A trip, a missed handshake, going in for an uncomfortable hug, accidentally treading on someone’s toes, forgetting someone’s name, or having no idea how to pronounce it. We’ve all been there when meeting or being introduced to someone we’ve never met before. For filmmaker Branden Wittchen, his most uncomfortable experience came when he was first…
The Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) has announced that writer, director and actor Leah Purcell AM as the recipient of the annual Don Dunstan Award, awarded by AFF’s Board and presented in 2026 in partnership with Adelaide University. Opening Night special guests walking the Pink carpet will include the 2026 AFF Feature Competition Jury, announced today…
Returning for its 7th orbit as Australia’s leading speculative cinema event, the 2026 Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival has officially announced the line-up of films set to screen October 9-11 at EVENT Cinemas George Street. Delivering once again on its mission to provide the largest launching pad possible for ground-breaking works from Australia and across…
Fresh from its world premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival, where it won the Intrepid Audience Award, Australian feature documentary Hard As Puck will hit cinemas nationally this November through Halo Films. Written and directed by Isaac Elliott and produced by Noel Smyth and Chanel Bowen, Hard As Puck takes audiences inside the Garden Island Pirates, a scrappy…
Filmed across Australia and The Netherlands over almost two years, the powerful new Australian documentary Invisible Injuries explores the unseen wounds carried by soldiers long after service. Directed by Western Australian filmmaker Kelly Bergsma, Invisible Injuries follows Australian veteran Andy Fermo as he confronts the invisible wounds of military service. Far from the battlefield, Andy’s…
After a devastating professional betrayal, ex-lawyer Samara has rebuilt her life from the ground up – trading courtrooms for creativity as the owner of her own event-planning business. When her longtime friend hires her to plan her parents’ lavish 40th wedding anniversary celebration aboard a luxury yacht in tropical Queensland, Samara thinks it’s the perfect…
Acclaimed actor Anthony Brandon Wong has joined the cast of Kennedy as Liu Dihuan, the journalist whose pursuit of the truth behind the Kelly Gang’s victims drives one of the film’s central investigations. Wong joins the production in a dual capacity, also taking on the role of drama coach across the cast. Based on documented…
They say you can start over. But if the music in your head sounds different, the smells aren’t the same, and everything that once felt familiar exists only in memory, where exactly does that new beginning start? That question sits at the heart of Morning Afternoon Night, a new short film from Perth-based filmmaker, Dasha…
Filmmaker and screen industry professional Vee Shi has been announced as the recipient of the Screen Presence Trailblazer Award 2026, given by the thriving screen initiative to an Asian Australian trailblazer who is redefining the landscape of the film industry. The award will be formally celebrated at Screen Presence in-conversation event in Melbourne on August 27 with…
Production has commenced in Western Australia on Emilie Lowe’s sophomore feature film, Dead Centre. Set in the near future, the neo-Western tells the story of The Hunter (Gabriel Sheehan) who’s tracking an animal terrorising a local homestead. When he falls foul of an unauthorised poacher gang lead by The Poacher (Paul Walenkamp), he soon discovers that the…
Green Frog Productions today announced that acclaimed Australian screen icons Gary Sweet and Marta Dusseldorp will star in Before You Leave, a powerful new drama from director Jye Currie, whose previous feature The Promise earned widespread critical acclaim. The film marks Currie’s third feature and is written by Currie alongside Edward Vassie. Production begins October…
Finalists in the 2026 CinefestOZ Short Film Competition were announced today ahead of the Short Film Awards, which will be held Thursday 3 September in Busselton, Western Australia, as part of Australia’s largest destination film festival (28 August to 6 September). Recognising exceptional storytelling and emerging talent in the short filmmaking sector, 22 films are in the running for awards across seven categories. These finalists were…
Producer Greer Simpkin, one of the creative forces behind the upcoming film adaptation of Prima Facie, starring Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo, will chair the CinefestOZ Film Prize Jury, which will decide the winner of Australia’s richest $100,000 Film Prize at this year’s festival, running 28 August to 6 September in Western Australia’s South West. Simpkin will be joined on the jury by New Zealand actor and…
Thanks to our friends at Bounty Entertainment, we’re giving three lucky Cinema Australia readers the chance to win a DVD copy of Giles Chan’s debut feature film, Jellyfish. The film Henry (Aidan Rynne), a slacker floating through young adulthood earning a measly income from selling his body as a human punching bag. Meanwhile he wonders…
Over the last two decades, the Sydney Underground Film Festival has cemented itself as a force of creativity in Sydney’s arts and culture scene, with programs that continue to promote independent, experimental and provocative filmmaking. Drawn from the highest ever entries, with over 780 films submitted for consideration, this year’s diverse program features films, documentaries,…
