It’s not easy being Thomas. He’s turning sixteen, he and his family are moving to a new home and he has to start at a new school. All he wants is to fit in. When his pregnant mother Maggie (Aussie treasure Toni Collette) has to take things easy, his father Simon (Erik Thomson) puts Thomas in charge of his autistic older brother Charlie (Luke Ford, in an amazing performance). Thomas (Rhys Wakefield), with the help of his new girlfriend Jackie (Gemma Ward), faces his biggest challenge yet. Charlie’s unusual antics take Thomas on an emotional journey that causes his pent-up frustrations about his brother to pour out - in a story that is funny, confronting, and ultimately heart-warming. Director and co-writer Elissa Down draws on her own family history- two of her brothers are autistic- to create a profoundly realistic and human portrait of an ordinary family who are ultimately nothing less than extraordinary. The best-reviewed, and one of the most successful, Australian films of 2008, The Black Balloon is an unforgettable story about fitting in, discovering love and accepting your family. Winner of six Australian Film Institute Awards including Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Toni Collette). Winner Crystal Bear, Berlin International Film Festival

Director: Elissa Down
97min/ 35mm/ 2008
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From acclaimed filmmakers and prestigious festival screenings we are pleased to present a selection of Bad Boys for your consideration.

The Ground Beneath - Director: Rene Hernandez
Kaden’s blossoming friendship with Casey gives him the
strength to see the world in a more positive light.

Netherland Dwarf - Director: David Michôd
Father and son both want something they can’t have. If only they could see that they have each other. Selected for Sundance Film Festival 2009

Remember My Name - Director: Kasimir Burgess, Bowen Duffy & Nick Moore
Something big is about to happen on Melbourne’s Bourke Street – you won’t want to miss a second!

The List - Director: Joel Edgerton
A chance encounter with an ex-girlfriend leads Dale to question his chosen path. Caught between two worlds he wonders if he has left it too late to make a change.

Jerrycan - Director: Julius Avery
Teenagers with nothing to do make their own fun in this homage to the dangerous, lazy days of summer. Winner Jury Prize Cannes Film Festival 2008. Selected for Sundance Film Festival 2009

Summer Breaks - Director: Sean Kruck
All in a days work: hanging out, getting stoned, chasing girls & breaking into the local pool. It’s a pretty hectic schedule.

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With revenge on their minds, and nothing in their wallets, inept brothers Stanley and Dean set out on a road trip.

Director: Hugh Sullivan
5min/Digibeta/2007
Contact: Kate Croser
k8@intermode.on.net

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Free-wheelin’ sex romps! Blood-soaked terror tales! High-octane action extravaganzas! They’re the main ingredients of NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD, the first detailed examination and celebration of Australian genre cinema of the 70s and 80s. In 1971, with the introduction of the R-certificate, Australia’s censorship regime went from repressive to progressive virtually overnight. This cultural explosion gave birth to art house classics, such as PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK and MY BRILLIANT CAREER, but also spawned a group of demon-children: maverick filmmakers who braved assault from all quarters to bring films like ALVIN PURPLE, THE MAN FROM HONG KONG, PATRICK, TURKEY SHOOT and MAD MAX to the big screen. As explicit, violent and energetic as their northern cousins, Aussie genre movies presented a unique take on established conventions. In England, Italy and the grindhouses and drive-ins of America, audiences applauded our homegrown marauding revheads with brutish cars, our spunky well-stacked heroines and our stunts – unparalleled in their quality and extreme danger! Full of outrageous anecdotes, a large cast of local and International names- including unabashed “OZploitation” fanboy Quentin Tarantino- and a genuine, infectious love of Australian movies, NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD is a fast-moving journey through an unjustly forgotten cinematic era that was unashamedly packed full of boobs, pubes, tubes… and even a little kung fu.

Director: Mark Hartley
98min/ 35mm/ 2008
Contact: Mongrel Media
tom@mongrelmedia.com

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The emptiness of a boring office job is not much worse than simply being the living dead, as illustrated in this stunning animated horror show that takes place in the near future... after a zombie holocaust.

Director: Damien Slevin
4min/Beta SP/ 2008

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Deceptively freewheeling, this taut psychological drama follows three young Australian naval officers on shore-leave who hit the streets of Sydney before being shipped out to Iraq. The dynamic between the three friends is uneasy, and tinged with malice: Sam (Ewan Leslie) has more than one reason to be looking for a way out; Dean (Toby Schmitz) is anxious to reconnect with his girlfriend and is burdened by some kind of guilt; Harry (Matthew Newton) is full of attitude and bent on a night of excess. The differing personalities, conflicting agendas and tensions between the men ensure an eventful night on the town… Matthew Newton directed, wrote and features in this excellent drama, an admirable example of low-budget, uncomplicated filmmaking, with an emphasis on honest performances and believable dialogue. Tense, often funny, sometimes dark, Three Blind Mice is a brave and sincere comment on masculinity and the world we live in. The nursery-rhyme line that follows the film’s smart title acutely describes the narrative drive of Newton’s punchy script, propelled by rapid-fire delivery of dialogue, the growing tension between the friends and the frenetic on-the-town action. Some of Australia’s finest acting talent grace the smaller roles in this energetic, collaborative film made with youthful audacity and verve. Winner FIPRESCI Award BFI London Film Festival

Director: Matthew Newton
94min/ 35mm/ 2008
Contact: KinoSmith Inc.
robin@kinosmith.com

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Maia is an immigrant from Bulgaria and whilst cleaning offices, floors and toilets she reflects on her job and how she came to Australia. Selected for Sundance Film Festival 2009

Director: Adrian Francis
9min/ DigiBeta/ 2008

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What d Anthea (Charlotte Gregg) is an aimless 20-something with no boyfriend, a really bad job at a chauvinistic law firm and a shortage of friends—it seems as if everyone she knows is leaving for London en masse. Picking up and leaving Brisbane seems like a great idea, although her best friend Michael (Matt Zeremes) isn’t so sure. Anthea is galvanized into action when an ex-boyfriend returns to Brisbane for a friends wedding. After trying but failing to rekindle the romance, Anthea sees this as a flashing neon sign telling her to get out of dodge, so she decides to follow in her roommate Kath’s footsteps and make the jump across the pond. She quits her job and starts packing up her life, but Anthea’s fixation on the future may be what’s stopping her from seeing the potential for romance right here at home. Written with sharp wit and a keen eye, ALL MY FRIENDS ARE LEAVING BRISBANE is a side-splitting comedy with a generous helping of romance thrown in for good measure! Director Louise Alston has assembled a fantastic cast of young Australian talent. Remember – you saw them here first! Screened at Brisbane International Film Festival

Director: Louise Alston
76min/ 35mm/ 2007

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What do a chainsaw safety film, the rodeo, love and revenge all have in common? The answer is Frank and Ava Gardner. Winner Nelvana Grand Prize, Ottawa International Animation Festival 2008 Winner Grand Prix, Oberhausen International Short Film Festival 2008

Director: Dennis Tupicoff
24min/ DigiBeta/ 2008
Contact: Jungle Pictures
info@junglepictures.com.au

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Set against the unforgiving landscape of the Australian outback, CACTUS inhabits a world where the line between victim and villain is easily blurred. John Kelly (Travis McMahon) is an ordinary man stuck between a rock and a much harder place. He needs cash- fast. He accepts a job to kidnap and deliver professional gambler Eli Jones (David Lyons) to his keepers in the Australian outback: No questions asked. The kidnapping is meticulously planned, but even the best laid plans… A meddling outback cop - played by legendary actor Bryan Brown - and a hapless truckie (KENNY’s brilliant Shane Jacobson) unwittingly become unexpected players in the deadly game. The journey takes both captor and hostage out of the safety of the city, deep into the starkness of the desert where choices will be made with tragic consequences. As time and distance roll by, the courage and endurance of both is pushed to the limit in a land where the point of no return is hard to see through the bitumen haze. Tense, intriguing and powered by outstanding performances CACTUS is a road movie that takes us on an unforgettable ride.

Director:
Jasmine Yuen-Carrucan
89min/ 35mm/ 2008

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8 year old Joe has a Birthday he will never forget. After friends bully him, he sneaks off to the sick bay, wishing everyone in the world would go away. He wakes up to find his dream may have become a reality. Selected for Sundance Film Festival 2009.

Director: Luke Doolan
17min/ DigiBeta/ 2008

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Curated by Academy Award® nominated animator, Anthony Lucas from the animations that have inspired his career. Highlights of the programme include award winning iconic television commercials, Louie The Fly, Mr. Sheen and Aeroplane Jelly alongside award winning shorts by famous Australian Animators including Sarah Watt, Adam Elliot, Wendy Chandler and Bruce Petty (winner of the first Academy Award for Australian animation 1970). Featuring 23 shorts and commercials this is a rare opportunity to see some seminal animated works from Australia spanning half a century of work.

Curated by Anthony Lucas
120min/ DigiBeta/ Various
Contact: Flickerfest, info@flickerfest.com.au

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“Sometimes I lie down in bed and think about murdering somebody,” a comment from Nick Cave that is at odds with his genial manner in this riveting documentary about the creation of The Murder Ballads. The idea of an entire album dedicated to murder apparently started as a joke, but it turned into one of the most critically and commercially successful albums in the bands career. Packed with music clips, snippets from The Boys Next Door and The Birthday Party, as well as interviews with Nick Cave, Kylie Minogue, Bad Seeds old and new, former collaborators, music critics and more, the film is both revealing and entertaining: the story of Kylie’s involvement and her duet (Where the Wild Roses Grow) with Nick on Top of the Pops is something special.

Director: Larry Meltzer
52min/DigiBeta/2008

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“How many times can we talk about the fucking relationships in the band, man?” asks an exasperated Lindy Morrison, drummer for the influential indie band The Go-Betweens. But these relationships were the spark that ignited their brilliant, seminal album 16 Lovers Lane, featuring “Streets of Your Town”, “Was There Anything I Could Do?” and “Love Goes On!” Alternating songs of love with tunes of heartbreak the album captured the blossoming of one relationship (singer-songwriter Grant McLennan and percussionist Amanda Brown) and the demise of another (Morrison and singer-songwriter Robert Forster). Featuring revealing interviews that recall the creative tension and personality conflicts within the band, the film is infused with the sadness of McLennan’s untimely passing, but is ultimately a stirring tribute to an incredible album created from equal parts chaos, heartache and happiness.

Director: Larry Meltzer
52min/DigiBeta/2008

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Rachel Barber is 15 and everything that Caroline Reid/Robertson her former babysitter is not. She’s beautiful, a gifted dancer, has a steady boyfriend and gets on well with her family. Caroline is overweight, has bad hair and skin and is all but estranged from her family. Caroline sets into motion a plan that will take Rachel’s life and forever change her own. Rachel’s parents Mike (Guy Pearce) and Elizabeth Barber (Miranda Otto) are terrified that something has happened to their daughter when she doesn’t meet her father at the bus stop one evening. The police aren’t very interested in their suspicions and tell them that she’s probably just run away. Their certainty that the situation is more serious creates a heavy atmosphere from the films outset. Ruth Bradley gives a startlingly powerful performance as Caroline a woman caught in a frenzied state of mind at odds with herself and the world around her desperate to be someone she is not. Her fraught relationship with her domineering and disappointed father (Sam Neill) further highlights her tenuous hold on sanity. This beautifully realized thriller told from three different perspectives will be remembered long after the credits have rolled.

Director: Simone North
97min/35mm/2009

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