PRESS RELEASE
The best of Australian cinema is available to stream free now on SBS On Demand, with over 50 titles to explore. SBS World Movies will also air a selection of homegrown classics in Homegrown Week from Monday 31 July, with Petrolairing on Tuesday 1 August at 9:30pm.
Don’t miss Alena Lodkina’s feature film Petrol, fresh from its return from New York’s New Directors/New Films festival, and Australian theatrical debut last month. The film has received major production investment from Screen Australia in association with VicScreen. Financed with support from the Melbourne International Film Festival Premiere Fund, Orange Entertainment, SBS and Arenamedia. Developed with assistance of Screen Australia.
Petrol is the story of a haunted friendship between two young women Nathalie Morris (Bump) and Hannah Lynch, and the discovery of the world and self through a strange bond. The film is quintessentially Melbourne in its setting, the city where it was shot and edited.
Eva, an impressionable film student of Russian background, befriends an enigmatic performance artist named Mia who quickly takes hold of Eva’s imagination. As Eva moves in with Mia and their lives grow more and more entwined, Eva sets off on a surreal journey of awakening, haunted by dreams, fantasies and ghosts.
Director Alena Lodkina said: “For me, Petrol is a film about a young woman’s search of self, the strange line between self and others, the vulnerability of youth. At a time of change and discovery, when one readily loses oneself in other people, the delicate line between reality and imagination can become blurred.”
It is produced by Kate Laurie, with cinematography by Michael Latham, editing by Luca Cappelli and production design by Leah Popple.
SBS On Demand & World Movies Channel Manager, Haidee Ireland said: “We have a wealth of talent in Australia, both on-screen and behind the lens, who offer their unique perspective to homegrown stories and characters. We’re delighted to celebrate these special films on SBS On Demand in the Homegrown Cinema collection, offering the chance for audiences old and new to experience the amazing work of Australian creatives.”
See below for our top 10 Homegrown Cinema titles to stream free now on SBS On Demand:
Ali’s Wedding
After a reckless lie, the son of a Muslim cleric finds himself caught between his sense of duty and following his heart. He must follow through with his arranged marriage or be with the girl he truly loves.
Road Games
In this cult Australian classic from legendary filmmaker Richard Franklin, an Australian trucker (Stacy Keach) picks up a hitchhiking heiress (Jamie Lee Curtis) and the trail of a killer in a green van.
Home Song Stories
Rose Hong (Joan Chen) is a Hong Kong nightclub singer who emigrates to Australia with her sailor husband, Bill (Steven Vidler), and her two children, May (Irene Chen) and Tom (Joel Lok). The couple’s relationship doesn’t last long, but they attempt to reconcile after several years, and Rose and the kids move into Bill’s home outside Melbourne. The volatile and needy Rose has affairs and attempts suicide, and though her children stick around, they can’t get back their innocence
Top End Wedding
Lauren (Miranda Tapsell) and Ned (Gwilym Lee) have 10 days to find Lauren’s mother (Ursula Yovich) who has gone AWOL in the remote far north of Australia so that they can reunite her parents and pull off their dream wedding.
Lantana
Plagued with grief over the murder of her daughter, Valerie Somers (Barbara Hershey) suspects that her husband John (Geoffrey Rush) is cheating on her. When Valerie disappears, Detective Leon Zat (Anthony LaPaglia) attempts to solve the mystery of her absence. A complex web of love, sex and deceit emerges – drawing in four related couples whose various partners are distrustful and suspicious about each other’s involvement.
Hot Mess
The future looks bleak for Loz (Sarah Gaul). 25-years-old and still living with her parents, she struggles to follow her dreams… if only they weren’t so overwhelming. When she meets Dave (Marshall Campbell), a seemingly sensitive guy, Loz thinks she’s finally been cut a break: a guy with a paying job and he loves to spoon. But will Dave be able to fill her yawning existential void? Or will he throw her over the edge, back into the abyss of goon-filled lonely Fridays, desperate girlfriends, and endless episodes of reality TV?
Animal Kingdom
Released to worldwide critical acclaim, this gritty Australian crime drama follows young Joshua “J” Cody (James Frecheville) who is taken in by his extended family after his mother dies of an overdose. This branch of the Cody clan, overseen by J’s scheming grandmother, Janine (Oscar nominated, Jacki Weaver), is heavily involved in various criminal activities, and they quickly indoctrinate the boy into their way of life. However, J is given an opportunity to take a different route when a cop named Leckie (Guy Pearce) seeks to help him leave the family fold.
Hounds Of Love
In 1987, murderous couple John (Stephen Curry) and Evelyn (Emma Booth) roam the streets of Perth, Australia, searching for their latest victim. Fate leads them to Vicki Maloney (Ashleigh Cummings), a teen who snuck out of her house at night to go to a party. Now held captive in a room, Vicki must use her wits to try and drive a wedge between the crazed duo before they can finish her off.
Candy
A fatherly chemistry professor (Geoffrey Rush) indulges two young lovers (Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish) in their ever-increasing heroin habits. Eventually the pair, an artist named Candy and an aspiring poet named Dan, become caught in a harrowing downward spiral of drug dependency and failed efforts to get clean.
Samson and Delilah
From Cannes award-winning director Warwick Thornton comes the story of14-year-old Aboriginal kids Samson (Rowan McNamara) and Delilah (Marissa Gibson) who hail from an isolated community in the Central Australian desert, where – for Samson – sniffing petrol is one of the few available ways of escaping the suffocating grimness of daily life. After a persistent campaign to gain Delilah’s affections, Samson steals the community’s sole motor car and persuades her to elope with him to Alice Springs.
To browse the full Homegrown Cinema collection on SBS On Demand click here
