Arts News Film

The second lockdown may have dampened the spirits of our Melbourne office, but it has had quite the opposite effect on our enthusiasm for film and TV.

Natalie Erika James' directorial debut will resonate with anyone who’s witnessed human frailty at confrontingly close quarters.

'Something is dangerously askew in the way that we are talking about race in the arts in this country, and we feel that it is time we spoke up,’ write Warwick Thornton, Tony Ayres, Rachel Perkins and others.

A drunken Australian step-cousin of 1970s European and American cinema, Parish Malfitano's debut is a rich minestrone stew of cinephilic allusions.

Festivals, film openings and awards continue. This fortnight's eclectic roundup shows an industry pivoting painfully, but still alive and planning for the future.

This week is a promising one: we have some nice debuts, more screenings, and better numbers all around, but drive-ins may prove necessary for a while.

Guillermo del Toro is a true provocateur of the demonic unconscious, his mind awash with imaginary oceans, wise in the ways of terror and delight, and a Mexican god of cinema. He started very young.

From Relic to Rams, Slim and I and Babyteeth, our updated list for COVID-19 has films to look out for on socially distanced screens.

Monster Pictures and Pictures in Paradise have created a joint venture to hypnotise cult audiences with enough pizzazz to cross over.

Cinemas reopen this week, but did the Victorian COVID-19 spike put a dampener on cinema turnout?

Some films just keep pushing through even though the selection of finalists for each festival may be very different. As in The Egg.

Some Australian films slot into schedule, the Senate passes call for local content obligations on streamers, and much more in our fortnightly wrap.

The ten Australian films vying for the $10,000 Documentary Prize are a quietly effective bunch, revealing much about the evolution of the sector.

Lee's latest genre satire takes a complex look at masculinity, violence, fellowship, colonialism, and racial exploitation.

A good week for classics, but as cinemas start to reopen the charts might be creeping towards a new normal.

SFF's revised virtual program contains festival favourite, the screenability stream. What does accessibility for disabled artists look like in the digital age?

Created with Support Act, the fund will provide $1000 one-time benefits to below-the-line Australian screen talent affected by COVID-19

It's possible to view the best of this pared-down program and not see a single film by a man. Critic Adrian Martin enjoyed a broad sample.

In a list that is heavily weighted towards the law and politics this year, the arts barely gets a look in – and largely at a ground roots level.

Of all the the curveballs that 2020 has thrown the Australian film industry, 'Shrek' making the box office charts might be the funniest.