a pool competition in 1920s Paris.
Davo is besieged by constant attacks from his mobile phone-infested surroundings.
Two boys - friends sharing fantasies. One girl - a lesson better than French.
Trapped in a car accident, left to die by his girlfriend Morgan tries to survive while his past comes back to haunt him.
Radiating from a dreary housing estate come the personalities of colourful individuals that have made their own worlds from a potentially depressing situation of high-rise living.
Straight, hard, urban lines consume the life of Mitch, a 30-something architect. He burns the midnight oil at his draftsman's desk and when satisfied, retreats to his favourite cafe. On this night however, He'll experience more than his usual latte. A past love will reappear and make him remember...
A symphony of mash potatoes, grilled sausages, crazy musicians with constant musical accompaniment, science fiction duels and vengeful war villains in three acts. As a child, Alex had nowhere to run, so he escaped into his imagination. As an adult in self-help groups, he just wants to work through his issues and for the music to stop.
A clay-etched animation about Billy who loses his mother to grief. All he wants is his mother back.
Angel needs a way out of her dream. She has said no to so many men, there aren't that many left... except for Oliver. On the docks, in the shadows of giant cranes and ships, it hurts to make a choice.
A memory of love. A dream of reunion. A hope of peace.
Sara Lane never believed in destiny. Through a motorcycle accident her belief that even death makes mistakes is confirmed. Together with her daughter Linn, she is put on hold between life and death - in Limbo - from where she gets the chance to put things right.
A boy called Jee Yong lives close to a highway and looks for a new playground; however, he is always prevented from doing so by his parents as the highway is a dangerous place. When the boy finally crosses the highway, he is hit by a car and his future is destroyed...
Audrey is having trouble at school and at home. When an exotic baroness moves in next door, Audrey discovers that things aren't always as they seem.
LITTLE DESERT - a story of a woman who chooses to confront her fears and guilt as she commences her journey towards self-expression. This journey leads her through a surreal landscape of music, danger, lovers and strangers in her search for independence, beauty and truth.
Power, Sex, Betrayal. Three young women discover the darker side of university life.
Six-year-old Billy doesn't fit in. It's not until he loses his first tooth and receives a special gift from the tooth fairy that other kids start to notice him. Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of magic...
The point of balance between the inner creative world of an emerging artist, and her outside reality.
In the wake of devastation the last man on earth searches for survivors. He finds hope in a junk pile.
A man and a woman meet in an alienated and complex world.
As Carl wakes up, he is already late picking up his child Julie. When she vanishes under his watch, he begins a long painful journey to find his missing daughter and claim his salvation.
Judy's got a problem... Tom has no time for her. Tom has no affection for her. Tom has no pulse. Loop.
Joey loves Lolita. Lolita loves herself. Cal loves to kill. One 'noir' night will bring these three together. A black comedy about fate and chaos in an amoral world.
Lost in a loveless relationship, Mary escapes to her own dark world where she is challenged by her unforgiving husband.
Unexpected attraction blossoms to beautiful love decays into uncontrollable claustrophobia then wistful demise.
LOVE AND RAZOR WIRE is an emotional, beautifully told story of the strength of a woman's love in the face of adversity. Last year Emily married an asylum seeker from Tanzania named Kasian. For more than two years the Australian immigration department has detained Kasian at Baxter detention centre in South Australia. As the dramatic events of the 2005 Easter protests at Baxter unfold, Emily's feelings of frustration and anger towards those people who are oppressing her husband are transformed.
Two collectors apply to rent the same house and end up collecting each other!
Vanity, veins and hopelessness, all mixed up in an Australian short about a young couple who are themselves mixed up in drugs, prostitution and jealousy. Stunning Wenders-inspired colour and black and white cinematography, a atmospheric soundtrack by Hugo Race, and strong performances by Deanna Bond and Noah Taylor provide this film with touches of brilliance.
A Jewish door-to-door crucifix salesman looking for love gets more than he bargained for.
Ivy is trapped in a universe of 1940's glitz and glamour, where Marlene Dietrich is the brightest constellation and freshly baked muffins are the perfect way to welcome a new neighbour. When that neighbour turns out to be Dean, a man Ivy sees as possessing all the class and elegance of Clark Gable and Cary Grant, she decides to lure him using all her wily feminine charms.
From boundless plains to share, to the land of the free, to the world's most progressive city, and back again. Through bridges and borders, the filmmaker crosses hearts connected in search of a place where love counts.
How does the biggest loser of all time suddenly become the sexiest man alive? The answer lies in the use of the very smelly Kanaka root. Willie Pitkin... a cuddly social retard is given the root and that's when the stupidity really begins.
'Love, be it very nice, the world as it runs is cash'. In 1997 four Australian prostitutes and their partners got together over pasta, pool and chocolate-ripple cake to discuss the issues that affect and define their relationships. More than another documentary about prostitution, LOVE TRANSACTIONS is an intimate and revealing exploration of fidelity, jealousy and the nature of sex, love and relationships and challenges us to ask, like the subjects in the film, 'what is your sexual reality?'
A love story that is over before the film began.
A young girl encounters hostile territoy when she enters a guitar shop for the first time, colliding with the store owner, a self-obsessed, aging rocker.
A blues musician, a needy mother and a fallen angel: all stuck in small town nowhereville. One night of discovery collides with a week of guilt as two women pull at the heart strings of Lucky Blue.
Everything good that's ever happened to Reese has happened on a Wednesday, but on this particular Wednesday he'd never have believed just how lucky he could be.
No account of human life can ignore the central significance of the human hand. For Lucy, manicuring is a serious business.
Ostracised by the dark visions that torment her, Anna must learn to find the strength to act against her deepest fears.
Poppy and Bella struggle to bring themselves up in a rundown warehouse space above the burlesque club where their mother sings. When Bella's fantasy of a loving mother becomes obsessive, Poppy must wrestle with how to tell her little sister the truth.
At a public swimming pool one hot summer afternoon, the electric sexual tensions of young love and lust are played out. LUSTFUL takes us to the brink between childhood and adulthood.
Amcor's Recycling Paper Mill has been an intricate part of Broadford for 107 years - the town has virtually grown around the Mill. Its closing down will have a catastrophic impact on the economy and identity of this country town. This documentary film follows the workers and the community in their attempts to influence Amcor's decision and try and keep this profitable Mill going. It explores the politics of the closure and tries to find out why the Mill is being shutdown.
The term 'outworkers' is given to those people in Australia who work at home sewing clothes for major Australia retailers. This film reveals but a few of the faces behind a Made in Australia fashion label. It explores the stories of five Vietnamese women as they uncover the harsh realities of their working lives. This film has relevance to everyone - we all wear clothes.
Two people meet and are attracted to each other.
If we let them, our children can show us a thing or two about how to see the world.
A Chinese teenage girl feels trapped in a world that is governed by success, status and wealth. During class she drifts off into her dreams and receives a warning from the teacher. However, Mai's little friend Kinky makes a dramatic entrance and rescues her.
The thrill of cutting has brought hundreds of horses and their riders to the annual Victorian Futurity. Bryon is taking a chance on Daisy, who is young and inexperienced. Will they make the cut?
The night passes slowly. Mandy and her mother are tense. The horrific car accident that took so much from Mandy, the accident that her mother caused, has to be faced up to at last.
Poor Marco. Accidentally born into an overcrowded Australian-Italian household, he is relegated to his parents' bedroom. Nine years later, armed with a vivid imagination, an obsession with Dame Edna Everage, and a warped sense of Catholicism, Marco fights for a space of his own.
Mareeba, an outback town two hours north of Cairns, was once famous for its thriving tobacco-farming business. Since the industry's closure, Mareeba boasts having the only pub between Cairns and the Gulf of Carpentaria, a feature that has attracted many Indigenous communities from dry areas to settle in town. Youth unrest and violence are making Mareeba statistically one of the most dangerous towns in Australia. This film explores the resident's views of their town's identity crisis and their differing solutions to fix this problem.
Scott is a Gainer and, with his wife's help, he attempts to gain weight to feel comfortable with himself.
A young man is caught in the dreams of his mother. An exploration of a mother and son's love, fantasies and deceit. Through a collection of frocks, Grace has drawn her son Martin into her past travels to exotic places and lovers. Each day on his ride home, Martin tries desperately to make a connection with love and life in the present.
This film explores one woman's journey from a middle class position within Melbourne society to finding herself imprisoned at Fairlea. Placed against this is a glimpse at what conditions of imprisonment were like for women in Victoria 100 years ago.
Poowong - a town in country Australia - does not offer many options when it comes to work. For most it is a choice between the local cheese factory and the cattle abattoir. For young slaughterman, Daniel, whose extended family all earn a living from the abattoir, there was no doubt that he would end up working the meat game.
Through child play we experience several levels of consciousness and perception and the innocence of its origins. Despite continuous warnings the children don't learn and their cruel play continues.
MEMENTO explores the role of photography in the modern wedding. By a twist of fate a break with tradition occurs, and the bride creates a memento of her wedding day that won't be seen on the in-laws' piano. A seductive yet subversive romance.
The second in director Andrew Kavanagh’s filmic observations of tribalism and ritual in contemporary society, MEN OF THE EARTH follows on from AT THE FORMAL, taking us behind the stop sign of a roadworks site to observe a secret ceremony of working men.
In an underground shopping mall a naive office worker is entangled in a sunken world of sexual perversion. A bizarre network of hostile escalators, strange bald business men and eccentric female shoppers breed a seductive story about men, shopping and sex.
A man walks on a beach. He is in despair. He sees a bottle wash up on shore. Could the message it contains hold his redemption?
The Industrial Revolution gets personal for a farmer in this man versus machine stop-motion epic.
In the heat of the Mexican desert Juan and his pigs come up against a series of puzzles set up for them by the creatures of the wild. Magic, madness and death all mixed up in a surrealist fairytale for modern times.
An isolated and lonely man become obsessed by the mannequins he repairs. His fantasies of love are short lived as his worst nightmares come to life, forcing him into awareness of his reality.
A ball-in-cheek journey through the wonderland of mini-golf.
Filmmaker Sofija Stefanovic has entered Miss Ex-Yugoslavia Melbourne 2005. The prize is a trip back home. Bikini concerns unravel around Sofija alongside stories of the Yugoslavian wars and dreams of returning to a country that no longer exists.
Two young Mormons on a mission from God.
Melbourne, 1969. A young boy, Michael, haunted by the mystery of his father's death, invents an imaginary friend called Mister Bawky. Fantasy and reality intertwine. With the help of an old blind lady, Michael searches for a way to find the truth.
Henry's Japanese war-bride, Myoshi, has built a 'mini-Japan' in their cabin in outback Australia. When it seems that after 25 years Henry still won't take her back to Japan she takes drastic action.
Should George go out for the night or stay and keep his widowed mother company yet again? A volatile family ritual is played out as he struggles with the intensity and intimacy of their shared life, and the decision he must make.
Two children awake in the middle of the night to discover their home has become a parade ground for all the monsters and creatures of the night - but things aren't always what they seem...
An enchanting tale of self-discovery. A young article clerk, disillusioned by the pressures of his work, is enlightened by the local inhabitants of Duckboard Place.
Australia, 1971. Eve, a young artist, led by an inner impulse, hitches a ride on a yacht. Blurring the boundaries of reality, Eve finds a deep connection with the natural world.
Homeless people forage in the garbage of upmarket restaurants. A young mother feeds her baby then falls asleep in the alley and dreams of an elusive food bird. She is woken by the sound of a 'Hu-meat processing' helicopter which sucks up her dozing companions. She is left the lone survivor.
This is the story of a woman trying to come to terms with the breakdown of her marriage. Unable to control her violent temper, she lashes out at those closest to her... with fatal consequences.
Sebastian, a mute feral kid, attempts to come to terms with his sexuality under the watchful eye of an overbearing mother.
MOTOWN paints the portrait of a young woman, seeking shelter from her own thoughts in the late hours of the night. She goes to the one place where she knows she can find it: an empty concert hall in the middle of the city. A short story about the quietness of grief, and the solace of music.
MOVING is an extraordinary vignette about Melbourne's inner city street dwellers that attempts to debunk the myths surrounding the city's disenfranchised inhabitants. Providing a voice for an often silent and discriminated against minority, MOVING explores the fears, passions and desires of Melbourne's unemployed and homeless who have long been relegated to the fringes of an increasingly intolerant society.
Although deaf, Laura is able to hear and speak when she is with her imaginary friend, Mr Zee Zee. Laura and Mr Zee Zee try to comfort Lil whose recent abortion has brought on a crisis in her relationship with Adam.
How do you attract a man when there are cats coming out of your nose?
A story about the isolation felt by a ten-year-old boy in an adults' world and his reactions.
Richard's sister Millie wants to be a bodybuilder. What happens when she is a better boy than he is?
A visual exploration of the bush and sea ecology on the coastal fringes, and the repercussions of intrusions made that disturb the balance. A short experimental animated film in mixed media that combines painting, collage and photographic imagery in its journey.
Melbourne, Australia. One of the world's greatest live music cities. But is 'urban development' jeopardising this? Come on this musical tour of venues, stages, offices and Fitzroy alleys and meet some people who have a lot to win or lose.
A lift technician is driven insane by malevolent elevator music.
MY BEIJING FRIEND is a journey back home, back to a place that was once familiar. It is about our impulse to search for lost love, our longing for comfort in an increasingly strange world. It is about how pictures capture the moment, and the essence of history, thoughts and memories. It is a nostalgic journey, a melancholic travellers memoir of the heart.
For the people and their land.
Was it the porridge that killed my Granpa? Did Aunty June ever finish knitting that yellow cardy? Where was the band as man took his first step on the moon? Most importantly.... do my parents still think I'm perfect?!
Petrified by the possibility of inheriting her mother's 'madness' Geraldine Winchestor changes her name to Zoe, declares her mother is dead and leaves the country. Returning 15 years later, Zoe is reunited with two friends and the truth is finally revealed.
A satire of reality TV and a dark comic exploration into the power of the camera.
Bec's a single mother, she loves her little Jake. But she needs help - she's only 16. What do you do when your family harbours horrible secrets and when all the social workers seem to want is to take your baby away?
Hannie, an eight-year-old girl, lives in a house without photos. The arrival of Min, a portrait painter, leads to the return of the photos and a new understanding of the death of her brother.
Flat tyres, mystery calls. Cathy is being watched. Someone is following her, close as a shadow. Cathy tells her best friend. Heath already knows. The phone rings through the night. Is anyone listening?
Only doubt leads to truth? Behind Australia's biggest art theft lies more than the question of who committed the crime.
Novelty male stripper Ralph Little is called on a job at a hotel across town. Before he arrives, a hotel room number inadvertently changes, leading him into the wrong room. Inside the room, Ralph is greeted by a motley crew of criminal types. Sensing something amiss, but ever the conscientious worker, Ralph begins his pumping solo routine...
NAMEDAY is the story of a girl who comes home for her father's name day party. She has remembered an incident from her childhood that leads her to suspect her father is a murderer. Stalked by the woman she believes to be his victim, she returns home to discover that the woman is a mirror image of herself and bearer of the same name.
From a conversation between two small boys the story evolves.
An unusual thriller about magic, murder, urban witchdoctors and a TV set which has the power to trap people in their dreams. This is the story of how a woman disposes of an unwanted husband by committing the perfect murder.
A journey of two city women's initiations into the wild west tropical town of Broome. Together with insight from wise local Sharon, they explore the array of strange, uncomfortable and unexpected elements one must confront to fully embrace paradise as home.
Ruby Dyson plans to start her own lingerie business, but first she must lay to rest the ghost of her husband Bernie - killed in the Vietnam War.
What happens when something happens somewhere where nothing is supposed to happen?
'Even though I was surrounded by billions of people, living in a complex, sophisticated society, I still felt alone' - Spade. Spade is a horticulturist living in a future world where humans are no longer part of nature but have instead learnt to control it. Spade feels isolated and detached from his environment. He goes on a search for beauty and connection, trying to find what his soul has lost.
In a future when all humans are born under the ground, only some will get up to the surface: the ones that get the best score on their final exam.
For Ron, 31, the freedom of the bicycle courier lifestyle has meant he's never had to grow up. Eli, also 31, has stability through couriering, although he misses the punk lifestyle of his youth. Things are changing for them both. Through assessing the subculture of inner-city bicycle couriers, NEVERLAND explores the story of two 'boys' confronting the encroachment of adulthood.
A professional surfer gets pissed off with the politics of Pro Surfing and walks out on a contest to find the perfect wave.
Kitchens and bedrooms, crosswords and stamps, whispers and smiles left in the night.
In the dead of a lonely night Melbourne's Punjabi taxi drivers meet post shift at the Red Pepper Indian restaurant. Outsiders in a foreign land, they find solidarity and companionship by sharing the food, language, music and culture of their homeland. NIGHT FARE follows one driver as he steps out of the cold night and into the bustle of this early morning scene. What emerges is an impression of a lively and unknown pocket of a culture establishing itself in the heart of a sleeping metropolis.
A NIGHT OUT is the story of a relationship on the brink of change brought about by a senseless act of violence. A man is severely bashed and persecuted by a group of hoods for being in a place he shouldn't be, doing things he shouldn't do, but in whose eyes? Does he tell the police, does he tell anyone what really happened?
The psychological breakdown of a man as he is forced to confront his wartime demons.
A ferocious and cruel game, played by the big brother in the playground of the school, leaves the little brother scarred for life. Separated for 20 years, they meet again. A chance to reconcile differences is blown away by the torment of guilt and pleasure of revenge.
Isabel is pregnant and comes home to see her father. She finds him in the midst of scientific experiments and learns about her own past.
Man hunts fish. A distorted perspective on the cycle of life.
Henry, an out of work freelance obituary writer, writes his own obituary and starts his strange life over.
A claymation with live pixillation inserts about Phoebe, a bulimic osteopath, who is obsessed with bodies and eating, and which features transformation fantasies of flesh into food.
Three ornamental ducks who used to hang on a wall are in a flap as they try to find their way back to the lounge. Will they make it? Or do they fall fowl of their own enthusiasm?
The rhythm of daily life proves too much for this woman and her loaded trolley.
ON A SHOESTRING explores the schizophrenic nature of finding oneself, through the complex and suspenseful backpacker, searching through a world where nothing is what it seems.
Tara sets off on an 800 kilometre walk across Spain, a pilgrimage to Santiago. What will she find on the long journey: an escape; a hundred cures for blisters; or a chance to journey within?
Geoff lives alone forgotten and derelict when talkback radio changes the way he sees himself and his lost daughter.
Homo Sapien remembers that there is a window in his room. An alien stands in a forest watching something Homo Sapien calls 'progress'. Homo Sapien meets himself and realises that he is 'on the move' towards destruction.
A chance encounter with ex-boyfriend Phil in a bar brings back memories of one of the most unhappy times in George's life. What follows is a series of surreal encounters which help to lead George to a moment of transition.
ONE GIANT LEAP is the story of Theodore, an 'Astro-Chimp' who is sent on an experimental space mission into the great unknown during the late 1950s, the era of the 'space-race'.
Two young students are tied up by a speed dealer who claims their housemate owes him money. The dealer is in debt, and someone's coming to collect. Who will live? Who will die? And what will the neighbours say?
Expanding from an idea originally conceived as a manner of cinematic intervention in British television, the discipline of the one-minute film continues to bear fruit as a tree of quick wit. But even in its successful brevity, it is not just a mode for getting to a point. Like this one: a dry run, a probable sketch for another work, interrupting itself, tripping itself upwards and backwards, some films are best just for the notions they play around with.
ONE WAY TICKET TO PORNLAND portrays the lead-up to the release of local independent band Pornland's first album. Forget Spinal Tap and enjoy the wild and colourful journey to Pornland.
When the Albion Footy Club is thrown out of the competition because they haven't had a win for six years, a couple of the players decide they aren't going to roll over and take it.
The first cut is the deepest. Sarah's learnt to have an open mind. Sarah's father learnt about her and Damien. Damien's going to have to learn to cope.
Night in a small country town. Someone has lit a bonfire in the school oval. An exuberant Halloween party is in progress. Andrew, the new foster kid, and his computer hacker sidekick Ben have broken into the science lab. OPERATION DOSTOYEVSKY is a macabre mystery about friendship, loss and the strange, vivid world that is childhood.
As Jason tries to find his way in life, his choices are minimised by a psychopath who forcibly tattoos Jason's entire body. Now, with horrible scars, Jason grabs the nearest opportunity.
Dissatisfied with his life as a gigolo, Knox seeks a way out. Finding his wealthy biological parents would seem to be the key, however a grim reality check lies in wait for him.
A long distance relationship waits no longer, after a secret decision is made to find its future.
A young boy takes a photograph of a stranger and is slowly consumed by the man's soul.
Reverend Walsh has lost his faith. He finds it increasingly difficult to preach. Into his life comes the visitor, a ten year-old girl named Ruby Rae. With disturbing speed a mysterious relationship unfolds. Who is Ruby Rae? It is a tale of healing, redemption and the timeless quality of soul connections.
Two refugees of a different kind discover that freedom isn’t necessarily a way of life in Australia.
Alice believes she caused the accident that jeopardized her father's eyesight. Her guilt is interwoven with her obsession about an impending eclipse and her belief that she is mysteriously connected to outer space. As the sky darkens, Alice remembers the moment that shattered her life - the moment of impact.
Set in the Australian outback, OUZO, a bull terrier, shares his cruel and rugged life story with a fellow inmate from the confines of the Alice Springs pound.
Bert and Rose embark on a road trip through life - only who's driving who?
In a sea of people rushing within the confines of an industrial age, one man feels sometimes a little out of place, but it's not until dealing with the architects of this fabricated world that he feels really hopeless.
In a world of connections, Brian is disconnected. He is alone and longing for home. All the while, the paper-thin walls of his city apartment hint at a very different life next door. The orgasmic groans of his neighbour Kelly infiltrate his life and lead him to do the one thing he never thought he'd do: knock on her door.
This is the story of a war which continues long after its conclusion. Alice and Lewis, two young confused burglars, break into a house in an isolated coastal stretch of Australia. Then they unexpectedly meet the house's resident...
Troy Judas is rich. Troy Judas is famous. Troy Judas is bored. Troy Judas has paracopria.
This film explores the issue of cultural identity, amidst the changing attitudes towards multiculturalism in Australia, through the memories of three generations of a Chinese-Australian family.
Frustrated with her 9-5 office existence, Helen convinces her partner, Ciaran, to open a restaurant. she overcomes his initial reluctance with flattery. He is after all, 'the best chef in Melbourne'. They bring on board their close friend Sally to help with the project. All goes well until a sudden disaster exposes a dark secret and tests their loyalty to each other.
Is the soul an infinite entity? If so, what does this say about our relationship with other people and the choices we make for our lives?
A travelling circus goes bankrupt and the cruel trainer sells off it's only asset, a performing bear, to three businessmen. They take him to the edge of the woods and let him go.... only to hunt him for sport. While they look for him the bear finds an old bike and rides away to freedom!
A high-school graduate, a laid off worker, and a retired racehorse face uncertain futures in a small town.
A humorous look at sexual harassment.
Pavov is a reclusive immigrant who suffers from mental illness, only able to relax in his home. Even the safety of his own home offers him no protection from the aching pain in his head and the perils of everyday life. Armed only with a can of insecticide, Pavlov battles his fears and paranoia for his own peace of mind.
A Greek widow decides to leave everything behind and embarks on a journey to the Murrumbidgee
A pirate in a sea of princesses meets a Polish gymnast. Eight-year-old Roxy is introduced to the intricacies of family loyalty at her parents' P party.
How far would you go for a friend? Abby and Jared spend the diminishing moments of their childhood coming to terms with events that force them to run away from the country town they once called home.
Is the planet heading for doom and chaos in society? Is it a plan to destroy the Earth or are the leaders just idiots?
Josh loves planes blindly. By failing to appreciate his mother's unconditional affection, he risks losing it.
Evan's world is a dark one. It is only his imagination that affords him some escape. The outside world's harshness leads him finally to subversion and his escape is complete.
A young boy trains to get a plastic bag over his head in under 0.02 of a second. Why?
As a successful paparazzo, Trace's world starts to crumble around him when a mysterous photographer starts stealing his work. Perhaps what goes around comes around after all...or does it?
He doesn't think he can fly anymore. She collects the feathers to build the wings so that he may fly. But first he has to take the PLUNGE.
Lewis Ferrier, a feisty fisherman of 73 who works out of Queenscliff at the heads of Port Phillip Bay, takes us on a trip and explains the waters he knows so well. Simultaneously we board a container ship with the pilot who takes her in through the treacherous heads.
Jude Ransom is a private detective who solves his cases by remote control, using surveillance probes he has built to enter the surreal world of the 'outside', but the killer consistently show he is a little more resilient than machines.
Samantha and Colin are your average young couple. Amidst preparation for a coming hair show, talk of a secret and well-earned holiday are shattered by a rash, petty moment. Reflecting back, have they missed an opportunity forever?
An elderly postman lives alone and lonely following the death of his wife. An act of kindness towards a young boy opens up his life again through the game of chess. But when the boy moves away, the post takes on a new significance for the postman.
Robbie's nightmare of a day job lets him see into the wild and disturbed world of the lonely. The job causes friction upon his relationship with his partner, Felicity. Robbie wants to paint instead of work. Annoyed with the same pattern of the everyday, she leaves him for a few days. When she returns things have changed.
When do you know that an addiction has gone to far? For Robert, what begins as innocent curiosity soon becomes an unusual obsession. As he descends into a world of positivity, his reality begins to fall apart around him. He is about to discover that while some things may appear harmless on the surface, you can never judge a book by its cover.
A haunting domestic story that invites reflection on mortality, premonition and the anxiety of motherhood.
Robert thinks his Dad is coming to find him. But it is in Robert's dreams and friendships that he begins to find himself.
PRIVATE EYE is a documentary that challenges the archetypal Hollywood Private Investigator.
Penny Gosonki has to face the loneliness of being the sole family survivor with the striking family attribute of a very large nose. A completely bizarre film with a black and white visual vaudeville style.
As technology advances we find ourselves more and more able to dream whatever we please: yet find ourselves less and less capable of actually living these dreams. We turn in on ourselves, and live out our lives entirely by proxy.
The vagrant Bill risks life and limb to present his beautiful daughter with the perfect birthday present
An army boxer returns from war to the boxing ring. As the cycle of violence begs to be continued, he begins to recognise the true enemy.
Simon is recording his life on video. Tania and Alice are in an editing room trying to put the pieces together.
Join the swinging singles scene in search of love in a cocktail lounge. A comedy of manners about love, lust and loneliness. Derrick is a desperately lonely supermarket manager looking for a girlfriend. He'll try anything. Phillip's an established designer failing to woo Chelsea, a beautiful young 'wanna be' woman of the world. Wayne and Garrick are on the prowl. They live together and they work together but most of all they hate each other. Could a night on the town be the answer to all their problems. They're desperate! They're lonely! They're taking a chance! They're the PUNTERS!
Extraordinary imagery conveys the unhappy history of a relationship between two men.
A documentary that examines the day to day workings of a door-to-door distribution company.
As Trev sits down for lunch the lines between reality and video games become blurred.
Time, space and the human face.
Feminine lady, butch-dyke, bitch, beauty? QUEENY takes us on a journey towards the unknowable, the unwinnable, the unobtainable feminine, through local hotels, football, Tabaret's and the city streets of Melbourne we meet a cast of quirky characters who tell us what they really think of Queeny.
A woman discovers she is leaking.
How much trouble can two guys get into in 24 hours? Heaps. Especially when you live in the corporate world of 2005 and your boss is coming for a visit.
Victor is the head of a multimillion dollar company and seems to have everything going for him. After years of striking fear in all living creatures, his past comes back to haunt him.
In a remote landscape a rabbit is on a quest to win his son over and away from his life.
A short film about a young mother with postnatal depression. If only Amy could take a rain check.
Moira is a young artist who lets the chaos of her creative world flow over into her every day life. She is struggling artistically and financially so when she wins $10,000 on a scratch lotto ticket she thinks all her problems will be solved. Unfortunately her boyfriend Chris has different ideas about what they should do with the money. This problem becomes academic when the ticket disappears, so Moira sets out to find it. But has it disappeared into the mess or has Chris taken matters into his own hands? As Moira searches she discovers things that change her relationship with her art and Chris.
A girl in a red hood meets a stranger in the woods on the way to her grandmother's house. This urban reworking of a classic fairy tale explores the enduring story of the difficult journey into womanhood.
A modern fairy tale about love and letting go, chance and fate, and the magical qualities of red lollies.
Chaotic circles, born in China, unhomely at home: a daughter leads her father into a bloody situation, and a forbidden fantasy.
Red's feelings have been numbed by the past. Her life is recorded in a series of fragmented photos and discarded memories. In one moment she is faced with the opportunity to stop living in fear and get back what she lost a long time ago.
A teenage girl weaves an Irish creation myth around her surroundings in order to escape her troubled home life.
Isolated in her inner-city warehouse a woman works describing objects for a writer, objects that lead her into the confused world of her childhood and memories that can take a lifetime to heal... if she lets them.
Victor Pliaskin takes us on his family journey - over 100 years from Siberia to Australia. The family escaped the Communist regime twice, lived through the Japanese occupation in Harbin, finally escaping to Australia in '54.
On the set of an animated soap opera the plasticine figures decide to have a drink at the bar set, after work. However on this night out everyone goes a little crazy, resulting in sex, death and rock 'n' roll.
Our lives are like the wind...or like sounds. We come into being, resonate with each other...then fade away.
Live through one Saturday night shift with these three restaurant workers! Find out what's going on behind those smiles! Learn how to have 50 relationships in one night!
He's a gambler and she's beginning to hate him for it. He's out of control, she'll have one chance to leave him, but it's not going to be easy.
A pet cat, Jeb, returns in alien guise to grant his master his 'wish'. A story about reincarnation, misguided intentions and pet ownership.
A comedy about the 'Second Coming'.
Out in a southern desert a different philosophy is being practised. One man held prisoner held by millions. Their money keeps him in a mental prison. Can he ever be saved or will he forever just hope of finding home? Inspired by the true story of Manu Island's lone detention seeker.
A semi-naked man stands by the window. Silk ribbons and broken glass lie on the floor. On the bed lies a battered woman. Who is the victim? A very short film about two people looking for love.
Taz Cooper was a talented young pro surfer who blew his one chance at the world title. A year and a half later he returns to his home town of Torquay to seek out his estranged father, whom he has not spoken to for three years.
Alex is a drummer without a drum kit. He cleans toilets for a living while his best friend keeps calling, tempting him with the idea of making a band in Venezuela. He's stuck, until a taxi ride changes his life...
Set against the colourless backdrop of a Melbourne Housing Commission Estate, 'Rise' is a visual account of a largely unknown environment. As the camera moves through the building, a series of portraits unfold, telling the stories of people from a wide range of backgrounds. In the context of high density living, 'Rise' is a celebration of the individual.
Looi Fresco enters the city in search of love.
Roberta is making a video for her lost son she gave up for adoption 17 years ago. Although her sister adopted the child, she is forced to delve into her past for clues to where the two might be. By facing her past, she learns what is now more important in her future.
Alone on the road, fear is what you know and what you don't know.
On 28 August 1999 a group of people met in Warrnambool, Victoria. Hairdressers, bank managers, zoologists and students. This unlikely group came together from different nations with one goal - to travel the Great Ocean Road. No-one knew what they were in store for when they stepped on the bus. They were just looking for adventure.
See it, seek it, find it.
Berlin, Winter 1919. A woman is murdered, her body thrown into the Landwehr canal. Slowly the enigma around that woman unravels, the circumstances that led to her death and the people involved. A political intrigue is unveiled.
Rose is struggling to begin life again after her marriage break-up. Everyone knows what's best for her. Rose has to decide for herself.
It's sheep shearing time and Tom is sent to work as a rouseabout on a friend's farm. Back breaking work, a pretty farm girl and a dangerous driver ensure Tom is tested at all levels. The biggest test though is dealing with a buried memory.
Travelling with the runner, her feet hit silent and imagined landscapes. Physical and virtual motion moving closer together...
When Andrew is offered a career opportunity in London, he and his girlfriend Sam, need to confront their issues with independence, future and family. A moving love story which challenges our values and priorities, letting us see that not everybody sacrifices the same things.
THE SACRIFICE takes a look at how Australia commemorates its war history from an outsider's point of view.
Bosco the clown is sad. He has just lost his wife and he is looking for a way out. However committing suicide is not that easy when you are a cartoon character.
Mia is eternally single because she is terrified of answering questions about her past. Then she discovers a way to keep her secrets hidden. The Secrets Safe. Can you let love in if you lock away your past?
A story of young love, like salt on your skin and your heart in your mouth, this feels blue and green.
On the day of his mother's funeral Ernest Ness makes a discovery that changes his life. He asks only one question, and the answer is as clear as the writing on the wall.
Set in the 21st century a woman undergoes plastic surgery to please her husband and her male dominated society. She is rejected, when the surgery fails, causing an unpredictable reaction by her husband resulting in a tormenting climax.
A journey into a forgotten, grinding ocean, where a weeping boat carries a haunted presence.
Peg, an eccentric Irish woman decides to pack up and return to her old home town. She commandeers her great niece, Joanna, still disillusioned after the break up of her own romance, to take her. After an eventful and madcap trip they arrive in time for Peg to make her final peace. A poignant tale of forgiveness.
A father's passion for a game becomes an obsession, turning his son's love for him into fear.
Tough. Boring. Tough. Boring. Tough. Boring. Tough. Boring. Security guards: cardboard cut-out beefcakes or real people?
Confronted by an unacceptable reality, Libby escapes into her Dolly Parton fantasy while Matt retreats to his night shift. A prostitute, her client and a hens' night finally force them to face the day. A beautifully shot film that deals with men's issues in a poignant and revealing way.
Are we ever completely honest with the person we love? During a night out Marie and Julian will confront the nature of their relationship, and each other.
Irene looks for peace as relationships continue to disintegrate around her. As she watches her grandmother die she finds serenity in imitating her death. In the end she abandons the people around her.
Food! Fetish! Fantasy! A psychedelic fairytale for the post-modern sadist in celebration of the female sexual liberation.
Set around the Housing Commission flats of Collingwood, Melbourne. Somewhere in the urban landscape, alienation is a menace. Soon an entity is about to be released from all its earthly desires. Someone has died and a new mythology is being born.
In a world of claustrophobic interiors, loneliness causes us to imagine other realities. It is the collusion of our imagined and natural worlds that leads us to the surface of things.
Wendy is having boyfriend troubles and no one will listen to her side of the story. 'Don't worry, she'll be apples.' Or will she? A story about blind love, witchcraft and cannibalism.
A deliciously black insight into baby-rage.
In the dawn light of another day, a lonesome figure begins a process - a ritual over 4000 years old. While the tools may have changed, the idea and meaning has not. Take a glimpse into the closed world of Chevra Kadisha and Ephraim Finch - our guide and 'shomer'.
Pete, an ageing career shoplifter struggles to keep control of his family and his life, a black dramedy.
The story of how one lone, enraged young woman protests against a billboard campaign that sees giant breasts used to advertise men's shoes.
Paul spends his nights composing music on his computer and listening to Sophie who lives upstairs. Their paths cross one night when an unwanted and drunken visitor knocks on Paul's door looking for someone called 'Paula'. Despite the fact that they are both unsure of what they want from each other, Sophie and Paul begin an unusual friendship when Paul arrives at The Daily Planet where Sophie works as a prostitute...
Graham is a physician. Karl is an unwell Bavarian. When Karl states that his crazy wife is sneaking 'alternative medicine' into his pill jars, Graham sets about restoring the desperate Karl to health. Karl, deeply conservative, trusts Graham completely...
This is the extraordinary story of the 'showies', a unique group who performed to crowds around Australia, enthralling them with wondrous feats of skill, illusion and the extraordinary. These were the true showmen who brought colour and life to a unique world known as Sideshow Alley.
When seven-year-old Lucy has her cochlear implant turned on and ventures for the first time into the hearing world, she opens a rupture between herself and her deaf mother.
A woman sits alone on a bench taking in the ebb and flow of her surroundings after she receives devastating news. The world goes on around her as she waits for a mobile call. She will have to find the words to tell her husband what has happened.
The only thing more terrifying than the first ten minutes of this film...is the last five.
Twelve-year-old Simon is drowning when he meets the girl next door. Simon says it is time to stay afloat.
Luisa is an Italian-Australian woman running from her past into an uncertain future. Escape? To where? And how? Life tumbles past her until she is driven to find a place for herself in the world.
A restless spirit seeks her identity. What is it to belong and who is family?
Ari, a recent migrant, meets his friends at the pub to celebrate his newly acquired Australian citizenship. A strange scar on his neck tells the story of a far from-smooth-experience.
Cockroach is an ex-con fascinated by entomology. After a one night stand his tattoos become itchy causing flashbacks and he begins to undergo a transformation.
SKUD is a gritty, passionate film about a young woman boxer, Tasha, who is drawn to the edge of existence through her friendship with Matt, a homeless youth, who introduces her to the adrenalin and danger of trainsurfing. A contemporary story told in classic black and white social-realist style, SKUD draws on the stark industrial landscape of inner-urban Melbourne in its depiction of youth alienation. Out of this bleakness, two kindred spirits share their passions for boxing and trainsurfing and forge an unexpected friendship - that takes them both to the edge...
An elderly woman attempts to write a romantic novel, but her characters are not co-operating.
Marianne is a sleepwalker. The city streets at night, she's making something. She's not sure what it is yet.... But it's still growing.
As we emerge from the misty layers of sleep, fleeting moments evaporate into the light of day. Yet perhaps the world of dreams has something to tell us, if only we would listen...
A childhood memory of opportunity lost.
A man struggles without his wife, a little girl loses her tooth and a boy reacts the only way he knows how. Small change can make all the difference.
At an isolated property two men meet, each with a dark purpose.
Everybody gets smashed on Friday.
Caught in a gender-defined war of words, Max and Campbell casually struggle for clarity in a world full of contradictions. Initiated by Sunday lunch with the folks their war of wills rages until all the words run out. Do Max and Campbell yield to the rhetoric or do they dare take the leap together?
Australia, two guys, a small room, 63 deadly snakes...only one man is at home.
The irresistible force meets the immovable object. A man's persistence leads him on an uncertain journey. A fast paced 'stop motion' film. It explores an unoccupied room where common objects obstruct a man's curiosity.
A boy, a man and the space between...Snow covers all.
A French guest in a hotel in Melbourne does not want the bar soaps in his room. He leaves a note to the maid asking her to remove the soaps. She leaves a note stating that she can't because of the hotel rules. When bureaucracy makes two individuals struggle.
In 1946, George Orwell wrote about the misuse of language for political gain. Sixty years on, the Howard government has mastered it.
To survive the past Sol seeks simplicity and solitude. To survive loneliness Luciana seeks to keep her dreams alive. Thin walls can't keep out the sounds of younger passions and new pains, solitude seems unattainable and nothing is simple.
A love story about angry youth, sex, drugs and rock n' roll.
It's a quiet afternoon. Danny is locked in the house while Cathy happens to visit this old home. They don't do much, but talk, smile, remember and sigh with a closed door between them.
A competitive diver faces her fears while taking on new heights.
Two teenage boys hang around a suburban carpark. A woman walks by in the distance. Jack suggests they follow her. Ange reluctantly agrees. Where will the pursuit take them?
A mixed tape, a fantasy and a car: the day Katie runs away.
An extravagantly psychedelic musical illustrating a young man's rapidly approaching death.
Our super-hero no longer knows if this is the world or something she thought of.
A very successfully realised visual narrative which creates a kaleidoscope of images. A man's imagination oscillates from past to present, recreating the moments which led to the accidental death of his sister. He struggles to forgive himself.
Sound Scrap are an Aussie three piece band dreaming of making it big. They might make it, they might not. But in the end they play a gig they will never forget.
A man with no future has a chance encounter with a homeless man whose past tells a story.
A neglected goldfish takes revenge on its careless TV-watching owners and their pet dog.
Two tenants. One parking space. Winner takes all.
For the last 40 years the Spanish community in Melbourne has been getting together in the Spanish Club. Most of them haven't integrated into Australian culture and the Club is their only place to socialise. But the light of the club is fading away.
Seven children, one old lady and a soccer ball that's gone astray. If the children want their ball back they're gonna have to speak softly please to Mrs Babajaga.
A man becomes increasingly obsessed with catching the spiders that have infested his basement.
A litter of kittens ignite a fierce sensuality in three little girls. Dolled in white tulle and lace, the girls paw and purr with the silver cats. As their games evolve, the claws come out. The girls prowl about the candy-pink dollhouse ready to pounce. This is the end of innocence.
It's every cliché ever heard, it's the macho, sexist world of Rock 'n Roll. This is the tale of the crude, lewd and wickedly shrewd Chaz Beaumont and his number one client, sad old fart rock star... Spliff Mosely. The King of 'Cock Rock'!
Two people come to a house to have some 'fun'. But it looks like their coats and hats left on hat stands by the door know much more about friendship than themselves.
The journey of a spoon as it is passed on between different characters who inhabit the same apartment complex.
A haircut and shave sparks a storm when a mysterious customer enters a barber's shop in the dead of night.
After being dumped by his girlfriend, a man experiences his loneliness and isolation as a cosmic melodrama.
A brutal clash between dominance and submission as Jessie makes a return to her past.
In the office, the tools of the trade are what matter most. For Howard, there can never be enough of this most precious commodity.
An elite team of super fighters called the 'Stealth Panthers' save the earth from the 'Widow of Death' and her army of evil.
If everyone at Porsorsky Investments could stop thinking about missing pens, filing systems, hot coffee, cigarettes and pristine lakes, perhaps they might notice that the building is being demolished around them. A child's vision of the absurd machinations of an adult world.
Edith lives her life between two worlds - as she crosses from one to the other her family is left to negotiate the white water of her wake.
In this extraordinary plasticine animation, Eddie, a local pub patron, remembers the time when he was shot down in World War II and refuses to let go of his memories.
Carmel blames the world and it's social structure for her problems. Her refusal to wear glasses has cost her pain and money for all the car accidents she's had. Through an unexpected car accident Carmel learns that there is humanity left in today's society.
Families are the strangest things. Grieving families even stranger.
As New Year's Eve approaches, things are hotting up at the croquet club. Freda who loves Cec wants to go to the ball. Cec who loves Freda just wants to sail away. You're never too old for true love or croquet.
Amidst the industrial suburbs of Melbourne, Yvonne stalks a night shift worker whom she has never met. A highway pub, Australian Crawl and redundancy blur into the early hours of the morning.
A lone violin player tries to earn a few coins while the whole world erupts around him.
If someone dies in an unusual or traumatic way down on the Mornington Peninsular, chances are Henry Tyme is not far away. As a freelance news cameraman, or 'stringer', Henry uses his network of contacts to film death and destruction, fueling the vision-driven machine of network news.
The dream-like atmosphere of Elizabeth's fragile world is upset when Elizabeth's partner, Jo, invades her physical and mental space.
Barry and Sally are stuck in a toilet. They aren't going anywhere until they can produce the $100,000 of heroin needed to close the deal with the drug lords that lurk outside. There's just one problem. Sally is constipated and they're running out of time.
Max handles bees. Humans are a little more difficult. When a young runaway, Lena, crashes her way into his world, Max gets stung.
Set in Australia during the 1920s this story is about Rosie, her family, their annual holiday and the stupid piano.
Alex is in a loveless relationship. Her life is about to change. THE SUIT is a film about friendship and betrayal. In love so much is left unspoken.
The relationship between a taxi driver and his soon-to-be-a-doctor son sours as the latter increasingly seeks independence from a father whose pride in his ungrateful child is slowly becoming envy.
SUPA DUPA SANTA is a 'coming of age' story of how Tim found out that Santa wasn't real and how his father rediscovered his son.
Only one thing keeps Nancy and Narelle going - the sure thing. Throughout their days of school-room drudgery and deadening home-life, they dream of the place where all hopes can be realised - America. Suddenly, their dream is within reach.
Andie was born with a condition called Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome or AIS (incorrectly labeled 'Hermaphrodite'). At five, doctors made a terrible error by deciding she should live as a boy. 'Some times there are walls in my dreams; white walls with squares and scales marked on them'.
A rollicking comedy that may be more chaos than coincidence when a desperate cocktail waitress causes all sorts of trouble in a desperate bid to save her father from jail. She steals a bribe from a policeman taking his pants and heart with her. With a procession of baddies and other absurdities following, our star-crossed lovers land in a world more bizarre than the one they left.
Love hearts drawn in fog, breaking and entering, sweetness and light.
This is a story of a family's journey, and how this year, their annual summer pilgrimage to the seaside acts as a catalyst for their world suddenly turning upside down.
Asian drivers. The pub with no beer. And one man's idea of heaven and hell.
Entree: Obsessive desire with confusion. Main Course: Pride and jealousy in a bed of deceit. Dessert: Honest Chaos.
In outback Wittenoom, life's becoming increasingly insular. The government claims this ex-asbestos mining town is polluted, attempting to shut the town by bulldozing buildings and cutting off power. Now nature's taking over. Yet eight determined residents of the once boomtown remain.
TALA is a story about the relationship between Beena and her mother Maya. The story centres on an event that will change their relationship forever. It is a story about imperfections and forgiveness.
A child battles with his adult ego revealing lies, frustration, simple pleasures and some good jazz.
At 20 you think you're gonna conquer the world and in a (nano)second you're somewhere else entirely.
Commonplace objects flow into a gentle dance of everyday living. TANGO is a dark, sometimes humorous insight into a woman's experiences with mortality.
Suz likes animal magnetism in her men. She is on a roller coaster with bad boy Pete. Enter Danny, a chef with a difference. As things go sour with Pete, Danny offers Suz something sweet and a little spicy. Whether Suz is game for Danny's offer is all a matter of taste in this delicious gender-bending comedy drama.
In 2000 can you still find a man made, original and personal cake or garment? Follow two passionate, opinionated and generous mass-production rebels. One is a pastry chef, the other a couturier. You will never look at cakes or clothes with the same eyes.
Newbie queer teen, Ben is faced with the realities of his recently discovered sexual/gender identity when he is caught up in a homophobic police drug-raid in a gay nightclub in 1994. Inspired by a true event.
Ngal, an urban Aboriginal youth, yearns for reconnection with his ancestral heritage. His quest is his own initiation. Unable to access a traditional scarification ceremony he enters a modern tattoo parlour. There the past and present merge as he tries to find himself.
TAXITHI is about two journeys. An overnight trip to country Victoria by a group of Greek senior citizens, and the director's journey in discovering her parents. It is a story of friendship and identity told with humour, irony and tenderness.
At drama school your teacher is like a god. What happens when god loses his mind?
You can look but don't touch.
In these times of immorality and debauchery, layman John and his friends seek to educate the masses. A quirky but essential guide for all and a homage to Christian sex education films, Teen Christian Beach Party seeks to inform teenagers about 'common sense' ways of handling temptations of the flesh and the consequences that can follow.
Jenn's saucy drawer of love has been bumped open by passion. What emerges is a jealous force that threatens to cut off the competition, unless his batteries run out first.
A dance film that traces the mythical journey of a woman forced from the conscious world into the underworld where she must confront her fears, madness and 'death'.
Terry Eichler was conscripted when he was 22 years of age. He served in Vietnam. Thirty years later the war still goes on - in his dreams and in his artwork.
Two lesbians want a baby but they need help and a bit of good luck. THANKS FOR COMING - a semenal work. An immaculate conception.
Against his better judgement a hearse driver gives a young, charismatic man a lift to the coast in this compelling odd couple/road movie.
A lone man, diagnosed with a life changing condition, returns to his home town looking to make amends with the people from his past. But he has more than one debt to repay.
Jodie wants her brother. But Johnnie is lost. Raging, lonely and profoundly confused, he exudes a dangerous energy. As Jodie further immerses herself into Johnny's hell, she has to make a choice between self-preservation and the pain of loving a damaged soul.
This is the story of two young bodybuilders. They train, eat and pose together. Friendship is challenged as they fight it out for the junior title of the upcoming Musclemania contest.
It's like an empty feeling at the moment. Still, I don't know, it's like having something taken away from you, it's like a partner or a friend having the heroin.
70-year-old Betty has mothered Shane for 35 years. In fact he has never left home. When she decides to buy him the only thing she can't give him, things don't go exactly to plan.
Cindy is a baton twirler with the Southern Twirlettes. Make-up, hair, letards, sequins and stockings...she looks like she fits in. She's just beginning to feel like she doesn't.
An elderly man in a nursing home discovers that gravity makes time go slower and, because he is sleeping on the top bunk, he lives three seconds less than the man below him. He must convince the man below to swap with him at any cost.
Natalie has to work late. Milk has some laying to do. Doug can't get the message. The noise is pounding in Natalie's head. Something has to give...Thump! Thump! Thump!
A fantastic observation of one woman's relationship with society.
A young woman in medieval times forms a relationship with an older pagan woman. In an increasingly Christian world their liaison must lead to tragedy.
What do you talk about when you are not ready to say goodbye? Daylight savings.
Tania Lacy and Sophie Lee star in this all-singing, all-dancing trip down the aisle of romance. That's the supermarket aisle actually! A hilarious musical comedy about love, checkouts and bleaching cream.
A documentary studying various women's attitudes to marriage through their attraction to being 'the bride'. Big weddings and their trappings are increasing rather than decreasing in popularity. The film examines the beautiful, perfect image of the bride. This image is something that many women still aspire to, sometimes without fully considering the realities of the marriage after 'the day'.
Minor is built for one purpose, but the industrialists are denying him his lifeblood to shore up their own greedy needs.
In a surreal mime warehouse the boss lowers the overheads on his workers. But after almost being crushed they fight back and earn black belts in Industrial Relations. (May contain nuts, acrobatics and mock German Expressionism).
When an unknown abductor snatches Angela and Ethan's child from an isolated road-stop, the young couple are compelled to confront their fears and differences in a journey that takes them to the edge of existence.
A working theatre actor questions her calling when she plays Lady Macduff in an increasingly violent production of Shakespeare's Macbeth, with an internationally celebrated director.
TOUCH is what happens when you have a young man barge his way into a closed barber shop and insist on a haircut with only one condition: 'Don't Touch Me'. TOUCH is a visceral reverie of pain, memory and transition. Remember the first cut is the deepest.
A film exploring relationships - family and personal. The way people change and view their past and present.
In the currency of sexual relationships you can sometimes get a bad exchange rate. For Janine and Simon deep-seated emotional needs bind them to one another despite the threat of destruction and loss of innocence. Something has to give, and it does.
Distortions of nature in cities. A family in transit. They float in moments of their life, between departure and destination and the unfamiliarity of a landscape. Their night in transit makes them, too, a distortion of nature in a city.
When Jody ran away, she was looking for trouble. When she met Frank, she found it.
Rosy's journey from a world of oppression, into another. Meeting characters that confirm there is no resolution.
Do you choose the one who loves you or the one who you love? The night will tell...
An insidiously powerful corporation has developed technology to access and record visual imagination. They experiment on the artistic and the insane. When the order comes to kill one of their subjects to capture death's imagery, the two researchers respond in very different ways.
What do TV commercial characters do when their 30 seconds is up? A film about television's romance with sex, death and fast food.
Jeff and John are both previous winners of the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph. Join them as they journey towards this year's competition held in country Victoria, to find out who can rightly state claim to 'Australia's Best Vanilla Slice'.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... real films were about real people.
Attempting to reconcile the recent absence of his mother, Jason consistently seeks approval from his father, an army corporal. His father's aggressive attempts to make him a soldier fuel Jason's obsession with fire. It is from these ashes that Jason finally emerges.
TRUST is a powerful, moving autobiographical film that recreates unmentionable childhood experience with brutal honesty. Traumatic memories are explored as the filmmaker takes the audience on a personal quest for healing. After a betrayal of innocence, is forgiveness possible?
Angus and David are off for a dirty weekend in the country; a distraction from exams and relationship troubles. Enter Julie, a pain as a far as David is concerned, but a boisterous, good friend of Angus, who has more than friendship in mind.
A surrealistic, animated journey under the tuxedo moon.
Les Twentyman has dedicated himself to youth work. He has given up his privacy, has received death threats from the public, and has been physically attacked by his clients. Stabbed, shot and over-exposed, what keeps him going?
Erica never had her mother's eyes. Blessed with perfect vision she could always find what was considered lost. As a child she finds her sight can be powerful and she takes advantage of her short sighted mother. As an adult she becomes haunted by the past and the treasures she secretly laid claim to.
Two waitpersons, Elaine and Lisa, exact revenge on their clientele of beatnik wannabes and ex-boyfriends with a stolen mobile phone, a Visa card and a 0055 number.
We feel uncomfortable when beggars approach us for money. But what happens when we take the time to find out who they really are?
On the eve of being sent to the Middle East, Danielle and her estranged father Geoff, a Vietnam Veteran, hit the road to visit a dying mate...Two soldiers...Two wars...One journey.
Life, death and transformation. A symbolic visual poem of the fight against darkness.
A seemingly innocent rose of delicate proportions and heavenly scent kindles a passion between two unlikely souls, wreaking havoc with their hearts when destiny decides their fates.
An installation screen-based projection exploring themes around female objectification and the male gaze.
The biography of a humble man, his lemon tree, chihuahua and crumpets.
Home is like an invisible piece of string you cannot cut, a dream, an aspiration that shapes who you are. This documentary explores how two refugee girls struggle to survive in a new cultural landscape and under a different sun.
Fi Fi ends an uncomfortable relationship.
Some days it's hard not to be just swept along by things. But remember every cloud has a silver lining.
Is a hug just a hug, or something more? Bank manager, Peter Marshall, can't define between the two. Is his wife Kara having an affair or is it just a figment of his imagination? It's driving Peter crazy with jealousy. He must know everything, no matter what lengths he has to go to.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS is a short film chronicling the results from giving a child away. In this case, the child is born of an Indigenous father and a mother of English descent. It investigates the profound emotional issues faced by these individuals and explores the cause behind the effect. It helps us to see that every action delivers with it a long ranging web of consequences.
Christian Savage, a 12-year-old farm boy, spends his childhood years with Nyadze, the son of his mother's Zulu domestic worker. Growing up in vastly different cultures, the boys explore the delights of rural Africa - the land, the people and their religions. Doubts grow in Christian and he questions his destructive church until one day his friend's beliefs are etched in his soul forever.
It is unpleasant when two girlfriends bitch about their best friend on her wedding day. It is unfortunate that their best friend can hear them.
Nearing the end of his years, Richard, a successful businessman is now left to roam his empty mansion, contemplating the sins of his past.
The promise of power without consequences brings a new breed of prospectors to a little community at the bottom of the world. Trouble is brewing.
UNTITLED is an incisive collection of oxymorons accompanied by the true story of Mili. This experimental short film urges us to look at the extraordinary contradictions in our ordinary lives. UNTITLED is a social commentary that carries absurd logic to a new level.
Bea, 44, is pregnant but isn't sure if she wants to be. Her husband, Spencer, and lover, Eric, each wish to be the father. A poignant look at sexual politics.
An angry and alienated father with limited access to his son makes sure that he and his son will never again be parted.
Verna has an accident. Victor has problems. Electricity. Lies behind everything. Like an invisible liquid.
Examination of elevator etiquette and architecture.
On the night of Angie's 21st birthday the world stops when she discovers her violent father is returning home, having been released from prison. Only this time Angie and her sister Vicky will not be the victim in mind.
Like 'All About Eve' Regina is a wardrobe girl. But she isn't so bad really.
Brett knows a collector who has 70,000 records. He only has 25,000. That mouldy pile of Beatles singles in the garage is someone's fantasy.
A woman watches as her husband's violence towards their only child escalates.
What happens to a little girl who wants to be a suicide bomber?
A documentary about details, public spaces. What we look at and what we ignore.
Ivan Frost is the most magnificent singer in the world. The power of his voice is so great it can cause the lonely to leap off buildings and laugh before they hit the ground. That is until his voice is stolen and Ivan is confronted with a soul destroying realization.
The statistics on sanity state that one in four people are suffering from mental illness. Think of three of your best friends. If they are okay, then it's you. Welcome to the waiting room.
Fearing death from an inherited illness, a young woman travels back to the landscape of her childhood. The journey awakens buried memories of a denied past and leads her to rescue the child once left behind.
Little Matilda cannot stand her annoying dog, Wally. His countless bad habits drive her to seek revenge. She sets him up for a seemingly innocent crime involving chocolate cake. However, the consequences are far more severe than she ever expected.
Walter has lost his memory. His mate Shane reintroduces him to his lost world: not a pretty sight. Who is Walter after all?
Recent Iraq veteran Jack McGuigy returns to his young family only to find that his toughest battle will be fought on the homefront.
A surreal journey into the mind of a lonely man. Depression, anger and isolation eventually cloud his perception of reality driving him towards a tragic, inevitable escape.
WASHED OVERALL is a film about cycles; wash cycles, life cycles and recyled clothes.
John and his mates insisted on a certain kind of law and order. As a result, they got the kind of law and order they deserved.
A neat, cute, off-beat comedy in which Bob discovers Beryl, sees common ground, goes fishing to think about proposal and marriage.
Turning 15, casting a spell, Dad's mysterious gift, water diviners. Poor Lil. Birthdays were never meant to be easy.
Eleven-year-old city girl Julia is excited about meeting her country grandfather for the first time. But once she arrives at the farm, nothing is as she imagined.
Waiting for her mum after a Javanese shadow play, Anna is drawn into the shadow puppet world. By helping a monster prove himself, she learns that there is more to communicating than just words.
This surrealist documentary about three little girls who have survived civil war against the Karen people in their native Burma and moved to suburban Australia is a gentle and fascinating glimpse into lives that we don't normally see.
She returns to the cafe where they used to meet. He walks the city for the last time. Time slips, as memories collide with lost desires to reawaken the past.
Shelly has made a terrible discovery. It has driven her to extreme acts. Now she must live with the consequences.
In order to become popular, a young idiot goes for a weight loss jog in the forest...with dire consequences.
Kate and Murray are planning a home birth. Tackling issues of safety, errant roosters and birth tubs, they hope in the end that 'Little' will be born at home.
Fantasy and reality intertwine as a Vietnamese woman raised in Australia struggles to define her cultural heritage and what she must do to preserve it. Must she deny her love for the 'Welsh Dragon'?
Two sisters find themselves hiding out in a public toilet cubicle when the youngest has to take a pregnancy test.
Upon hearing an extraordinary paranormal tale, filmmaker Luke Walker resolves to get to the bottom of such encounters. Initially he is unable to see this world; when Luke has his own paranormal experience, is he losing his mind, or opening his eyes?
Favian lives in a laundrette. He meets Lolita. There is one obstacle to his new-found love: his mother who lives upstairs. Fabian must conquer her wrath and the surprises Lolita has in store.
It is 1857 in the Victorian Goldfields. Yi Xi, a Chinese female miner stands in court accused of stealing taxation money from the Chinese tax collector. In an attempt to clear her name and uphold her justice, Yi Xi challenges the patriarchal authority of the colonial society in a dangerous debate that will soon decide her fate.
Try, try, try and try again. If you want something hard enough, you'll get it with perseverance and determination. Think positive and you'll succeed. Bullshit. Fate guarantees nothing.
Some people bury their past. Lock keeps hers in the fridge.
Phoenix, a celebrated musician, receives a call from Anber who's hit rock bottom, asking her to come to Sydney. She makes the sacrifices to go, but the friendship is tested by the gulf of difference now between their lives.
The adventures of Jace, a secret agent, who breaks into a building on a mission to retrieve a stolen intelligence formula.
When three women from different centuries realise that there is more to life than a career, marriage and beauty they finally take control of their 'wicked' lives.
Six-year-old Wilberry has clear opinions, especially when it concerns animals. She finds out her grandfather scatters pills to kill snails in his garden. Wilberry is sulking in the street when she finds a chick. It belongs to a man with a python...
A crippled boy is bedridden within the harsh world of a 1930s seaside hospital. Will eagerly awaits the fortnightly visit of his mother, but on this occasion the rigid system separates them.
A young girl travelling home with her mother by bus has a disturbing vision concerning the fate of those around her.
IIn 1989 the filmmaker wasput in Winlation Youth Training Centre for her own 'care and protection'. She had not committed any crime and neither had most of the other girls imprisoned there. Why were they locked up?
Jack has always felt that he's special. And soon he will discover the true face of the brave new world that he heralds.
Hana is dying and asks her husband, Yakichi, what heaven is. An old friend suggests he go to Edo where it is believed that there is a tea that can take you to heaven. With not much time he must travel to Edo and master the ancient art of the Japanese tea ceremony to find an answer for Hana. His journey reveals to him as much wisdom about life as it does about heaven.
This documentary centres around the variety of characters who listen to the Keith McGowan talk back show on 3AW. Each night from 12 to 5am they tune their radios to the voice which will carry them through till tomorrow.
Thomas is an insurance investigator. He is called to a small town to investigate an arson in which an unknown five-year-old boy was found burnt to death. Meanwhile, he is awaiting a call from his unfaithful wife, a call that will confirm whether or not she will leave him. As Thomas delves deeper into the case, he unwittingly finds his emotions catching up with him. When he wakes up to find he has mysteriously lost his voice, he is forced to solve everything... without a sound.
A humiliating sexual experience causes a 16 year old girl to start an unusual revolution.
What if a painting could change the world?
One vision. No Future. Dennis Green: Portrait of a Director.
A long suffering writer struggles to keep control of the misbehaving objects on his desk. When the writer loses the plot the typewriter takes over, words become his deeds.
Amid the overcrowded housing estates of North Melbourne we meet a young Oromo, a mother who was forced to flee her beloved homeland and family in fear of persecution. Now after six years of agonizing seperation, Tehiya is finally reunited with her two daughters, Kanani and Dereni.
An old man and his three daughters lead lives shaped and constricted by patterns from the past. Unable to express or receive the love they want, they carry on until the moment when those patterns begin to unravel.
Joe writes comic jingles for TV commercials. His girlfriend's sleeping with his best friend and his new love's dating a boxer...yellow brick dreams.
Take one ravenous goose, a small child and toss together onto a white saucer plate. Add some hot-headed, mean-spirited forks and stir, shake, blend together for a high-spirited adventure.
Three zirbs flying through space have an accident, they crash on planet earth. In order to get the spaceship fixed, one of the zirbs sells his brain to science. Finally they are able to take off.
Hamid, a young filmmaker, finds himself confronted by truths about himself and his religion when he writes a pro-women script set in and amongst Australian Muslims.
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