Best Of Australian Shorts 2 – 2026
The 2nd 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, 6:30pm | Runtime: 114 mins | Classification: under 15 to be w/adult
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Little Pumpkin
One year after a family tragedy, a mother struggles to get her curious seven year old daughter to stop wearing a homemade pumpkin head everywhere she goes.
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE- Runtime: 10min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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Date 3
Ella is haunted by an abusive relationship that ended 3 years ago. Now trying to re-enter the online dating game, she invites Harry to her home for their third date. The unspoken idea of sex is inevitably on the cards. But Ella is uneasy. Unnerving – almost imperceptible – things have been happening around her home, and the neighbourhood dogs have been going off all night. She invites Harry over for comfort and protection, but has she let the wolf inside? As Ella’s third date progresses, subtle lines seem like they are being crossed. Or is it just her past haunting her? DATE 3 explores the murky, and at times illusive, world of emotional abuse. It gives visceral insight into the everyday threat and vulnerability of the female experience.
WORLD PREMIERE- Runtime: 16min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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Pulp
El wakes to her Mother’s voice and begins to see her body separating from herself, as through cascading visions of El’s past and future, she walks towards a memory of her Mother that seeps in from her dreams and calls her back into a place she is afraid to return to.
NSW PREMIERE- Runtime: 13min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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Lodestar
Two sisters with a deep, unspoken bond reunite when it is revealed that their childhood home is set to be demolished. Drawn by a need for closure, they return to the now-empty house, remembering the scents, textures, and echoes of their past. As they navigate the space between memory and change, Ingrid and Rheya confront what it means to say goodbye – not just to a home, but to the versions of themselves that once lived within.
NSW PREMIERE- Runtime: 10min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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Flame
A performance artist must reach her audience before it’s too late.
WORLD PREMIERE- Runtime: 11min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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Inheritance
Fresh out of prison and barely holding it together, John Barker returns home to his dying grandfather—only to inherit an old boat, the family dog, a convict legacy, and one final chance to break the cycle… if he has the courage to try..
WORLD PREMIERE- Runtime: 17min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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The Brutal Alchemy Of Water
Refusing to accept the loss of her girlfriend, Quinn spirals through the suffocating confines of prison. In the depths of her grief she must navigate her unraveling mind and confront her inner demons. The only way out is through.
WORLD PREMIERE- Runtime: 15min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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Burley
When a ten year old boy witnesses his father committing a sexual act while his mother is away that he doesn’t understand, he must choose between telling the truth upon her return or breaking the small family apart.
WORLD PREMIERE- Runtime: 14min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia
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The Rockjob
A Cain and Abel tale of two warring brothers and the heinous misappropriation of Missing Pet posters.
WORLD PREMIERE- Runtime: 8min
- Year: 2025
- Country: Australia