News & Events
Follow our News & Events page to keep updated about Down Under Berlin and trends and talents in Australian and New Zealand film.
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The life and career of Frances Calvert
On 2nd September 2018, filmmaker, producer, and lecturer Frances Calvert passed away unexpectedly. Co-Director Sabrina Wittmann remembers.
A few months ago, my fellow DUB colleagues and I got some unexpected and very sad ne (...)
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Expat Filmmakers in Berlin – Aaron Lucas
For Aussie filmmaker Aaron Lucas, the decision to move to Berlin in June 2018 was very spontaneous – he didn’t know anyone here, didn’t speak German, but it still seemed like a great idea. Well, we’ve seen Free Therapy (...)
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The Rise of the Short Film
Why are short films so important? Guest blogger Holly Barnard asks this burning question to filmmakers and finds out why the short film format is so universally loved and what we need to do to keep them being made.
The medium o (...)
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DUB board members: from Australia to Berlin and back.
The Down Under Berlin board members are going through a little change, so we thought it a good idea to keep you informed at what they are up to.
Since its inception in 2011, the Down Under Berlin film festival has had three boa (...)
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Submissions are OPEN!
Down Under Berlin's Call For Entries for the 2019 festival is open!
It's true, the moment you've all been waiting for! (well, waiting since the end of the last festival at least!) Submissions are open for this year's festival. (...)
Videos & Photos
Have a look at our YouTube channel and Flickr or click below for some samples.
Past Festival Films
Find out more what we had in store over the past years in our Films A-Z or click below for some samples.
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Short Films: Hope & Betrayal
Diverse directors | AUS | 2014 - 2015 | 57 min | English | Diverse Premieres
In this short film slot, Down Under Berlin serves its audience a fine selection of exquisite film nibbles. Bon appétit! Foal Vanessa Gazy | AUS | 2015 | Drama | 24:02 min | German Premiere The Ern Malley Affair Rowena Pot (...) -
Dead Sharks
Nic Barker | AUS| 2015| Drama | 15:35 min | English| European Premiere
A relationship is like a shark. It has to move forward or it dies. This short portrays different moments in and different types of relationships. Who will move on? (...) -
I Remember the Future
Klayton Stainer | AUS| 2014| Drama, sci-fi | 26:32 min | English| German Premiere
It is a harsh reality that separates him from his dreams, when Abe discovers that he will fall victim to an irreversible illness. Confronted by his only daughter he makes the consequential decision to finally let her go. (...) -
Back to Earth
Thomas Wilson | AUS| 2015| Drama, Fantasy, Sci-fi | 13:32 min | English| European Premiere
Twenty-something Lou is aimless after the death of his brother Jack. Lou finds a way to resurrect Jack for 12 hours, and the reunion with his brother provides a chance to deal with the loss. (...) -
Am I Dancing
Jacqueline Hanlin | AUS | 2014 | Drama | 14:23 min | English | International Premiere
26-year-old art school graduate Andie loses her job as a commercial photographer. It’s the starting point for a tragicomic odyssey from one narcissistic misfortune to the next: mishaps of Riesling, pet cannibalism, and run-ins w (...) -
Eagle
Gus Berger | AUS | 2015 | Drama | 10 min | English | International Premiere
After a death in the family, Coombra lost himself in a life of drugs and crime sinking deeper into despair, he finds support in an indigenous community program. (...) -
Whoever Was Using This Bed
Andrew Kotatko | AUS | 2016 | Psychological Drama | 20 min | English | Berlin Premiere
A married couple is woken in the dead of night by a mysterious phone call. Unable to sleep, they are drawn into an unsettling examination of their fears and desires. (...) -
The Dam
Brendon McDonall | AUS | 2016 | Drama | 16 min | English | German Premiere
A lifelong friendship is under siege when two mature men visit the monolithic dam that defined their young lives, and are confronted by feelings that cannot be contained any longer. (...) -
Elixir
Brodie Higgs | GER & AUS| 2015 | Drama | 111 min | English w. German subtitles
Art. Love. Fear. A group of young artists challenge the world around them and find in one another the family that they long for. Elixir imagines the surrealists of the 1920s living in current day Berlin. Brodie Higgs has created a (...) -
Mute
Adam Thorogood | NZ | 2018 | Drama, Coming-of-Age | 14 min | English, NZ sign language | European Premiere
Mila is a mute teenage girl struggling to fit in. Her criminal father uses her to mule cocaine to rich suburbanites in Auckland, New Zealand. After things begin to go awry, she must decide whether it is all worth it. (...) -
Joe Cinque's Consolation
Sotiris Dounoukos | AUS | 2016 | Crime | 102 min | English | German Premiere
Canberra, 1997: Anu Singh confides in friends that she plans to kill herself to put an end to a mysterious illness. With doctors unable to help, Anu’s boyfriend, Joe Cinque, tries to understand her condition and support her. Anu (...) -
ROR
Natalie Cunningham | AUS | 2013 | Documentary | 13:45 min | English | German Premiere
Ror Akot, originally from South Sudan, is making his mark on Australian music. ROR is an inspiring portrait of a young artist with great spirit. (...) -
The Stressful Adventures of Boxhead & Roundhead
Elliot Cowan | US/AUS| 2014| Animation, action, adventure | 71 min | English
When their home is destroyed, Boxhead & Roundhead must head to the big city to battle red tape, rent, rats and the rat race to get it back. Art and industry, friendship and foul play are all in the mix in this, the most stress (...) -
Bo Mi
Andrew Lee | AUS | 2013 | Drama | 13:30 min | English | International
Alone on an island, two people depend only on one another for company and for love. But can they move on from their past and the moment that changed both their lives? (...) -
OtherLife
Ben C. Lucas | AUS | 2016 | Sci-Fi | 96 min | English | International Premiere
Ren Amari, a brilliant software engineer, develops a drug which takes the user on a virtual adventure to anywhere in the world. As the launch date draws nearer, Ren suspects her business partner plans to use the drug to imprison t (...) -
The Drowned Dreams
Farshid Akhlaghipour | AUS| 2015| Documentary | 53:30 min | Persian with Eng. Subtitles| European Premiere
In 2013, 6,400 Iranian asylum-seekers arrived in Australia on Indonesian fishing boats. On one of these boats, a father and his 7-year-old son were struck by lightning on the boat, severely burning the child. After their release f (...) -
Sweet Country
Warwick Thornton | AUS | 2017 | Western, Drama, Crime | 113 min | English | Berlin Premiere
Sam, a middle-aged Aboriginal man, works for a preacher in the outback of Australia’s Northern Territory. When Harry, a bitter war veteran, moves into a neighbouring outpost, the preacher sends Sam and his family to help Harry r (...) -
Centrepiece
Hassan Bajwa | AUS| 2015| Short | 07:36 min | English| International Premiere
Liam, a goofy dad and country veterinarian turns 40 – and with it comes a crisis. Teased by another woman and an obnoxious duck, Liam tries hard to fulfill his dreams. (...) -
She Said
Candy Royalle & Patch Sinclair | AUS | 2013 | Experimental | 3:34 min | English| International Premiere
A lyrical musing on a love affair that ended in heartbreak. A poetic meditation on the transience of time and being. (...) -
Your Call Is Important to Us
TJ Power | AUS | 2017 | Comedy | 14 min | English | German Premiere
This short comedy confirms our fears about what really goes on at call-centers when we’re asked, 'Please hold?' We peek behind the scenes of one particularly specialized call-centre on that fateful day when big-shot CEO, Simon, (...)