The Beatles starring in their first full-length, hilarious action-packed film Capturing John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in their electrifying element, 'A Hard Day's Night' is a wildly irreverent journey through this pastiche of a day in the life of The Beatles during 1964. The band have to use all their guile and wit to avoid the pursuing fans and press to reach their scheduled television performance, in spite of Paul's troublemaking grandfather and Ringo's arrest.

Sam and Mia, two writers at different stages of their careers, share the routines of daily life in Sam’s Berlin apartment. But beneath the surface of their affection, tension quietly builds until a casual remark about their friend Becca reveals a devastating betrayal. Over the course of a single day and night, the three friends face the slow fracture of trust, each drawn to choices shaped by guilt, self-preservation, and the fragile hope that love might still survive the damage. Filmed in Berlin, AFTER THE ACT is a quiet, emotionally disarming drama deeply rooted in the traditions of arthouse and slow cinema. Inspired by Éric Rohmer’s observational intimacy, Hong Sang-soo’s elliptical honesty, and the raw, lived-in immediacy of Berlin mumblecore, AFTER THE ACT “will break your heart as you watch, and challenge you to pick up the pieces.” (Ken Greaves, IndyRed) A Q&A with Directors Sarah Jayne Portelli & Ivan Malekin to follow the Saturday December 13th screening.

Eclipse Filmmaker - Director Q&A and screening. Please join Sarah Jayne Portelli & Ivan Malekin for a discussion as they visit Australia to promote the film. Playing exclusively at the Eclipse in Melbourne. - Sam and Mia, two writers at different stages of their careers, share the routines of daily life in Sam’s Berlin apartment. But beneath the surface of their affection, tension quietly builds until a casual remark about their friend Becca reveals a devastating betrayal. Over the course of a single day and night, the three friends face the slow fracture of trust, each drawn to choices shaped by guilt, self-preservation, and the fragile hope that love might still survive the damage. Filmed in Berlin, AFTER THE ACT is a quiet, emotionally disarming drama deeply rooted in the traditions of arthouse and slow cinema. Inspired by Éric Rohmer’s observational intimacy, Hong Sang-soo’s elliptical honesty, and the raw, lived-in immediacy of Berlin mumblecore, AFTER THE ACT “will break your heart as you watch, and challenge you to pick up the pieces.” (Ken Greaves, IndyRed) A Q&A with Directors Sarah Jayne Portelli & Ivan Malekin to follow the Saturday December 13th screening.

Miércoles con Almodóvar The death of Ernesto Martel (José Luis Gómez) sets off a chain of events that forces one man to come to terms with his past. Before he went blind, Harry Caine was Mateo Blanco (Lluís Homar), a film director who often worked with Ernesto. Ten years ago, Ernesto and Mateo's friendship became a battle for Lena (Penélope Cruz), Ernesto's mistress and Mateo's secret object of affection. When the former recruits his son (Rubén Ochandiano) to spy on the latter, things quickly spiral out of control. 2009 Palme d'Or IN COMPETITION

Oscar-nominated provocateur Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things, The Favourite) reunites with stars Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons for the bold and absurdist sci-fi dark comedy-thriller, BUGONIA. The twisted social satire follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men (Plemons and rising newcomer Aidan Delbis) who team up to abduct a high-powered American CEO (Stone), convinced she is an alien bent on destroying Earth. What unfolds is a darkly twisted journey that blurs the lines between paranoia, power, and survival.

TICKETS VIA LINK BELOW - ACC presents... https://events.humanitix.com/asian-cinema-collective-presents-burning-2018 TICKETS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE NIGHT - Based on a story by Haruki Murakami, Korean master Lee Chang-dong’s remarkable new thriller BURNING was the most acclaimed film of Cannes, setting a record for the highest-ever score achieved in the 18-year history of Screen International’s prestigious critics’ poll. Novelistic in scope, grandeur and impact, and featuring three remarkable performances, it’s a gripping psychological study of thwarted love, ambition and obsession. Anchored by a peerless cast, exquisite pacing and a pulsating original score by Mowg, Lee’s masterful film creates a tantalising mood of uncertainty and complexity, with the story’s themes of class, family, rage and lust rising feverishly to the surface. Teasing and noirish, BURNING is an impossible-to-forget big screen experience, and the best film yet from one of world cinema’s most internationally celebrated auteurs.

Em is a junior lawyer who lives to work to pay her ludicrously high rent in Sydney while navigating an abusive workplace that she has worked so hard to get into. Jessie is a former stripper and world traveller who has recently ended her long term relationship and is now living a life of existential loneliness. What starts as a simple reunion quickly transforms into a whirlwind weekend filled with adventure, As they explore the city and share stories, their conversation dives deep into the complexities of modern life, exposing the layers of their personal journeys and the weight of their existential dread. This film captures a lonely, worried generation seeking meaning in a fast paced, ever-changing landscape. It’s a celebration of the power of friendship and an ode to the splendiferous messiness of real life, raw emotion, and poignant revelations.

With her life crashing down around her, Linda (Rose Byrne) attempts to navigate her child's mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist.

Miércoles con Almodóvar Adapted from Alice Munro's short stories, Julieta (Adriana Ugarte) is about to leave Madrid to live in Portugal when she runs into Bea (Michelle Jenner), the childhood friend of her daughter Antía. This chance meeting sets off a range of emotions in Julieta, and she begins to write a long and revealing letter to her daughter – one filled with regret, guilt and love. With a sense of mystery, an expressive score and his trademark use of vibrant colour, Almodóvar has made a film of spellbinding beauty

In August 2017, in the lead-up to national elections, Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly became New Zealand’s opposition party leader. She had just turned 37. Two frenetic months later, she was Prime Minister. Just before the final vote was in, she discovered she was pregnant. She would become only the second head of state in history to give birth while in office. Ardern quickly became one of the most recognizable leaders in the world. She drew global attention from people craving a sensitive and compassionate approach to the critical issues of our time. In private, she struggled with being a mother and proving herself to a public skeptical of women’s leadership. A series of crises - the Christchurch massacre, pandemic lockdowns, and disinformation-fueled protests outside Parliament - would test that leadership and the feminine touch she brought to it. She resigned from office in January 2023, shocking her supporters and critics alike. Going behind the scenes of her administration and her private life, PRIME MINISTER follows Jacinda for seven years as she is catapulted to the top of New Zealand politics, becomes a feminist political icon, resigns suddenly from office and continues to champion the fight against isolationism, fear, and the distortion of truth. Intimate home footage shot by her husband and audio interviews that Jacinda did while in office give us unparalleled access. Along with in-depth contemporaneous interviews, these form the emotional backbone of the story, giving viewers an unfiltered window into her years in power. The world is at a perilous political crossroads. Trust in institutions, expertise, and liberal democracy itself are under dire strain. Which direction will we go? PRIME MINISTER leaves viewers wondering what the world might be like with more Jacindas at the helm.

In 2024, acclaimed Iranian director Sepideh Farsi tried to enter Gaza to document the living conditions amidst Israel's war on Palestine. Unable to secure a passage to the city via Cairo, a Palestinian refugee in Cairo introduced Farsi to Fatma Hosanna, a young photojournalist and poet, who spent her days documenting the conditions in which Palestinians are forced to exist. Told through a series of video calls between Fatma and Sepideh, Hosanna paints an urgent visual diary of life in Gaza. Under the constant barrage of Israeli missile fire, Fatma embodies the resilience, strength and hope of her people. On 16 April 2025, the day after it was announced the film was to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, an Israeli missile killed Hassona and her family in what was alleged to have been a targeted assassination. Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk is both a celebration of an inspirational life and an urgent first-hand account of the invasion of Palestine.

In the hall of local sports movies, Bruce Beresford’s 1980 Aussie Rules adaptation The Club is a reigning champ. Adapted by David Williamson from his own acclaimed play, this is a comedy of clashing egos and battles of machismo set behind the doors of a flailing VFL club (Collingwood, thinly disguised). Tasmanian recruit Geoff Hayward (a bracingly youthful John Howard) is overpaid and underperforming in his first season on the mainland. Club president Ted Parker (comedy legend Graham Kennedy) is courting disgrace. And coach Laurie Holden (the extravagantly moustachioed Jack Thompson) is facing rebellious players, troublesome board members and the looming possibility of the chop. Directed by Beresford - a veritable Australian New Wave icon – The Club finds its action not on the football field but in the sublimely profane exchanges of dialogue fired off by its accomplished ensemble cast. Filmed at Collingwood’s former home ground of Victoria Park in Abbotsford, this rambunctious satire catches the nation’s beloved game at the moment when politicking began to eclipse mere sportsmanship.

Josh O’Connor headlines indie icon Kelly Reichardt’s 1970s-set spin on the heist movie, a moving and wryly funny Cannes Competition highlight. Built around O’Connor’s remarkable portrayal of a hapless daydreamer carrying out a harebrained scheme, along with Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza) as his increasingly frustrated wife, and frequent Reichardt collaborator John Magaro (Showing Up) as an old friend offering refuge, The Mastermind is Reichardt’s most openly comedic work yet; but it’s also as artistically rigorous as anything she’s previously turned her camera to. Deftly undoing the cinematic clichés of the heist movie while also paying homage to the New Hollywood classics of the era in which the film is set – at the outset of the 1970s, with the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon’s presidency at their height – this Cannes-premiering tour de force conveys a national narrative in microcosm. “The Mastermind may be a heist movie about a novice thief with a dumb plan. But Reichardt pulls it off like clockwork: This film is stupendously smart.” – RogerEbert.com

Two young men meet in a twin bereavement support group and form an unlikely bromance. After meeting in a twin bereavement support group, Roman (Dylan O'Brien) and Dennis (James Sweeney) develop an unlikely bromance as they both search for solace and an identity without their better halves. They soon become inseparable, but old wounds reopen that will have permanent consequences for their friendship. Lauren Graham and Aisling Franciosi also star in this stirring, whip-smart, wholly original dark comedy from breakout multi-hyphenate director James Sweeney. “A probing and personal dramedy about men and loneliness and grief’s hollow aftermath. Twinless announces the ascendancy of a thrilling filmmaker.” – Vanity Fair

4K RESTORATION An early cult classic from the celebrated creative partnership of director Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell) and concept and art director Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy), ANGEL’S EGG is a hauntingly beautiful, enigmatic meditation on existence that has gained international recognition as a unique and iconic work. A masterpiece of experimental anime, ANGEL’S EGG is a vital milestone in the evolution of Oshii as an auteur, and a must-see for fans of poetic storytelling and philosophical cinema.

After getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.

A woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.

Scanned from the original camera negative, and then colour-corrected and stabilised one shot at a time, the release of this brand new 4K restoration of Wake In Fright is a landmark moment in Australia’s cinematic history. After wrapping up the school term in a remote outback town, teacher John Grant (Gary Bond) eagerly anticipates spending his holiday in Sydney with his girlfriend. However, his plans take a sharp detour when he is waylaid in a harsh mining town. A gambling spree leaves him completely broke and he soon falls in with the hard-drinking locals. Fueled by alcohol, they pressure him into a gruesome kangaroo hunt, pushing John into a downward spiral.

Miércoles con Almodóvar After her death, a mother returns to her home town in order to fix the situations she couldn't resolve during her life.

It’s 1999, and Netta is doing her best to raise her 12-year-old son, Julian, in West Footscray. As a tough, strong-willed single mum, she has raised him to be self-sufficient while doing her best to protect him from the strains of life. But as Netta deals with financial woes, Julian’s health issues, an unreliable ex-husband and the tragedy that has cast a shadow over her life – the death of her father, killed along with many other migrant workers in the collapse of the West Gate Bridge in 1970 – she is barely able to keep her own head above water. Attempting to keep a promise she made to her son on a day when all of her pressures come to a head, Netta is left to search for new sources of strength and, at long last, face the grief she’s been running away from. Award-winning writer/director Adrian Ortega turns his gaze to the unsung multicultural communities who have shaped the city for generations. It’s a milieu he knows well: as a first-generation Australian from an Italian/Spanish migrant family, he was, like Julian, raised by his single mother in the western suburbs. Ortega’s sophomore feature is anchored by rich period detail as well as a tightly framed aspect ratio that imbues the story with greater intimacy.

SPECIAL EVENT Join us for a special Q&A screening with Adrian Ortega (Director & Producer) of WESTGATE It’s 1999, and Netta is doing her best to raise her 12-year-old son, Julian, in West Footscray. As a tough, strong-willed single mum, she has raised him to be self-sufficient while doing her best to protect him from the strains of life. But as Netta deals with financial woes, Julian’s health issues, an unreliable ex-husband and the tragedy that has cast a shadow over her life – the death of her father, killed along with many other migrant workers in the collapse of the West Gate Bridge in 1970 – she is barely able to keep her own head above water. Attempting to keep a promise she made to her son on a day when all of her pressures come to a head, Netta is left to search for new sources of strength and, at long last, face the grief she’s been running away from. Award-winning writer/director Adrian Ortega turns his gaze to the unsung multicultural communities who have shaped the city for generations. It’s a milieu he knows well: as a first-generation Australian from an Italian/Spanish migrant family, he was, like Julian, raised by his single mother in the western suburbs. Ortega’s sophomore feature is anchored by rich period detail as well as a tightly framed aspect ratio that imbues the story with greater intimacy.