Cirrus@Austlit

'Early one morning Jaz (Shalane Connors) flees her fractured relationship with Daniel (Ishak Issa), taking her mother's ashes with her to return them to the family's country property. Daniel is utterly confused by Jaz’s departure, feeling that their difficulties could be resolved. He sets off in pursuit, determined to talk it over despite her steadfast refusal to engage. Jaz, along her journey, reflects on their shared moments, and with the distance between them begins to re-evaluate elements of their relationship. Traversing three time periods of this complex romance, and remarkably shot in just two weeks in the middle of the NSW bushfires, Love Road is an incisive and moving drama of love and loss.'

Source: Sydney Film Festival. 

'Recently engaged Irene (Shabana Azeez, also in Run Rabbit Run, SFF 2023) has been roped into joining her awkward but loving fiancé Louie’s (Mackenzie Fearnley) buck’s party weekend out in the sticks. Louie’s deadbeat groomsmen, however, have more in mind than just a quiet glass of pinot by the fire, and as night falls the celebration nosedives into a feverish, drug-fuelled train wreck. Inspired by the likes of Wake in Fright, directing duo Jack Clark (Threshold, SFF 2021) and Jim Weir present a challenging, darkly comic portrait of young Aussie men that strikes a little too close to home.'

Source: Sydney Film Festival. 

'Easter long weekend, and while Mum (MacIntosh) is away, three disconnected siblings reluctantly return to their childhood home: there is Lou (Mia Artemis, Pieces of Her), who has been fired and evicted, Avery (Hiraani Clapin), who found her husband cheating, and Rio (Adam Golledge), who well… he never left home. Tensions boil over when their estranged father (Batchelor) reaches out in attempt to rekindle a connection, much to the dismay of everyone but Rio. Secrets reveal themselves, drawing the inharmonious trio closer, and together they must decide if the past is best left behind them. A queer-positive debut from emerging filmmaker duo Molly Haddon and Jorrden Daley.'

Source: Sydney Film Festival.

'After being embroiled in a small-town scandal, Casey (Josh Lavery) heads to Sydney where he connects with Tib (Daniel Gabriel) via an app and ends up in an intense sexual encounter. Tib makes it clear that his casual hook-ups aren’t meant to linger but there is more-than-usual chemistry bubbling here. Soon, Casey is staying on Tib’s couch and the pair take on odd jobs around the city to make some cash. But while they draw closer, each revealing traumatic incidents from their lives, they struggle to concretise their connection. Sexually explicit and romantic, gritty and tender, the visually splendid Lonesome is a moving story of two scarred individuals overcoming their pasts to become open to the idea of love.'

Source: Sydney Film Festival.

'Arash (Osamah Sami, Ali’s Wedding, SFF 2017) defies his family’s wishes and travels from Iran to Australia. While he is ostensibly in Sydney to study, his main motivation is to be with the love of his life, Nazanin (Faezeh Alavi). Nazanin fails to fetch him at the airport as scheduled but all is forgiven when she whisks him away for a romantic weekend in a cabin in the country. But there are bemusing signs at the cabin that a jetlagged and confused Arash struggles with. The arrival of Nasser (Robert Rabiah), Nazanin’s academic supervisor, further elevates Arash’s paranoia, setting the scene for a showdown.'

Source: Sydney Film Festival.