Ten awesome Aussie films to see at MIFF this year

Kicking off almost three weeks of fantastic films, Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari’s opening night movie traces the harrowing story of an Iranian mum (Holy Spider star Zar Amir Ebrahimi) hunkering down in a Melbourne woman’s shelter in the mid-'90s.

Comedian and Ali’s Wedding lead Osamah Sami plays against type as her abusive estranged husband, with The Drover’s Wife star Leah Purcell also popping up as a social worker. The Cate Blanchett-produced film is debuting at Sundance and is also up for MIFF’s Bright Horizons award for best first or second feature.

Starring Hugo Weaving and Phoenix Raei as a hermit and cop who form an unlikely connection, The Rooster is a tender, and at times amusing, depiction of masculinity, mental health and the solace found in companionship. 

The chemistry between the two leads – who bond while camping in the forest – is crackling, as they go on a transformative journey to confront life’s challenges and discover what hides behind the bravado. A bold feature debut from actor turned writer/director Mark Leonard Winter.

Music lovers will want to bag tickets for this glowing tribute to the man who forged an indelible reputation thanks to his unwavering passion for connecting gig-goers to the greatest stars of our time, including Kylie Minogue, Bruce Springsteen, Ed Sheeran and Jimmy Barnes.

Memorably arranging a mighty post-lockdown Foo Fighters concert in Geelong, Gudinski tragically did not live to see it. Directed by music video maestro Paul Goldman, expect superstar contributions and archival gold in this gala screening doco, including insights from the legend himself.

Combining suburban kitsch comedy and poignant drama, Cold Water is a delicate portrait of ageing, identity and learning to live with the past. Starring Bruce Spence as a senile man fighting painful memories and Deborah Kennedy as his fed-up wife, their domestic routine is upended when Murray (Spence) decides to wage war on the mynas in their backyard.

Fun fact: you may remember Deborah Kennedy from the iconic "Not happy, Jan!" ad.

Cast your mind back to August 7, 2021, when the Boomers defeated Slovenia at the Tokyo Olympics to nab a podium spot behind the USA and France – their ‘rose gold’ third-place medal breaking a 65-year streak of losses and agonising near-misses.

This gripping documentary will take you courtside, providing a behind-the-scenes look at how the Australian men's basketball team achieved their first-ever international medal. It features exclusive interviews with coaches, commentators and players like Patty Mills, Andrew Gaze and Andrew Bogut.

In this classic coming of age story, 17-year-old Leo lives a seemingly typical life in Melbourne's outer 'burbs: working-class family, popular at school, respected by his peers. But beneath this projected persona lie questions around desire and sexuality – and a growing attraction to his best friend.

This queer drama explores themes of self-acceptance, sexual awakenings and heteronormative pressures, with writer/director Gabriel Carrubba set on giving “queer teenagers hope, to show them that they’re not alone”.

The second feature from Jason Raftopoulos follows the lives of two orphaned refugees in Athens who cross paths with an Australian humanitarian worker after a tragedy at sea.  

A touching examination of statelessness, trauma and time, Raftopoulos draws upon his own Greek-Cypriot family’s experiences of migration to shine a light on lives relegated to the shadows. It features a stellar cast of Australian and Greek actors, including Yorgos Lanthimos regular Angeliki Papoulia.

Introducing the first virtually produced Australian feature – a psychological thriller about a single father pushed to the brink of insanity as he fights to save his abducted daughter. 

If you’re still suffering from PTSD flashbacks to the election of Donald Trump as the president of America, the apocalyptic unleashing of a global pandemic and a spot of insurrection when he was eventually toppled, then go the electroshock therapy route.

This sparkily hilarious movie mash-up from art punk Australian filmmakers Soda Jerk stitches together newsreel from these hellscape times with movies like Wayne’s World, American Beauty, Sausage Party and The Phantom of the Opera to ask exactly WTF just happened. Riotously good in a wrongtown way.

You may know Jason Di Rosso as the host of ABC Radio National’s The Screen Show, but after two decades of reviewing, he returns to his roots in film and television production with this deeply personal documentary. 

With his father battling a terminal illness in Perth, Di Rossi picks up a camera in Sydney to document his grief process and attempt to bridge the physical, emotional and philosophical gaps that separate the two. Profoundly intimate, this is a portrait of time, memory, history and family that you won't soon forget.