In Film Australia - all about Australian films

Cedar Boys (now playing in cinemas) is the explosive feature film debut of writer/director Serhat Caradee. It is a punch-packing multicultural drama about Lebanese-Australian Sydneysiders who dabble in the drug trade. The film is searing, provocative and skilfully directed – in other words an impressive kick-start to a promising career. Shortly before the film’s national [...]

Writer/director Samuel Genocchio’s dark and abstruse thriller Bad Bush is set in a remote farmhouse, where a young woman and her newborn baby spend a night alone with a drug-crazed dope grower. The film is a creepy cat-and-mouse story intelligently handled and resourcefully shot, squeezing every penny out of a total budget of $220,000 (including [...]

The Dungog Film Festival (May 28 to May 31) is one of innumerable annual festivals spread across the Australian film landscape, but, argues Dungog director Allanah Zitserman, the weekend-long event offers enough unique incentives to carve its own niche. In Film Australia caught up with Zitserman via email.

Megan Spencer is a distinguished film personality in Australia and a rare example of a film aficionado who has worked professionally both as a reviewer and a filmmaker. Her critiquing CV includes stints for ABCs JJJ and SBS’s The Movie Show, and her films include documentaries Love struck: Wrestling’s #1 Fan and Strange Hungers: Mistress [...]

When Luke Buckmaster sat down to watch Baz Luhrmann’s much anticipated epic, he could barely believe his eyes. Linking Australia to one of the worst feature films ever made in this country, In Film’s review drew a cyclonic response, including words of encouragement from two notorious media commentators. As a way of rationalising the debacle [...]

With an emphasis on interesting characters and heartfelt performances, Men’s Group is a compelling drama that wields an emotional impact very few features this year - or any other year - can match. Luke Buckmaster discusses making the film with director Michael Joy (pictured above) and producer John L Simpson.

The Australian Film Institute have announced this year’s AFI Awards Nominees. The awards will be presented at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre on Saturday December 6 and will be televised on the Nine Network at 9:30pm. Luke Buckmaster reflects on the 2008 nominees, offering his personal picks for the major categories.

In an industry dominated by blockbuster produce and global media campaigns, every Australian film inevitably fights tooth-and-nail to find screens and draw audiences. So what can distributors do to better promote local work? Discussing the marketing of features such as Baz Luhrmann’s long-hyped Australia, Matt Ravier proposes some potential solutions.