500 DAYS IN THE WILD: A Special Event Screening + Live Q&A with director Dianne Whelan

500 Days In The Wild follows the epic 6-year journey of filmmaker Dianne Whelan as she sets out to reconnect with nature and become the first person to travel the world's longest trail.

The 24,000 km Trans Canada Trail stretches across the continent of North America, connecting the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific oceans. It is the longest trail in the world. For six years filmmaker Dianne Whelan traveled the entirety of the land and water trails, the only person to ever accomplish this journey. 500 Days in the Wild recounts Dianne's journey by bike, canoe, skis, snowshoes and on foot and her cross-cultural visits with those who live close to the land.

A film by Jafar Panah

Vahid, an unassuming mechanic, has a chance encounter with Eghbal, a man he strongly suspects to be his former sadistic jailhouse captor. Panicked, Vahid gathers several former prisoners, all abused by that same captor, to try and confirm Eghbal's identity. As the bickering group drives around Tehran with the captive, they must confront how far to take matters into their own hands with their presumed tormentor.

From master filmmaker Jafar Panahi comes a searing moral thriller that engages with complex ideas about the uncertainty of the truth and the choice between revenge and mercy, as Panahi turns his personal dissonance into a profound and galvanizing work of art.

Live It Up is a new feature documentary celebrating Mental as Anything, the art-school band whose irreverent humour, visual art and clever pop songs made them one of Australia’s most distinctive cultural forces. Following the release of Nips Are Getting Bigger in 1979, the Mentals rose quickly from inner-city Sydney pubs to national fame, becoming masters at capturing Australian suburban life with warmth, wit and playfulness. While success came fast, they never treated it with reverence. Funny, warm and unexpectedly moving, Live It Up explores how Mental as Anything navigated fame, longevity and the pressures of the music industry while holding fast to their humour and creative spirit — revealing why their music continues to resonate today.

A film by Park Chan-wook

A man is laid off from the paper company he has worked at for 25 years. Over a year later and still jobless, he hits on a solution: eliminate the competition.

Starring Lee Byung-Hun, Son Ye-Jin, Park Hee-Soon, Lee Sung-Min, Yeom Hye-ran, Cha Seung-won

Gathering 18 of Italy’s most celebrated contemporary actresses, acclaimed writer/director Ferzan Özpetek's dazzling crowd-pleaser DIAMONDS is a joyous and warm-hearted tribute to the majesty of the movie costume, following the female employees of a bustling 1970s Roman fashion house as they seek to fulfil a challenging new commission.

A huge box office hit upon its Italian release, DIAMONDS is Özpetek at his beguiling best, delivering a richly sincere, thoroughly entertaining love letter to the emotional power of cinema, and the binding strength of sisterhood.

Following the international success of The Big Hit (an Official Selection at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, and winner of Best Comedy at the European Film Awards), writer/director Emmanuel Courcol's wildly entertaining new film MY BROTHER'S BAND follows two siblings separated by fate and reunited by music.

While people across 1990s Iraq struggle to survive the war and food shortages, Saddam Hussein requires each school in the country to prepare a cake to celebrate his birthday. Despite her efforts to avoid getting picked, 9-year-old Lamia is chosen among her classmates. The young girl must now use her wits and imagination to gather ingredients for the mandatory cake or face the consequences.

Satu – Year of the Rabbit, directed by Welsh filmmaker Joshua Trigg.

A poetic and visually stunning road movie, Satu follows a young orphan and a teenage photojournalist as they journey across Laos in search of identity and connection. 

Shot on 16mm film with local producer Lee Phongsavanh, local cast and crew, the production overcame enormous challenges, including limited resources, broken equipment, and pandemic restrictions, to deliver an emotionally resonant and visually rich debut. 

Satu: Year of the Rabbit explores themes of identity, displacement, and belonging through the journey of a young girl navigating an unfamiliar world. Shot with poetic realism and a distinctive cinematic voice, the film has cemented Joshua Trigg as an emerging talent to watch.

María Ángeles (Carmen Maura), a spirited 79-year-old Spaniard, has spent her life in the Spanish Quarter of Tangier, where she now savors her golden years. Maria's world is turned upside down when her daughter arrives from Madrid, determined to sell the family apartment. To protect her home and the memories it holds, she fights back and, unexpectedly, rediscovers love and sensuality.

The Big Bike Film Night is on a mission - bringing the best short cycling films from around the world together for you. Showcasing 2.5 hours of mesmerizing bike films that have everything a cycle-centric audience could want – action, drama, humour, and plenty of inspiration. The evening is unashamedly and utterly, utterly, utterly designed and devised to delight the two-wheel devotee!

These short films are a great reminder of why we love to ride our bike; with stories that captivate us, stories that move us, and most importantly of all – inspiring us to get out and ride. All celebrate the fun, adventure, and joy that cycling enables. So...listen to the voice inside you; it’s telling you to go. Grab your mates, GO ON… grab your bike and come along for the ride!!