Kasimir Burgess and Benjamin Bryan filming Iron Winter at base camp in the Tsakhir Valley.

Welcome to the very first episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast for 2026! It’s great to be back. 

It wasn’t until the back end of 2025 that I realised how few episodes of this Podcast I recorded last year with a focus on more written interviews. I’m going to make it a priority in 2026 to record more episodes and hopefully reach my 150th episode which would be very exciting.

Onto this episode…

I usually stick to interviewing directors and actors, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to guest cinematographer Benjamin Bryan – someone whose career I’ve kept a close eye on since first taking notice of his work on documentary, Franklin in 2022. 

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Few cinematographers working in Australia are shooting films like Benjamin, and his work in his latest film, Iron Winter, is nothing short of breathtaking. 

Iron Winter observes two friends from Mongolia’s remote Tsakhi Valley, as they undertake a grueling rite of passage, herding 2,000 horses across the icy Mongolian steppe in search of grazing land below the snow. This tradition has been under threat in recent times due to harsh weather conditions made worse by climate change and the effects of urbanisation on the local community.

Benjamin’s other films include Glenn Triggs’ Ancestry Road and Sue Thomson’s Careless which we also discuss here along with his directing work on his new series pilot, Lake Boga.

Iron Winter will be released in Australian cinemas 19th March 2026, but if you’re in Central Queensland, you can catch it at the Capricorn Film Festival on January 16. 

Anyway… enjoy.

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