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…

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,…

Tina Arena will join Mary Coustas on stage at special preview screenings and in conversation events in Sydney on Sunday 23 August, to celebrate the upcoming cinema release of the new documentary Tina Arena: Unravel Me. The highly anticipated film received its World Premiere last night at the Astor Theatre as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival,…

After defying expectations in the East, critically-acclaimed indie satire The Birthday Trip lands on the West Coast today, screening exclusively at Luna Leederville.  Despite being snubbed by festivals and distributors, the film was self-released by the filmmakers, and has gone on to out-perform films in its weight class from established distributors, garnering substantial critical acclaim…

Umbrella will release Mockbuster in Australian cinemas on August 27.  The wildly entertaining and revealing documentary explores the world of mockbuster filmmaking, with director Anthony Frith joining audiences for an opening week Q&A tour in select cities. Frustrated by a stalled film career and repetitive corporate video gigs, Mockbuster sees Frith brazenly pitches himself to…

VicScreen and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival have joined forces to bring Victoria’s next wave of comedy talent from stage to screen. Following the establishment of the VicScreen Greenlight Award in April, VicScreen and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival have partnered again and are calling on Victorian comedy writers and stand-ups to pitch new narrative…

Filmed in Melbourne, the Stan Original Saccharine with Midori Francis (Grey’s Anatomy) and Australian actors Danielle Macdonald (The Tourist) and Madeleine Madden (The Wheel of Time) will premiere August 13 on Stan. Saccharine follows Hana (Francis), a lovelorn medical student who becomes terrorised by a hungry ghost after taking part in an obscure weight-loss craze: eating human ashes. Following the global success of Apartment 7A (a prequel to Rosemary’s…