Cirrus@Austlit

'For fifty thousand years, soldiers and missionaries and kings and queens have tried to conquer this remote Indian valley, and for fifty thousand years Nirmala’s ancestors have kept them out. But what if out is exactly where her daughter Isha wants to be?

'When a stranger arrives with an offer too good to be true, the two must reckon with the costs of a devil’s bargain. Family, freedom and the fates of thousands will ultimately rest in their hands.

'The Wrong Gods is a thrilling, gripping tale full of hope, betrayal, tradition and self-discovery. Rich with poetry and imagery, it asks brave questions that don’t have a safe answer. If everything in this world comes at a cost, who gets to decide what that cost will be?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Achingly powerful, Four Years follows the turbulent marriage of two young Indian lovers, Sridevi and Yash, through two timelines, two worlds, told through dual perspectives. Full of romance and the yearning to find someone you once loved again, in amongst the turmoils and challenges of life, this ground-breaking Australian series uses the Hindi and English languages interchangeably.'

Source: Screen Australia.

'Sahela follows the journey of Vir Oza and Nitya Behl, a married couple living in the suburbs of Parramatta, Sydney. Vir struggles to come to terms with his identity and the pressures he faces from his family, which is representative through his sailing endeavors in struggling to tie the bowline knot. Meanwhile, Nitya tries to overcome the stereotypes that have been ingrained in her since childhood, living under the harsh expectations of her mother. They both face challenges in their personal and professional lives, with Vir's anxiety, and the pressure to pass an exam and support his family simmering to the surface. After reaching a breaking point, Vir comes out to Nitya about his sexuality, which causes a rift between them and brings shame to their families. Vir then decides to explore his own sexual identity with another man.'

Source: Screen Australia.

'Thwayya faces the loss of her family farm after five generations of tending the land. Violet’s ancestors were custodians of that land for over 75,000 years, but she left home long ago. Meanwhile, Tsuet-Cheng is returning from Sydney to Singapore for “Tomb Sweeping Day”, a ritual in which families visit cemeteries to talk with their ancestors. These three women don’t know each other – but when two skeletons are discovered in the dried-up creek bed of a remote Queensland farm, their fates become deeply intertwined.

'A hauntingly beautiful blend of music, dance, film, design and dialogue, 宿 (stay) is built on the real-life experiences of the artists. From a densely packed Singapore housing block to the vast Tagalaka country of outback Australia, 宿 (stay) delicately unearths buried trauma and fragile connections that lie at the heart of contemporary life.'

Source: Sydney Festival.

'A mother, in a time of war. She loses members of her family, one after the other – but she never loses hope. A rich, sweeping new play from the team that made the acclaimed Counting and Cracking. The Jungle and the Sea leans on two great pillars of literature – Antigone and the Mahābhārata – to forge a new story about surviving loss and the possibility of reconciliation.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'On the banks of the Georges River, Radha and her son Siddhartha release the ashes of Radha’s mother – their final connection to the past, to Sri Lanka and its struggles. Now they are free to embrace their lives in Australia. Then a phone call from Colombo brings the past spinning back to life, and we are plunged into an epic story of love and political strife, of home and exile, of parents and children

'Counting and Cracking is a big new play about Australia like none we’ve seen before. This is life on a large canvas, so we are leaving Belvoir St and building a Sri Lankan town hall inside Sydney Town Hall. Sixteen actors play four generations of a family, from Colombo to Pendle Hill, in a story about Australia as a land of refuge, about Sri Lanka’s efforts to remain united, about reconciliation within families, across countries, across generations.'

Source: Belvoir St Theatre.

'On the eve of his 18th birthday, Riz faces betraying his closest friends as he struggles to maintain a ‘secret’ relationship with Kylie and a future at odds with his cultural and social background.

'Riz is a leader among a group of teenage boys from Western Sydney. The bond between these mates from different refugee and working class backgrounds is stronger than family.

'As a birthday present, they film stories of how Riz has supported them through a maze of social problems they’ve encountered during their tough high school years. He’s kept them off the streets and away from crime.

'Before they can show him the video, he betrays them all.

'Riz is different. He was always the most helpful, the most compassionate, the one everyone looked up to and respected. He excels at school, becomes the first in his immigrant Indian family to be offered a university place and seems destined for great things.

'But he is leading a secret second life. His middle-class girlfriend, Kylie, has never met his family or friends. They don’t know she exists. He has lied to her about where he lives. She doesn’t know he has doubts about going to university, and is making plans for their gap-year. He creates two worlds and the conflicting expectations of each gradually overwhelm him.

'Riz begins to question his place in the community he once loved. Are his close friends, who were once the most important part of his life, now an anchor that keep him trapped where he no longer belongs? He faces a choice between financing the image he has presented to Kylie, or action that could leave his friends homeless.'

Source: CuriousWorks website.