Best Of Australian Shorts 1 – 2026
The 1st of seven programmes featuring the best of Australian short films in competition.
Our home-grown talent battle it out for the prestigious Academy® qualifying award for Best Australian Short Film.
Screening: Sat 24 Jan, 4pm | Runtime: 115 mins | Classification: under 15 to be w/adult
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Collect Call
In a desperate bid for re-election, Senator Chiquita Olson partners with a corporate space program to launch a probe to Jupiter – complete with a tacky campaign ad and a secret self-destruct mechanism. But when the probe crashes into an intergalactic alien tyrant’s eye, Olson, alongside the hapless Dr. Jean Barrows and the conspiracy-loving ex-astronaut Frank Quarterflash, must engage in high-stakes diplomacy with the alien Bashoalgophfarc, Devourer of Shadows.
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE- Runtime: 13min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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Dependent
Set in present-day Western Sydney, Dependent centres on Julian, a dedicated carer, who’s grappling with his own physical limitations and emotional strain while caring for his younger brother Luke, who has Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. As Julian faces a testing medical diagnosis, the weight of responsibility begins to overwhelm him. Amidst their daily routines, the brothers’ bond is tested, especially when news of conflict in the Middle East hits close to home.
- Runtime: 14min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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The Secret
Alone and ashamed, a young woman grapples with the weight of her choice as she endures an abortion at home.
NSW PREMIERE- Runtime: 12min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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Learning To Eat Cake
Learning to Eat Cake tells the variegated story of an outgoing woman as she reframes a strange and coercive sexual encounter as a comical tale to her friends, in order to make light of the violation.
NSW PREMIERE- Runtime: 15min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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Family Man
During a storm in a remote Nepalese village, a mysterious man finds refuge in the house of a family haunted by their father’s disappearance years before. Strangely unwilling to leave, he slowly reawakens lost memories of the missing father.
NSW PREMIERE- Runtime: 17min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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The Way Of The Wind
Set in the early 20th century after the expansive and violent Frontier Wars, we follow The Ragged Man as he runs across the vast and abandoned landscapes of the Australian Outback. His past catches up to him as he has to come to terms with his violent past and his connection to a deadly sniper.
WORLD PREMIERE- Runtime: 8min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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Hemma
Expecting young couple Amanda and Owen put their relationship to the fire as they struggle to decide whether their child will be born in Amanda’s native Sweden, or here in Owen’s Australian hometown.
NSW PREMIERE- Runtime: 14min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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Alpha Test
A young detective must solve a murder with the help of a hologram copy of the victim.
NSW PREMIERE- Runtime: 12min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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Listen Then Repeat
Locked out of her primary email and all of its associated accounts, Eve attempts to troubleshoot the issue with an AI-powered customer service hotline whose only goal is to improve her satisfaction no matter the cost..
NSW PREMIERE- Runtime: 10min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia