WHAT’S ON WHERE
BBFF2026
PALACE BYRON BAY
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![Poster for All of a Sudden - Two women sit by the water at night]()
ALL OF A SUDDEN
Byron Premiere
Saturday 24 October 11:30am
Marie-Lou runs an aged-care facility on the outskirts of Paris. She’s devoted to her job, but is dealing burnout. Her spirit is rekindled when she meets Japanese playwright Mari. As they plunge headlong into all-night conversations about mortality, philosophy and the degradations of capitalism, Mari and Marie-Lou’s new friendship changes both of their lives forever.
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![Poster for American Doctor - 3 doctors in scrubs and military gear walk down a bombed out road]()
AMERICAN DOCTOR
Byron Premiere
Wednesday 21 October 7pm
A vérité documentary following three prominent physicians–Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian - friends who couldn’t be more different but are bound by the shared oath to save lives. Filmed in unfolding, on-the ground scenes, the story follows them from a Gazan hospital under siege, to the halls of Congress.
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![A poster for Big Girls Don't Cry - To the right side of the poster a blonde woman leans against a rock, in the lower left side a woman with black hair rests her head on the blonde woman]()
BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY
Byron Premiere
Saturday 24 October 5:15pm
14 year-old Sid Bookman is caught between childhood and adolescence, navigating burgeoning sexual curiosity and a desperate desire for acceptance. Everything changes when her sister returns from university with Freya, a magnetic friend from America, whose attention awakens something Sid can’t yet name.
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![Poster for Bitter Christmas - A blue silhouette of a mans face in profile sits against an off white background, within the silhouette a woman wearing sunglasses faces faces forward]()
BITTER CHRISTMAS
NSW Premiere
Sunday 18 October 7:30pm
Saturday 24 October 7:30pmPedro Almodóvar delivers stories within stories about when art that imitates life a little too closely. Elsa is an advertising director, in 2004; Raúl is a film director writing the story of Elsa, in 2026. Elsa, like Raúl, resorts to autofiction as a source of creative inspiration - leading to real-life consequences when the limits of narrative appropriation are tested.
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![Poster for Boss Cat - A young woman stands on a bus, she is smiling and has her hands raised in celebration. Behind her stand figures wearing sparkly golden gloves which they have extended over her head.]()
BOSS CAT
Byron Premiere
Sunday 18 October 2:30pm + Q&A
After her mother dies, a woman with Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome) must campaign against the plans of her estranged grandmother to sell the family home and send her away. To gain the support she needs, she must first channel an explosive temper into something more positive…Krump dance.
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![Poster for Broken English - A warmly lit image of a woman's face, below the title of the film is broken up into various fonts]()
BROKEN ENGLISH
Byron Premiere
Thursday 22 October 7:00pm
A survivor, provocateur, and true original, Marianne Faithfull has spent more than six decades defying expectations - releasing over 35 albums while constantly reinventing herself. Broken English is an intimate and unflinching exploration of a fractured yet unbreakable life shaped by fame, creativity and relentless public scrutiny.
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![The poster for Crack Me Open - A man with long hair tied partially in a bun is seen in profile against a background of blurred lights]()
CRACK ME OPEN
World Premiere
Sunday 25 October 3pm + Q&A
When faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis, a young family man is forced into a profound confrontation with fear, death, and the painful truth of not fully being himself. Blending intimate personal testimony with a wider inquiry into the nature of fear, Crack Me Open reveals a cinematic journey of healing, courage, and transformation.
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![Poster for Guided By Horses - A woman leans her head against the face of a horse, in the background the sunset can be seen]()
GUIDED BY HORSES
Byron Premiere
Monday 19 October 7:00pm + Q&A
Sunday 25 October 12:30pm
In Australia’s outback, where youth suicide rates are among the highest in the world, one woman creates extraordinary healing connections between horses and Indigenous teenagers. This powerful and timely true story celebrates kindness, the resilience of the human spirit, and our deep connection to nature.
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![Poster for Hen - A chickens head is shown looking forward, in the background hills and a body of water can be seen]()
HEN
Byron Premiere
Saturday 17 October 3pm
Escaping from a chicken farm, a hen finds refuge in the courtyard of a crumbling restaurant. There, she discovers love, confronts the pecking order, and fights to protect her eggs from a greedy owner. Her droll yet touching quest for motherhood mirrors the messy compromises and silent struggles of human lives.
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![Poster for the International Shorts Session - A close up of a young man with blonde hair and blue eyes with his face turned towards the camera.]()
INTERNATIONAL SHORTS - SHORT FILM SESSION
Byron Premiere
Friday 23 October 5pm
Travel the world through a standout collection of international short films, bringing together bold storytelling, diverse perspectives and some of the strongest short-form filmmaking in this year’s festival.
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![Poster for Late Fame - A man and woman are seen in profile facing each other, behind them is a foggy city street.]()
LATE FAME
Byron Premiere
Saturday 17 October 7:30pm
Sunday 25 October 7:30pm
Willem Dafoe stars as Ed Saxberger, a postal worker who once wrote a book of poetry nobody cared for. When a flattering fan beckons him into a coterie of young admirers, he is anointed as a rediscovered genius. Intoxicated by their attention and the charm of the ‘tragic heroine’ of the group, Ed gradually reckons with the authenticity of his newfound poetic circle.
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![Poster for Stay Strange - Short Film Session. A darkly lit close up of a young man wearing headphones and glasses.]()
STAY STRANGE - SHORT FILM SESSION
Byron Premiere
Friday 23 October 8pm
Because normal is a myth... Stay Strange flips the bird to conformity with a bold selection of short films that are anything but safe. From soulful to surreal, spiky to absurd, these shorts celebrate outsiders, rebels and the beautifully unconventional. Expect sharp wit, emotional jolts, and moments that gleam with strange, unforgettable magic.
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![Poster for Sweet Milk Lake - Two men sit back to back on a rock, in the background lies a mountain range]()
SWEET MILK LAKE
Byron Premiere
Saturday 17 October 5:15pm
After being mistaken for his twin brother by his estranged and dying dad, a soft-spoken trans man relishes the opportunity to be one of the boys - until the weight of the lie becomes heavier than his need for the truth. At its core, Sweet Milk Lake is a story about longing to be understood, to exist in contradiction and complexity, beyond definition.
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![Poster for That Half Barbaric Twang - A black and white image. In the bottom right three figures in profile standing in a field beneath a tree that takes up the upper half of the poster.]()
THAT HALF BARBARIC TWANG
Byron Premiere
Sunday 25 October 8pm
Two of Australia’s most recognised actors and a musical wizard. A troubadour trio of conscientious vagabonds. They bring their ‘badass gospel’ country music to the most remote and marginalized people in Australia. They seek fameless perfection through their unique sound. But they also dream of one day playing The Grand Ole Opry - Nashville.
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![Poster for The Best Summer - A group of people in black and white cover the lower half of the poster, above them is a bright yellow backdrop with pink spikes arranged in the shape of the sun]()
THE BEST SUMMER
Byron Premiere
Saturday 17 October 8pm
Unearthed footage from a wild 1995 concert tour drops you straight into the golden age of alternative music - onstage, backstage and everywhere in between. Blistering performances, candid interviews and off-guard moments create an all-access time capsule featuring Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Foo Fighters, Pavement, Rancid, Beck, The Amps and Bikini Kill at the height of their powers.
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![Poster for The Cycle Of Love - The poster is divided across the middle. The bottom half features a man and woman smiling in a warmly lit room. The top half features a figure on a motorbike riding down a scenic road.]()
THE CYCLE OF LOVE
Byron Premiere
Sunday 18 October 5pm
Friday 23 October 7:30pm
In 1977, a 23-year-old Delhi street artist from a poor, ‘untouchable’ family, picks up a handful of paintbrushes and a second-hand bicycle and sets off on a cross-continent mission to find Lotta, the woman who had captured his heart. A true-life adventure about the search for self-belief and risking everything for what your heart tells you.
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![Poster for The Fox - The Heads of a man and woman can be seen against a red background. Each head is split down the middle giving the appearance of having been cracked open, the head of a red fox can be seen emerging from the gap between them.]()
THE FOX
Byron Premiere
Opening Night - Friday 16 October 8pm
Nick, the affable heir to a wealthy rural landowner, discovers his fiancée Kori is cheating on him. When he encounters a talking Fox who offers him an unusual opportunity to save their relationship and turn her into the perfect partner, Nick decides to follow its advice. But when Kori suddenly seems to become everything he ever wanted, her strange new quirks soon make him question whether he’s made a terrible mistake.
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![Poster for The Lightkeeper - The poster is divided into four overlapping squares, featuring close ups of the cast. on the bottom is an older man to the right and young woman to the left. On top a middle aged man is to the right and a woman sits left.]()
THE LIGHTKEEPER
Byron Premiere
Saturday 24 October 3pm
Ireland, 1924. Seamus is a lighthouse keeper stuck in a cycle of grief. The walls he has created begin to crack when three lives intersect with his own: the housekeeper who quietly yearns for him; the beautiful American war widow whose quest for closure ignites something in him; and the hard-line priest, who starts a battle of wills with a man who has nothing to lose.
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![Poster for The Oligarch And The Art Dealer - A canvas with a red lower half and white and brown top half divided by a black line. A hole in the centre of the canvas reveals a partially obscured man holding a finger to his lips in a silencing motion.]()
THE OLIGARCH AND THE ART DEALER
Byron Premiere
Saturday 17 October 12:40pm
When Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier meets Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, he quickly rises through the ranks. From a discreet adviser, to a global power broker and manager of Rybolovlev’s investments in an enigmatic market: where the value of artworks is something agreed upon by a narrow elite of connoisseurs and ultrarich tycoons.
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![The poster for The Tale Of Silyan - In the lower right corner a man and bird sit together on a rooftop, behind them is a dusk sky with birds flying in the distance.]()
THE TALE OF SILYAN
Byron Premiere
Sunday 18 October 12:30pm
A Macedonian farmer abandoned by his family saves an injured bird from a landfill. The two form a bond and find solace and companionship in each other’s solitude. With the tone of a real-life fairytale, the white storks are portrayed as a perfect mirror of humanity. The changes in their behaviour offer a stark warning about where we are heading.
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![The Poster for Tiber - A man and young girl sit together in a field of tall grass with mountains behind them.]()
TIBER
NSW Premiere
Tuesday 20 October 7pm + Q&A
After losing his job in Rome, Australian-Italian art historian Marco returns to Tuscany, where he sets out in a vintage Fiat with his young daughter Lucia on a journey toward the Tiber River. Travelling through an Italian summer of encounters shaped by memory, art and history, Marco is drawn toward a reckoning with a loss he has long tried to contain.
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![Poster for Stay Strange short film session at the Byron Bay International Film Festival. A close-up shows two people laughing joyfully, one with their head tilted back, set against a dark background.]()
YOUNG AUSTRALIAN FILMMAKER OF THE YEAR + AWARD
Byron Premiere
Saturday 17 October 5pm
In the pulsating heart of the Australian film landscape lies a gem that sparkles with the promise of tomorrow: the Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year Competition. An integral part of BBFF since 2007, this competition has, year after year, stood as a beacon for budding filmmakers, calling out to those who dare to dream big.
PALACE BALLINA FAIR
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![Poster for Bitter Christmas - A blue silhouette of a mans face in profile sits against an off white background, within the silhouette a woman wearing sunglasses faces faces forward]()
BITTER CHRISTMAS
NSW Premiere
Sunday 25 October 4:30pm
Pedro Almodóvar delivers stories within stories about when art that imitates life a little too closely. Elsa is an advertising director, in 2004; Raúl is a film director writing the story of Elsa, in 2026. Elsa, like Raúl, resorts to autofiction as a source of creative inspiration - leading to real-life consequences when the limits of narrative appropriation are tested.
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![Poster for Boss Cat - A young woman stands on a bus, she is smiling and has her hands raised in celebration. Behind her stand figures wearing sparkly golden gloves which they have extended over her head]()
BOSS CAT
Byron Premiere
Thursday 22 October 12pm
Accessible Screening + Q&A with Lead Actress Olivia Hargroder
After her mother dies, a young woman with Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome) must campaign against the plans of her estranged grandmother to sell the family home and send her away. To gain the support she needs, she must first channel an explosive temper into something more positive…Krump dance.
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![Poster for Guided By Horses - A woman leans her head against the face of a horse, in the background the sunset can be seen]()
GUIDED BY HORSES
Byron Premiere
Sunday 18 October 5pm + Q&A
In Australia’s outback, where youth suicide rates are among the highest in the world, one woman creates extraordinary healing connections between horses and Indigenous teenagers. This powerful and timely true story celebrates kindness, the resilience of the human spirit, and our deep connection to nature.
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![Poster for Late Fame - A man and woman are seen in profile facing each other, behind them is a foggy city street.]()
LATE FAME
Byron Premiere
Friday 23 October 7:20pm
Willem Dafoe stars as Ed Saxberger, a postal worker who once wrote a book of poetry nobody cared for. When a flattering fan beckons him into a coterie of young admirers, he is anointed as a rediscovered genius. Intoxicated by their attention and the charm of the ‘tragic heroine’ of the group, Ed gradually reckons with the authenticity of his newfound poetic circle..
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![Poster for The Cycle Of Love - The poster is divided across the middle. The bottom half features a man and woman smiling in a warmly lit room. The top half features a figure on a motorbike riding down a scenic road.]()
THE CYCLE OF LOVE
Byron Premiere
Thursday 22 October 7pm
In 1977, a 23-year-old Delhi street artist from a poor, ‘untouchable’ family, picks up a handful of paintbrushes and a second-hand bicycle and sets off on a cross-continent mission to find Lotta, the woman who had captured his heart. A true-life adventure about the search for self-belief and risking everything for what your heart tells you.
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![Poster for The Fox - The Heads of a man and woman can be seen against a red background. Each head is split down the middle giving the appearance of having been cracked open, the head of a red fox can be seen emerging from the gap between them.]()
THE FOX
Byron Premiere
Saturday 24 October 7:20pm
Nick, the affable heir to a wealthy rural landowner, discovers his fiancée Kori is cheating on him. When he encounters a talking Fox who offers him an unusual opportunity to save their relationship and turn her into the perfect partner, Nick decides to follow its advice. But when Kori suddenly seems to become everything he ever wanted, her strange new quirks soon make him question whether he’s made a terrible mistake.
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![Poster for The Oligarch And The Art Dealer - A canvas with a red lower half and white and brown top half divided by a black line. A hole in the centre of the canvas reveals a partially obscured man holding a finger to his lips in a silencing motion.]()
THE OLIGARCH AND THE ART DEALER
Byron Premiere
Saturday 24 October 5pm
When Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier meets Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, he quickly rises through the ranks. From a discreet adviser, to a global power broker and manager of Rybolovlev’s investments in an enigmatic market: where the value of artworks is something agreed upon by a narrow elite of connoisseurs and ultrarich tycoons.
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![The poster for The Tale Of Silyan - In the lower right corner a man and bird sit together on a rooftop, behind them is a dusk sky with birds flying in the distance.]()
THE TALE OF SILYAN
Byron Premiere
Sunday 25 October 2pm
A Macedonian farmer abandoned by his family saves an injured bird from a landfill. The two form a bond and find solace and companionship in each other’s solitude. With the tone of a real-life fairytale, the white storks are portrayed as a perfect mirror of humanity. The changes in their behaviour offer a stark warning about where we are heading.
LISMORE CINEMAS
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![Poster for Broken English - A warmly lit image of a woman's face, below the title of the film is broken up into various fonts]()
BROKEN ENGLISH
Saturday 17 October 1pm
A survivor, provocateur, and true original, Marianne Faithfull has spent more than six decades defying expectations - releasing over 35 albums while constantly reinventing herself. Broken English is an intimate and unflinching exploration of a fractured yet unbreakable life shaped by fame, creativity and relentless public scrutiny.
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![Poster for The Cycle Of Love - The poster is divided across the middle. The bottom half features a man and woman smiling in a warmly lit room. The top half features a figure on a motorbike riding down a scenic road.]()
THE CYCLE OF LOVE
Saturday 17 October 3:45pm
In 1977, a 23-year-old Delhi street artist from a poor, ‘untouchable’ family, picks up a handful of paintbrushes and a second-hand bicycle and sets off on a cross-continent mission to find Lotta, the woman who had captured his heart. A true-life adventure about the search for self-belief and risking everything for what your heart tells you.
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![Poster for The Best Summer - A group of people in black and white cover the lower half of the poster, above them is a bright yellow backdrop with pink spikes arranged in the shape of the sun]()
THE BEST SUMMER
Sunday 18 October 1pm
Unearthed footage from a wild 1995 concert tour drops you straight into the golden age of alternative music - onstage, backstage and everywhere in between. Blistering performances, candid interviews and off-guard moments create an all-access time capsule featuring Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Foo Fighters, Pavement, Rancid, Beck, The Amps and Bikini Kill at the height of their powers.
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![Poster for That Half Barbaric Twang - A black and white image. In the bottom right three figures in profile standing in a field beneath a tree that takes up the upper half of the poster.]()
THAT HALF BARBARIC TWANG + Q&A
Friday 23 October 6:30pm
Two of Australia’s most recognised actors and a musical wizard. A troubadour trio of conscientious vagabonds. They bring their ‘badass gospel’ country music to the most remote and marginalized people in Australia. They seek fameless perfection through their unique sound. But they also dream of one day playing The Grand Ole Opry - Nashville.
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![Poster for Guided By Horses - A woman leans her head against the face of a horse, in the background the sunset can be seen]()
GUIDED BY HORSES
Saturday 24 October 1pm
In Australia’s outback, where youth suicide rates are among the highest in the world, one woman creates extraordinary healing connections between horses and Indigenous teenagers. This powerful and timely true story celebrates kindness, the resilience of the human spirit, and our deep connection to nature.
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![Poster for Late Fame - A man and woman are seen in profile facing each other, behind them is a foggy city street.]()
LATE FAME
Sunday 25 October 1pm
Willem Dafoe stars as Ed Saxberger, a postal worker who once wrote a book of poetry nobody cared for. When a flattering fan beckons him into a coterie of young admirers, he is anointed as a rediscovered genius. Intoxicated by their attention and the charm of the ‘tragic heroine’ of the group, Ed gradually reckons with the authenticity of his newfound poetic circle.
-
![Poster for The Fox - The Heads of a man and woman can be seen against a red background. Each head is split down the middle giving the appearance of having been cracked open, the head of a red fox can be seen emerging from the gap between them.]()
THE FOX
Saturday 24 October 6:30pm
Nick, the affable heir to a wealthy rural landowner, discovers his fiancée Kori is cheating on him. When he encounters a talking Fox who offers him an unusual opportunity to save their relationship and turn her into the perfect partner, Nick decides to follow its advice. But when Kori suddenly seems to become everything he ever wanted, her strange new quirks soon make him question whether he’s made a terrible mistake.
BRUNSWICK PICTURE HOUSE
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![Poster for Derek vs Derek, showing two men standing in a windswept rural landscape holding long-handled tools beneath dark storm clouds and lightning.]()
DEREK VS DEREK
Sunday 18 October 2:30pm
The idyllic English countryside. An intensive dairy farmer called Derek. One day his neighbour, also a Derek, forsakes tradition and starts to turn his land over to wild nature, sparking a long-running feud. This film charts the two Derek's turbulent, often funny, relationship as tempers fray, wild animals escape, and the land is transformed.
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![Poster for Salt in Her Veins, a women’s surf short film session, featuring a close-up portrait of a woman in a black wetsuit hood with windblown blonde hair and BBFF branding.]()
SALT IN HER VEINS
Sunday 18 October 6pm
A collection of short films about women taking their place in the lineup, on their own terms.
Across different coastlines, cultures and generations, these stories explore the challenges, friendships and personal journeys that come with making space for yourself in the surf world.
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![Poster for Ganibarra, featuring a close-up of an Aboriginal man, a painted face and a dingo, with the tagline “The survival of culture. The survival of the dingo.”]()
WHAT BELONGS HERE
Friday 23 October 6pm
Indigenous short films exploring culture, language, story and connection to Country, and the ways these are being carried forward into the future. Through ancestral memory, personal journeys and cultural revival, the films honour what has endured, what is being reclaimed, and what has always belonged here.
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![Poster for Through the local lens - a hand painting bottles]()
THROUGH THE LOCAL LENS
Saturday 24 October 12:30pm
A celebration of Northern Rivers filmmaking, bringing together locally made short films and short documentaries - and the filmmakers behind them - to showcase the depth, creativity and distinctive voices of our region.
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![Poster for Raising Superheroes, showing a child in a Superman shirt and red cape raising a fist while balancing on a rope above the globe, with the tagline “What if mental illness was preventable?”]()
RAISING SUPERHEROES + Q&A
Saturday 24 October 3pm
When Shannon Harvey set out to understand why mental illness is rising among young people, she found herself asking: Is mental illness preventable? Her search takes her from early childhood centres in Boston to remote Himalayan villages in Nepal, and to schools in Adelaide taking power back from the tech companies. What she finds is radical and full of hope.
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![Poster for That Half Barbaric Twang, featuring nine black-and-white portrait photographs arranged in a three-by-three grid against a dark background.]()
THAT HALF BARBARIC TWANG + Q&A
Saturday 24 October 6:30pm
Two of Australia’s most recognised actors and a musical wizard. A troubadour trio of conscientious vagabonds. They bring their ‘badass gospel’ country music to the most remote and marginalized people in Australia. They seek fameless perfection through their unique sound. But they also dream of one day playing The Grand Ole Opry - Nashville.
STONE AND WOOD BREWERY
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![Poster for Magic Island a Balinese mask in flames]()
MAGIC ISLAND + Q&A
Thursday 22 October 6pm
From Uluwatu and beyond, Magic Island is paired with surf shorts that look at the many ways surfing connects us to place, culture and ourselves. Moving through different coastlines and perspectives, the films explore belonging, creativity, tradition, change and the personal relationships we form with the ocean and the places around it.
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ONDA LATINA - LATIN WAVE
Friday 23 October 6:30pm
Three Australian premieres from Chile and Brazil come together in Onda Latina, a trio of surf films shaped as much by people and place as by the waves themselves. From a surfer and his dog travelling the Chilean coast in search of connection, to three lives where surfing becomes spirituality, philosophy and preservation, and the fiercely individual story of Lúcio “Feroz” Firmino on Brazil’s Espírito Santo coast, these films explore surf as freedom, identity, survival and belonging.
