Sydney Stories(2021)

Adam(en)

Adam is a factory worker. He falls in love with Chris, a slightly older man. Instead of strengthening his own identity, Adam is unable to cope with his sexuality and suffers a nervous breakdown. One of the first representations of gay men in Australian cinema and an iconic piece of LGBTIQA+ film history.

Why Be Good?(en)

A flapper unwittingly falls for the boss' son.

Trance(en)

Catherine Leoni is a connoisseur of the illusionary arts. She learned her craft from her grandfather, Henry Santorini, a master magician with a disgraced past. Now in search of the fine line between reality and magic, she travels to Death Valley with her gangster husband Robert to meet Taylor Black, a mysterious magician who is about to replicate Santorini’s ruinous past. Adding to the mystery is Wally, who claims he can smell ectoplasm, and Robert’s hit man Bongo. Under Black’s power, Catherine is forced to make a choice…find her own power or succumb to the TRANCE and the seduction of magic. This was the Best Fantasy Feature winner at the New York International Independent Film Festival yet remains obscure.

Gourmet Detective: Eat, Drink and Be Buried(en)

Henry and Maggie attend the birthday party of a local publisher, where his son and stepson reenact a historical 18th century dual. Someone, however, has loaded the antique pistol with a real musket ball, so when son pulls the trigger, he kills his stepbrother in front of a roomful of witnesses. Henry and Maggie have to figure out who wanted the stepson dead and why.

Intrusive Thoughts(en)

In the aftermath of a breakup, a struggling filmmaker becomes seduced by his therapist while his ex-girlfriend grapples with her identity and where to go next.

I Miss You When I See You(cn)

Jamie re-encounters his old school friend, Kevin, who has been suffering from depression, and must make a choice between following his heart or society.

The BBQ(en)

Dazza's passion in life is barbecuing, but unfortunately he accidentally gives his neighbours food poisoning. To make amends, he receives tutelage from a Scottish chef, and together they enter an international barbecue competition.

The Line(hy)

Taking place in 1991, Tigran, who teaches math at a village school to avoid the army, loses the girl he loves. Consumed by abject wretchedness, he decides to enlist as a volunteer in the Nagorno‑Karabakh war to give meaning to his hollow life.

Invincibl3(en)

An experimental short film exploring fragile masculinity, small town mentality and cultural confusion, following a young Australian man on a spirit quest for significance and identity.

Wanted Man(en)

Follows a police officer who must retrieve an eyewitness and escort her after a cartel shooting leaves several DEA agents dead, but then he must decide who to trust when they discover that the attack was executed by American forces.

Takayna(en)

takayna / Tarkine in northwestern Tasmania is home to one of the last undisturbed tracts of Gondwanan rainforest in the world, and one of the highest concentrations of Aboriginal archaeology in the hemisphere. Yet this place, which remains largely as it was when dinosaurs roamed the planet, is currently at the mercy of destructive extraction industries, including logging and mining. Weaving together the conflicting narratives of activists, locals and Aboriginal communities, and told through the experiences of a trail running doctor and a relentless environmentalist, this documentary, presented by Patagonia Films, unpacks the complexities of modern conservation and challenges us to consider the importance of our last truly wild places.

M3GAN 2.0(en)

After the underlying tech for M3GAN is stolen and misused by a powerful defense contractor to create a military-grade weapon known as Amelia, M3GAN's creator Gemma realizes that the only option is to resurrect M3GAN and give her a few upgrades, making her faster, stronger, and more lethal.

Amrutham Gamaya(ml)

A doctor works in a clinic in a village run by his sister's father-in-law. When he meets a villager, he realises that he and his gang had ragged and murdered his son at the medical college's hostel.

Maxipedia(de)

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Farley(en)

The best of Chris Farley's wildly funny SNL performances, including van-dwelling motivational speaker Matt Foley, an aspiring Chippendales dancer, the bashful host of The Chris Farley Show, and more.

The Light Between Oceans(en)

A lighthouse keeper and his wife living off the coast of Western Australia raise a baby they rescue from an adrift rowboat.

Cher Trésor(fr)

Melbhattan(en)

Melbhattan. Melbhattan is part homage, part pastiche of the opening sequence of Woody Allen's seminal 1979 film Manhattan. Melbhattan features more than sixty black and white tableaux of Melbourne each composed to mimic images in Allen's film.

Barfuß durch Australien(de)

Svenja and her 16-year-old daughter Kira have traveled the world a lot. Svenja is a hotel manager and is currently bringing an aging hotel in Australia back into shape. But her biggest challenge is her daughter, who has switched to complete refusal and doesn't let Svenja tell her anything anymore. Kira doesn't avoid confrontations at school either, which in turn leads to conflicts with Svenja. After another argument, Kira decides to go to Jack. Jack is Aboriginal and Kira's only friend. Together, the two young people go in search of their “special place”, their own particular locality. Svenja is beside herself with worry when she notices Kira's disappearance and gives chase with Jack's father Kalti, a deeply relaxed hotel boat guide whom Svenja had released two days earlier. An adventurous journey begins in the barren deserted Outback - for Svenja and Kira a strange world, fascinating, but also life-threatening!

After the Apology(en)

Suellyn thought the Department of Community Services (DOCS) would only remove children in extreme cases, until her own grandchildren were taken in the middle of the night. Hazel decided to take on the DOCS system after her fourth grandchild was taken into state care. Jen Swan expected to continue to care for her grandchildren but DOCS deemed her unsuitable, a shock not just to her but to her sister, Deb, who was, at the time, a DOCS worker. The rate of Indigenous child removal has actually increased since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the apology to the ‘stolen generations’ in 2008. These four grandmothers find each other and start a national movement to place extended families as a key solution to the rising number of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care. They are not only taking on the system; they are changing it…