The 71st Sydney Film Festival program was officially launched today by Festival Director Nashen Moodley, featuring an exceptional line-up including a stack of Australian films which you can find below.

“The 71st Sydney Film Festival unfurls a canvas of bold narratives and remarkable visions, mirroring the evolving dynamics of our world,” said Sydney Film Festival Director Nashen Moodley. “This year, we are proud to present films that challenge, entertain, and provoke dialogue, from the sweeping landscapes of Australian dramas to the complex human stories from global cinema.”

“The 2024 selection reinforces our commitment to fostering a diverse cinematic experience, spotlighting works that engage with pressing social issues, personal stories, and transformative historical moments,” he said. “These films invite the audience to journey through myriad cultures and experiences, reflecting the rich complexity of the human condition.”

“We invite everyone to join us in exploring this year’s exceptional films, participate in vibrant discussions at The Hub, and share in the joy of cinema that unites us all,” said Moodley.

In 2024, the Festival will present 197 films from 69 countries including 28 World Premieres and 133 Australian Premieres, bringing together hundreds of new international and local stories, with more to be announced. The program is made up of 92 narrative feature films, including prestigious international festival prize-winners and 54 documentaries tackling crucial contemporary issues, from established and upcoming documentarians.

Sydney Film Festival runs from 5-16 June 2024. Tickets and Flexipasses to Sydney Film Festival 2024 are on sale now. Please call 1300 733 733 or visit sff.org.au for more information or to book

Here’s your complete list of Australian feature films and documentaries screening at the festival. 

200% Wolf

Directed by Alexs Stadermann
Written by Fin Edquist
Produced by Barbara Stephen, Alexia Gates-Foale, Carmen Perez-Marsa Roca
Starring Ilai Swindells, Jennifer Saunders, Samara Weaving

Heroic were-poodle Freddy Lupin feels ready to lead the werewolf pack! If only he were more… wolfish. The latest gem from Sydney animation studio Flying Bark (Maya the Bee, SFF 2018).

Freddy belongs to a werewolf family and needs to prove himself to his elders if he wants to be taken seriously. Stumbling upon some old runes, he accidentally conjures powers from a cheeky moon sprite, Moopoo. Now Freddy must help Moopoo get back to the moon and restore the cosmic order. Enlisting the help of friends Batty and Hamish, Freddy must trick an outcast sorceress, exploiting her magical powers to get Moopoo home. A journey of self-discovery and friendship, this much anticipated sequel to 100% Wolf is a World Premiere – featuring a voice cast of local Aussies Ilai Swindells (Bay of Fires, SFF 2023) and Samara Weaving (Chevalier, SFF 2023), plus comedians Jennifer Saunders and Akmal Saleh.

Aquarius

Directed by Wendy Champagne
Written by Wendy Champagne, Karin Steininger
Produced by Sam Griffin

The dawning of the Aquarius Festival in Nimbin 1973 – an alternative gathering embraced by activists, hippies, and radicals that changed a town (and a generation) forever.

The small northern NSW dairy town was the perfect location, surrounded by farmland and rainforest. The inhabitants (all 300 of them) hoped the event would bring young people to their struggling town. Thousands arrived, all willing to contribute to the festival, whether by playing instruments or digging drains. It wasn’t quite all saunas, nudity, acrobatics, and chilled-out bliss, however: festivalgoers faced down police interference, internal chaos, drugs and personal dramas. Nonetheless, countless participants found kinship as well as a blueprint for a sustainable life. The story of the festival is lovingly told with newly uncovered footage and interviews with festival co-founders and attendees.

The Blind Sea

Written and directed by Daniel Fenech
Produced by Heath Davis, Daniel Fenech, Dylan Longbottom, Nicola Nossal
Starring Matt Formston, Dylan Longbottom, Layne Beachley

Professional athlete Matt Formston confronts a new, awe-inspiring challenge: surfing the biggest wave ever tackled by a blind surfer.

At the age of five, Matt lost 95% of his vision. It never stopped him from living the life he wanted and he became a Paralympic cyclist and world record holder. Matt’s life today isn’t just about sport – he’s also a husband, a father of three, and a corporate executive leading Diversity and Inclusion programs. Now a 4 x World Champion Para Surfer, Matt shares his experience by offering special blind goggles to Layne Beachley AO that recreate his vision on the waves. But the waves of the Sydney shoreline are nothing compared to Matt’s biggest challenge yet: taking on the infamous waves of Nazaré, Portugal, with support from big wave legend Dylan Longbottom.

The Cars That Ate Paris

Written and directed by Peter Weir
Produced by Jim McElroy, Hal McElroy
Starring Terry Camilleri, John Meillon, Kevin Miles

An outback town with a dark secret is the setting for this Aussie New Wave classic directed by Peter Weir. A beautiful 50th anniversary restoration presented by NFSA.

After surviving a car accident, Arthur is taken to hospital in Paris, NSW. He’s welcomed by the local community but soon suspects something is amiss. Why do so many car crash victims keep arriving? And what kind of weird hold does the Mayor (the legendary John Meillon) have over his constituents? With its atmosphere of mounting dread and eye-popping production design, this journey into Australia’s violent car culture marked a stunning feature debut for the great Australian filmmaker Peter Weir (Picnic at Hanging Rock, 1975; Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, 2003). Screened at Cannes and SFF in 1974.

Charmian Clift Life Burns High

Written, directed and produced by Rachel Lane

An intriguing portrait of Charmian Clift: a household name in the 1960’s and one of Australia’s finest writers.

Born in 1920s Kiama, teenage Charmian escaped to Sydney and after the war scored a newspaper job in Melbourne where she met leading war correspondent George Johnston. Tired of Australian postwar conservatism, the couple left for Europe, finally settling on Hydra, where an artists’ colony formed which included Leonard Cohen. Returning to Sydney, Charmian found success writing a newspaper column, but George’s ill health and a new novel rumoured to be critical of his wife, fractured their creative partnership, and tragedy ensued. Interest in Charmian’s work has revived with the recent publication of her unfinished novel The End of Morning, which was put aside to help her husband write his Miles Franklin winner My Brother Jack. This absorbing documentary is the latest film to explore undermined female artists (see Mozart’s Sister).

Dale Frank Nobody’s Sweetie

Written and directed by Jenny Hicks
Produced by Sarah Beard, Jenny Hicks

A charmingly intimate portrait of Dale Frank, hardworking artist and hermit, laying bare his creative process and his place in today’s art world.

By turns irreverent and brash, charming and vulnerable, Dale Frank is not easily pigeonholed. He’s an abstract painter, with occasional forays into ready-mades and sculpture. Contrasts abound even between his current cutting edge artistic output and his beautifully restored 19th century mansion in the NSW Hunter Valley. Eight weeks to his next exhibition at Sydney’s Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, and with commissions coming in from overseas, Frank is working at pace. At the same time, he’s creating a vast botanical garden and battling ongoing pain. Director Jenny Hicks (The Stranger, SFF 2021) revels in Frank’s provocations, painting a cinematic and, er, frank portrait of a singular artist.

Every Little Thing

Written and directed by Sally Aitken
Produced by Bettina Dalton, Oli Harbottle, Anna Godas

Exquisite hummingbirds fill the screen in Australian filmmaker Sally Aitken’s captivating story of a woman finding herself as she cares for the tiny birds. Selected Sundance and CPH:DOX.

Los Angeles resident Terry Masear nurses the many hummingbirds who fall foul of the environment. In nesting season, she takes hundreds of calls from people who’ve found traumatised mothers and chicks. Aitken (Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story, David Stratton: A Cinematic Life) follows Terry as she goes through her meticulous, time-consuming routine of feeding and grooming her fragile charges. In caring for hummingbirds, Terry finds a graceful way through her own traumas. The birds’ journey from injury to first flight is breathtakingly captured, revealing their oft-spunky personalities and resilient spirit. A compassionate and shimmering film to leave you humming.

Flathead

Written and directed by Jaydon Martin
Produced by Patrick McCabe
Starring Cass Cumerford, Andrew Wong, Rob Sheean

This acclaimed Australian debut combines social realism and an immersive documentary feel, to tell the story of an elderly man returning home to Bundaberg on a spiritual quest.

Shot in striking black-and-white, Jaydon Martin’s directorial debut is part documentary about day-to-day life in coastal Queensland – with a cast playing themselves – and part dream-like narrative. A former drug addict whose life has been marked by tragedy, the frail Cass leaves Sydney and heads back to Bundaberg to take stock of his life. Religion helps console him, while drinking and partying help pass the time. Most touching of all is a budding friendship with Andrew, a Chinese-Australian chip-shop owner who is dealing with his own grief. Observational and contemplative, heartwarming and eerie, Flathead is a memorable portrait of regional Australia.

He Ain’t Heavy

Written and directed by David Vincent Smith
Produced by Jess Parker
Starring Leila George, Sam Corlett, Greta Scacchi

Leila George stars, alongside her mother Greta Scacchi, as a young woman so determined to save her drug-addicted brother that she locks him in a room to get clean. World Premiere.

Jade (George) has never been able to travel overseas. She’s too worried about her meth-addicted brother Max (Sam Corlett, Vikings: Valhalla), always on call to take him to hospital or provide first aid after he’s self-harmed. In desperation, she finally confines Max in a room inside the rural house left by their grandmother. But then Jade’s mother (Scacchi) arrives, and she’s appalled that her son is caged like an animal. What follows is a tense, superbly acted chamber drama. Shot in Western Australia, He Ain’t Heavy marks an impressive debut from David Vincent Smith, based on his short I’m Not Hurting You (SFF 2019).

A Horse Named Winx

Directed by Janine Hosking
Produced by Janine Hosking
Written by Andrew Rule

The eagerly awaited documentary on arguably the greatest horse in Australian racing history – Winx in all her equine glory!

Winx is the Phar Lap of the modern era and holds the world record for her spectacular 33 race winning streak. Her first foal sold for a record breaking $10 million. It all reads like a racing fairy-tale, but the story behind the phenomenon is more complex. With unprecedented access to Winx and the team who made her a champion, award winning director Janine Hosking (Mademoiselle and the Doctor, SFF 2004; 35 Letters, SFF 2014; I’m Not Dead Yet, SFF 2011) and Winx biographer, Andrew Rule, weave a cinematic journey to reveal the spirit of a champion as she faces her greatest challenge.

In Vitro

Directed by Will Howarth, Tom McKeith
Written by Tom McKeith, Will Howarth, Talia Zucker
Produced by Will Howarth, Lisa Shaunessy, Bec Janek
Starring Ashley Zukerman, Talia Zucker, Will Howarth

Ashley Zukerman (Succession) stars in a gripping Australian sci-fi mystery thriller set on a remote cattle farm in the near future.

With cattle production devastated by ecological disasters, Jack (Zukerman) and his wife Layla (Talia Zucker) are conducting biotechnology experiments at their isolated property. While Layla longs for the return of their son from boarding school, Jack carries out research he hopes will save his family from financial ruin. This meticulously written and brilliantly performed feature from Aussie directors Tom McKeith and Will Howarth (Beast, SFF 2016) takes unpredictable turns as gloomy skies gather and the couple’s relationship begins to strain. Strikingly filmed on the eerily dry Monaro Plains of NSW, In Vitro is claustrophobic, suspenseful and scarily believable.

Kid Snow

Directed by Paul Goldman
Written by John Brumpton, Stephen Cleary
Produced by Lizzette Atkins, Bruno Charlesworth, Megan Wynn
Starring Billy Howle, Phoebe Tonkin, Tom Bateman

A gritty dust-blown Aussie drama set in ’70s outback WA, featuring a down-at-heel travelling tent boxing show rife with sex, sweat and swagger.

Phoebe Tonkin (Boy Swallows Universe) and Billy Howle (The Serpent) star in the story of a washed-up slugger given one last shot at the title from director Paul Goldman (Australian Rules, 2002; Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story, 2023). Kid Snow (Howle) wound up on the tent boxing circuit after squandering his chance at glory. Sunny (Tonkin) is a single mother who walks into Kid’s life just as he’s offered a lucrative rematch with the champ who floored him 10 years earlier. Goldman’s beautifully photographed film brings to life a distinctly Australian form of entertainment that’s now all but extinct, with an added mix of romance, blood, dust and redemption.

Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line

Written and directed by Paul Clarke
Produced by Carolina Sorensen, Paul Clarke, Mikael Borglund, Martin Fabinyi

Legendary music and activism are front and centre in this exciting documentary, created with unfettered access to seminal Australian rock band Midnight Oil, who emerged from politically charged 1970s Sydney to become global icons

Across a 45-year career ‘The Oils’ helped shape modern Australia with anthems like “US Forces”, “Beds Are Burning” and “Redneck Wonderland”. Featuring unseen footage and interviews with every band member, alongside signature moments including the outback tour with Warumpi Band, their Exxon protest gig in New York and those famous “Sorry” suits at the Sydney Olympics, Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line traces the journey of Australia’s quintessential rock band.

The Moogai

Written and directed by Jon Bell
Produced by Kristina Ceyton, Samantha Jennings, Mitchell Stanley
Starring Shari Sebbens, Meyne Wyatt, Tessa Rose

A malicious spirit enters the home of a young Indigenous couple with a newborn baby. Based on his SFF-winning short of the same name, writer-director Jon Bell’s striking feature debut arrives direct from SXSW and Sundance.

The haunting history of the Stolen Generations looms large in this boldly conceived and stylishly executed psychological horror movie from Jon Bell (The Chuck In, SFF 2013). When successful city lawyer Sarah (Shari Sebbens) and husband Fergus (Meyne Wyatt) become parents for the second time, their joy is short-lived. Lurking in the shadows is a whispering creature that wants to steal their baby. Artfully weaving the story of Sarah’s difficult family background into the nightmarish terror that begins to consume her, Bell delivers an eerie tale that unfolds at the intersection of primal fear, generational trauma and supernatural horror.

Mozart’s Sister

Written and directed by Madeleine Hetherton-Miau
Produced by Madeleine Hetherton-Miau, Rebecca Barry

The story of the other Mozart, Maria-Anna, a child prodigy forgotten to time, as seen through the eyes of musicians, musicologists, and researchers.

Like her younger brother, Maria-Anna Mozart was a keyboard genius from an early age and the siblings toured Europe performing as wunderkinder to royalty. As a child it was acceptable for Maria-Anna to play in public. But when she reached 15, societal norms compelled her to retire. Tantalising clues exist of her continued virtuoso playing as well as her interest in composing music. Using recreations and expert interviews, Madeleine Hetherton-Miau (producer, China Love SFF 2018) explores the fascinating theory that Maria-Anna Mozart played a larger role in her brother’s music than is previously known. Like Charmian Clift – Life Burns High (screening at the Festival), Mozart’s Sister turns our gaze towards the unrecognised female creators of our time.

My Freaky Family

Directed by Mark Gravas
Written by Cleon Prineas, Harry Cripps, Penny Greenhalgh
Produced by Lauren Gravas, Gerry Travers, Cathy Ni Fhlaithearta, Carmel Travers
Starring Evanna Lynch, Miranda Otto, Richard Roxburgh

A magical Australian-Irish animation, based on the popular children’s books The Floods, in which 12-year-old Betty discovers her mystical powers just as a dark force kidnaps her family.

From the opening chase sequence to the musical finale, this animated feature with a stand-out voice cast – including Evanna Lynch (Harry Potter), Richard Roxburgh and Miranda Otto – is full of thrills, spills, and spells. Betty Flood finds her wacky family embarrassing and wishes her magical mum could at least try to act more normal. But Betty is just realising that she has magical gifts of her own. When a dark power kidnaps her family, she must harness her magical abilities to rescue them. Will her newfound powers be strong enough to save the day? Magic, music, and marvellous adventures await.

The Pool

Directed by Ian Darling
Produced by Ian Darling, Mary Macrae

A spectacular cinematic portrait of the iconic Bondi Icebergs – the pool and the people who cherish it – from The Final Quarter (SFF 2019) director Ian Darling.

Breathtaking footage and a quintessential soundtrack are woven into a meditative and poetic story. Icebergs is the most photographed pool in the world – an inviting destination for everyone from locals to tourists, beginners to competitive lap swimmers. From sunrise to sundown, rain or shine, we meet the diehard regulars recalling tales of Icebergs past and present. Darling and his team, including DOP Ben Cunningham, editor Sally Fryer and sound designer Paul Charlier, have crafted an evocative, joyous and beautiful picture of a beloved place and its community.

Porcelain War

Directed by Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev
Written by Paula DuPré Pesmen, Slava Leontyev, Brendan Bellomo, Aniela Sidorska
Produced by Paula DuPré Pesmen, Olivia Ahnemann, Aniela Sidorska, Camilla Mazzaferro

The winner of the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2024 follows three Ukrainian artists who choose to stay behind and fight, defiantly finding beauty amid destruction.

Slava Leontyev sculpts delicate porcelain figures. His partner, Anya, illustrates them with exquisite images inspired by Ukraine’s natural environment. The couple and their dog Frodo live in Kharkiv, not far from the Russian border. As the conflict intensifies, Slava swaps his kiln for the firing range, training people from all walks of life to defend themselves. The couple’s long-time friend, refugee artist and DP Andrey Stefanov, vividly documents the determination of ordinary Ukrainians to hold onto their homes, way of life and memories. Anya’s beautifully animated illustrations and the stirring music of Ukrainian band DakhaBrakha passionately underscore the vibrancy of a culture under threat.

Rabbit-Proof Fence

Directed by Phillip Noyce
Written by Christine Olsen
Produced by Phillip Noyce, Christine Olsen, John Winter
Starring Everlyn Sampi, Kenneth Branagh, Deborah Mailman

Phillip Noyce’s milestone escape epic about the Stolen Generations has been breath-takingly restored in 4K. Three extraordinary child actors lead a remarkable cast including David Gulpilil, Ningali Lawford, and Kenneth Branagh.

Western Australia, 1931. Three Indigenous girls are forcibly taken from their family and deposited on a mission school far from home. One day, ordered to empty the latrine bucket, they instead make a run for it, and the rain covers their tracks. David Gulpilil is extraordinary as the tracker on their tail, a trooper whose own daughter is detained at the school, while Kenneth Branagh plays Mr. Neville, determined to force assimilation. But the stars are Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, and Laura Monaghan, each giving remarkably unaffected and very moving performances. Haunting and enraging; almost a quarter century since its release, this film is as relevant as ever.

Revealed: Otto By Otto

Directed by Gracie Otto
Written by Karen Johnson
Produced by Cody Greenwood, Nicole O’Donohue

Gracie Otto (Under the Volcano, SFF 2021; The Last Impresario, SFF 2014) attempts to capture the memories of her father, iconic Australian actor and artist Barry Otto (Strictly Ballroom, SFF 1992), before they are lost forever.

Barry Otto’s career has spanned more than 50 years and close to a hundred theatre credits, encompassing the golden days of 1970s and ’80s Australian theatre and film and cinema classics as Bliss (1985), Strictly Ballroom (1992) and Cosi (1996). Creative, eccentric, and endearing, Barry is a true original. Gracie’s absorbing film is not a traditional biopic, but rather a deeply personal reflection on her relationship with her father shot over five years, in the twilight of his career and as his health deteriorates. Revealed: Otto by Otto both honours this outstanding artist and actor and preserves his memory.

Rewards For The Tribe

Written and directed by Rhys Graham
Produced by Philippa Campey, Molly O’Connor

A visually beautiful and heart-warming documentary tracing the first collaboration between acclaimed contemporary dance companies Restless Dance Theatre – a troupe of dancers with disability – and genre-defying Chunky Move.

The film moves between thoughtful, playful interviews with the performers, and the process of developing this major new work led by choreographer Antony Hamilton. As the group explores movement and expression, they also question the myths of physical perfection. The film’s director, Rhys Graham (Words from the City, SFF 2007), worked closely with the two dance companies and assistant director Jana Castillo, a dancer living with disability. Made in association with Bus Stop Films, this is a joyful, kinetic ode to the rewards of rethinking dance, perfection and harmony.

Skategoat

Directed by Van Alpert
Written by Van Alpert, Justine A. Rosenthal, Michael Lawrence, Lester Jones
Produced by Michael Lawrence, Nicholas Cook

A young boy’s dream to become a pro skateboarder is captured in all its kinetic glory by renegade graffiti artist and acclaimed music video director Van Alpert.

Leandre Sanders, aka Skategoat, was born into a world of gangs and crime in Hawthorne, California. While his older brothers followed his parents into LA’s violent street life, Leandre spent his days at Venice Beach Skatepark, where he caught the eye of filmmaker Van Alpert. Van documented the talented youngster’s life for over a decade, as his family unravelled and his skills – including his unique ‘no stance’ skate style – took off. At 16, Leandre followed a girl to Melbourne, where he lived for over two years, and where his dream of becoming a professional skater started to become a reality. Van Alpert’s documentary debut pulses with a tactile sense of street style and an incredible soundtrack from Tyler, the Creator, Tame Impala, and more. From the producers of acclaimed documentaries Bra Boys and Fighting Fear.

The Sloth Lane

Written and directed by Tania Vincent, Ricard Cussó
Produced by Kristen Souvlis, Nadine Bates, Ryan Greaves
Starring Teo Vergara, Olivia Vásquez, Remy Hii, Leslie Jones, Ben Gorroño

When a fast-paced city demands fast food, a family of sloths set on opening a food truck might need to pick up the pace in this World Premiere home-grown animated charmer.

12-year-old sloth Laura (voiced by Teo Vergara) is devastated when a storm destroys her family’s restaurant and forces them to relocate from the peaceful countryside to the big city. The sloths take only their prized family recipe book with them – and an old van. They open a food truck, and soon business is booming. There’s just one problem. Famous entrepreneur Dotti Pace (Leslie Jones) – a cheetah with big ambitions and a failing fast-food chain – is determined to buy their family business. When the sloths decline to sell, Dotti resorts to nefarious tactics to steal their family legacy. Can Laura stop her before it’s too late? Great Aussie voice talent including Dan Brumm (Uncle Stripe in Bluey) and Remy Hii (Spider-Man: Far From Home) bring this charmer to life!

Ten Canoes

Directed by Rolf De Heer, Peter Djigirr
Written by Rolf De Heer
Produced by Rolf De Heer, Julie Ryan
Starring David Gulpilil, Jamie Gulpilil, Crusoe Kurddal

The first Australian feature filmed entirely in Indigenous languages, this modern classic by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djiggir (SFF Opening Night 2006) is a fable-like tale set in Arnhem Land long ago.

The legendary David Gulpilil narrates this unique mix of docudrama and mythmaking, telling the film’s story-within-a-story with great charisma and humour. Gulpilil was also the driving force behind the production, inviting de Heer to the far north to collaborate with Yolngu creatives and actors. Gulpilil’s son Jamie stars in a dual role: as Dayindi, a young man learning how to make bark canoes and hunt geese in the wetlands; and as Yeeralparil, the subject of an old parable of jealousy and its consequences. Wonderful performances bring out the playfulness – rarely have myths been this funny – while the hypnotic cinematography, alternating between striking black-and-white and lush colour, creates a sense of oral history coming to life.

Welcome To Babel

Written and directed by James Bradley
Produced by Graeme Isaac, Carl-Ludwig Rettinger, James Bradley

An absorbing documentary about Chinese-Australian artist Jiawei Shen’s plans to create an epic work depicting his homeland’s tumultuous recent history.

Jiawei Shen is an obsessive, determined man. But his latest project – ‘Tower of Babel’ – is crazy even for him (at least according to his wife, fellow artist Lan Wang). His goal is to create a monumental painting of the turbulent history of Communist China. It will take him years to complete, and the work is three storeys high, so he decides to build a new house and studio near his old Bundeena home. We learn about his fame in China through the story of his life: growing up in Mao’s China, surviving the Cultural Revolution, emigrating to Australia, and winning the 2006 Sir John Sulman Prize. Director James Bradley has previously edited several SFF-selected titles (including Finke: There and Back, SFF 2018). In his feature-length debut, he has crafted a miniature epic as ambitious as his subject.

Welcome To Yiddishland

Directed by Ros Horin
Written by Ros Horin, Steven Robinson
Produced by Ros Horin, Jeff Daniels

An upbeat, witty, and timely exploration of a global community of artists creating innovative work in their quest to rediscover and revitalise the endangered Yiddish language.

From behind-the-scenes with an acclaimed Yiddish-language version of Yentl in Melbourne, to enjoyably transgressive punk-Klezmer musicians, and Barrie Kosky’s latest trailblazing production in Berlin – the endangered Yiddish language is alive and well in this rousing documentary. The language originated amongst the Jewish community in Eastern Europe, but almost disappeared when more than half of the world’s Yiddish speakers were murdered during the Holocaust. Most of the artists and performers (aka Yiddishists) in the film didn’t grow up speaking Yiddish, but all have found solace, identity, and inspiration in its rich traditions and culture. Ros Horin (The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe, SFF 2016; Rosemary’s Way, SFF 2020) has mapped a fascinating cultural history.

You Should Have Been Here Yesterday

Written and directed by Jolyon Hoff
Produced by Craig Griffin, Hamish Gibbs Ludbrook, Jolyon Hoff

A cinematic ode to Australia’s early surfing culture featuring evocative restored footage, a chilled-out soundtrack, and narration from surfing aficionados and heroes such as Tim Winton and Wayne Lynch.

In 1960s Australia, a generation travelled Australia’s coastline seeking waves – and a different kind of life. Their odyssey was captured on 16mm film, now lovingly restored by The Surf Film Archive. Director Jolyon Hoff (Watandar, My Countryman) combines this never-before-seen footage with stories from the original filmmakers, surfing gurus and more. One enthusiast likens surfing to being “kissed by God” – a sentiment in keeping with the blissed-out vibes that permeate this sun-filled, salt-infused movie. The original soundscape is from Australian music collective Headland (led by Murray Paterson, a Tex Perkins collaborator).