AFIN 2025 Screening Program

Directed by Ophelia Murray

Best Australian Performance (Ned Manning)Best Student Short Film (Sara Anderson)

Two isolated men are thrown together when young fugitive Will is caught on ageing farmer John's property. Sharing a meal, the two men struggle to connect as Will refuses to open up to the older man.

Directed by Henrik Larsson/Jakob Arevärn

Best International Short Film (Henrik Larsson, Jakob Arevärn)Best Director (Henrik Larsson, Jakob Arevärn)Best Lead Performance (Tomas Hartwig)Best Supporting Performance (Alexandra Lindqvist)

Pierre West is a drama about hope and darkness, filmed over 17 years. Through Pierre's isolated life and his unjust struggle with trauma, the film explores emotions that arise when the light at the end of the tunnel seems so very far away.

Directed by James Stapledon

Best Documentary Short Subject (James Stapledon)

The story of the Mossman Cane farmers and their struggle in the industry with the closure of the Mossman Mill.

Directed by Alexander Whitrow

Best Australian Performance (Seraphine Harley)Best Australian Short Film (Nicholas Whitrow, Alexander Whitrow, James Withrow)

After murdering someone in a gruesome act of self-defense, an alleged psychopath is incarcerated into an asylum where she is forced to choose between her freedom or her morality.

Directed by Rhianna Malezer

Best Music Video (Michelle Levings (GLVES))

'TIME' invites you into a space between memory and imagination, movement and stillness. The 'TIME' music video reflects GLVES journey of self-discovery and belonging - an exploration of what it means to truly connect with herself.

Directed by Nick Kozakis

Best Australian Short Film (Carlia Capozza)

Valerie Broom is a celebrated musical theatre superstar but her career feels like it's slipping out of her fingers as motherhood takes priority and her much younger understudy vies to take her place on stage.

Directed by Pouria Bagheri

Best Youth Performance (Amirhossein Bayat)Best Youth Performance (Yasni Soorani)

A boy who has never seen his mother embarks on a journey to find her, walking the thin line between illusion, dream, and reality.

Directed by Halle Sullivan

Best Supporting Performance (Michael Silberblatt)

In the quirky suburban neighborhood of Devil's Playground, multiple children, including Molly's daughter Zoe, have gone missing. In this gripping story of loss, resilience, and the struggle for closure, Molly's journey explores the darkest corners of truth and illusion.

Directed by Vince Eisenson

Best Sound & MusicBest International Short Film (Alexander Julian III)Best Supporting Performance (Bobby J. Brown)

In this crime driven, pilot episode, we met a therapy group for murderers where someone is bound to snap.

Directed by Andrey Goulter

Best Student Short Film (Lachlan Scott)Best Visual Effects (Owen Douglas)Best Cinematography (Owen Douglas)Best Director (Andrey Goulter)Best Youth Performance (Jake Cockburn)

After a lonely 12 year old boy stumbles upon a book that gives him the power to control his life and make his wishes come to existence, he realises what is truly important about life and destiny.

Directed by Andrea Falaschi

Best Music Video (Andrea Falaschi)

"Sanctified" is about trauma processing and the scars it leaves behind. A transformation of pain into strength, of wounds into perseverance. It speaks of faith shattered, silence endured, and the slow, sacred process of reclaiming oneself through the very marks left by suffering.

Directed by John Gray

Best Director (John Gray)Best International Short Film (Melissa Jo Peltier)Best Lead Performance (Bayo Akinfemi)

An immigrant Ubër driver takes an upscale couple across town, and the drama that unfolds among them reveals truths they all would have preferred stayed hidden.

Directed by Lisa Smithies

Best Australian Short Film (Lisa Smithies, Nyrée Alexander)

2020 was a clusterfluff of a year that had a lasting impact on our kids. One brave Aussie dance school decided to do something about it! Sure, it's wildly inappropriate to celebrate bush fires, a pandemic, and race riots through dance, but how else are these kids going to make sense of our crazy world?

Directed by Jack Vernon

Best Film Editing (Axel Tacey)Best Queensland Short Film (Jack Vernon)Best Sound & Music

A broke woman selling home-brew poison must stop a hitman from using her product to kill her sister's primary school teacher - before the murder and her secret collide.

Directed by Deniz Büyükkırlı

Best Director (Deniz Büyükkırlı)Best International Short Film (Soner Sert)Best Lead Performance (Name Önal)Best Supporting Performance (Erol Babaoğlu)

The doctor comes across unusual symptoms at the man said to have died of a heart attack when he examined the corpse. He decides to refer the body to forensic medicine. Thereupon, the mans wife confesses; she said poisoned her husband, who constantly beat her. A big surprise awaits the doctor, who has to make a vital decision for the woman.

Directed by Shannon Glover

Best Australian Short Film (Shannon Glover)Best Australian Performance (Shane Emmett)Best Film Editing (Joshua O'Sullivan)

A day in the life of Horace, an outback isolationist who holds within him a dark and violent secret.

Directed by Luca Caserta

Best Lead Performance (Jana Balkan)Best International Short Film (Luca Caserta)Best Visual Effects (Alessio Zambardi)

Based on a short story by Stephen King. On Goat Island, elderly Stella Flanders must confront her past and the Reach that separates the isle from the mainland, in a journey between memories and love that transcends the boundaries of life.

Directed by Kate Armon and Craig Smith

Best Queensland Short Film (Kate Armon, Shannon Rigbye, Craig Smith)Best Australian Performance (Ashlee Lollback)Best Film Editing (Craig Smith)Best Supporting Performance (Hugh Parker)

Kate, a hapless celebrant, is trying to break into the solemn and reverent world of the funeral industry. Struggling with love and career, she's haunted by Vera, a cantankerous ghost from her debut funeral. As Kate fumbles through quirky ceremonies, Vera's spectral antics add a hilarious twist to this darkly comedic journey of life, death, love and misadventure.

Directed by Roman Anastaios

Best Australian Performance (Steve Bastoni)Best Student Short Film (Roman Anastosios)

It's 2009, Mick Gatto is at the height of his powers. If you take his business card at face value, he's arguably one of the world's best negotiators. He's also the last-man-standing after Melbourne's brutal gangland wars. What did he have to do to survive the carnage?

Directed by Ross Luttrell

Best Queensland Short Film (Ross Luttrell, Joshua Roberts)

A family owned woodwork shop is on the brink of closure. Owner and father, Pierre, is faced with a heavy decision - to continue the family legacy or risk losing all they have achieved.

Directed by Janneke Williamson

Best Queensland Short Film (Eve Donohue, Janneke Williamson)

Based on an outrageously true story, we follow local inventor, Bill, in his efforts to protect the most important thing at the annual bush dance... the supper. But will the chaotic entrance of an uninvited guest ruin everything?

Directed by Patrick Hatfield

Best Australian Short Film (Patrick Hatfield)

This Too Shall Pass, is a poignant short film set in the bustling streets of Sydney at night. It follows the journey of a weary ride share driver who encounters a distressed passenger during his nightly rounds.

Directed by J. Markus Anderson and B. Robert Anderson

Best Cinematography (Daniel Watt)Best Feature Film (J. Markus, B. Robert Anderson)Best Director (J. Markus Anderson, B. Robert Anderson)Best Lead Performance (Shane P. Allen)Best Sound & Music

Mark and Joshua, a long-term couple, discover a mysterious door hidden in their wardrobe. In this new realm, they encounter an elderly couple who have recently passed away and seek guidance to move on.