Cirrus@Austlit

'A noir fable for the demons we invite into our hearts.

'The Demon is a physical theatre work which reimagines a dark story in the history of White Australia. A Chinatown for modern Western Sydney written by Michael Mohammed Ahmad, it explores the bond of two detectives who grew up as brother-boys in Bankstown; Arab Australian Jihad (Johnny Nasser) and his Aboriginal Muslim partner Matthew/Muhammad (Kirk Page).

'Alliances and divisions of family, faith and culture are tested as they investigate a crime allegedly perpetrated by a Chinese Australian street fighter Wei (Yvonne Huang) and her gang; The Celestials. Wei draws the detectives on a road trip from Western Sydney out west to Burrangong, site of the Lamming Flat Riots in 1861. To solve this mystery, the brothers must confront the landscape and its hidden demons and ask themselves: does a curse inhabit a land or its people?

'The Demon is an action-packed play with a thriller twist, featuring filmic dance theatre and aerial stunts that push the boundaries of magic realism on stage. Co-created by writer Michael Mohammed Ahmad, director Rachael Swain and choreographer Gavin Webber.

'Co-commissioned by OzAsia Festival and the Sydney Opera House and enabled for the Opera House by New Work Now founding supporter Prof Ross Steele AM.'

(https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/events/whats-on/unwrapped/2022/the-demon.html)

'When family man Nick Brewer is abducted in a crime with a sinister online twist, those closest to him race to uncover who is behind it and why.'

Source: Netflix.

'On the verge of separating, the Nowhere Boys are drawn together for one last spell when Felix finds a magically sealed Book of Shadows. In performing the spell, the boys unwittingly release Tegan, a powerful teenage chaos force with a score to settle. Tegan’s appetite for revenge causes a string of catastrophic battles and as the link between their world and Negative Space grows more tenuous, the godlike child Bear, guardian of the multiverse, unleashes the full wrath of the Restoring Demon. The Nowhere Boys find themselves reluctantly drawn into an epic showdown where they discover that to save the lives of their loved ones and return stability to their world, they must make the ultimate sacrifice… themselves.' (Screen Australia)

'Set in the mid-1970s, Cut Snake tells the story of twenty-something Sparra Farrell, a very private man who is trying to start a new life in Melbourne. He has found honest work and becomes engaged to the beautiful Paula. But his past catches up with him and threatens his new life when the charismatic Pommie tracks him down. Sparra finds himself sucked back into a world that he thought he had left behind.' (Source: SBS website)

'Seventeen extraordinary Australian directors respond to the hauntingly beautiful collection of short stories by Tim Winton. Spanning almost 30 years, these stories provide windows into the lives of men and women in the small coastal town of Angelus. Linking and overlapping, the stories create a stunning and disturbing portrait of a small coastal community in Western Australia. As befits the title of the film, the stories are preoccupied with the extraordinary turning points in ordinary people's lives. Relationships irretrievably alter, resolves are made or broken, and lives change direction forever.'

Source: Screen Australia

'Brakey is in love with his neighbour, Agnes. He watches her, following her on her nightly spear fishing trips, trying to understand her withdrawn behaviour and troubled home life. He gets his first real insight into how deep Agnes' pain runs on the night of a terrifying incident.'

Source: The Turning website (http://www.theturningmovie.com.au/#!/cockleshell/). (Sighted: 6/12/2013)

'As a man approaching the end of his life, Manolis hates what the slap is doing to his family. His wife is full of even more vitriol, Hector and Aisha are being torn apart by their split loyalties, and Aisha, still furious with Harry, will have nothing to do with the family. When he notices Hector still harbouring resentment towards Harry after the court case, he tries to reach out to him, but Hector rejects his efforts. Hector, as always, is consumed with his own problems. He's getting anonymous text messages calling him a rapist.

'Sandi pleads with Manolis to talk to Aisha, but even he is not sure he can turn her around. Manolis is further dismayed by the selfishness of his family, when Hector appears indifferent to the news that his godfather has died, and seems put out by Manolis' insistence that he attend the funeral. Manolis reminds him that it is a mark of respect, and important that he attend with Aisha and the children, but only Hector turns up.

'At the funeral, Manolis runs into his old friend, Thanasis, who brags about leaving his sick wife, and his new sex life with a much younger Filipina. Manolis is shocked, but secretly envious that Thanasis has put his own happiness first. His envy turns to irritation though after one too many jibes from Thanasis, and he lashes out, humiliating himself. Hector extricates him from the melee, and they stop for a drink on the way home. Hector confesses his affair to Manolis. Manolis shrugs and tells him to get a divorce; isn't that what everyone else does? But this is not the advice Hector seeks. Manolis then reveals his own secret. Koula was in love with someone else when they married, but Manolis stuck by her because they had a baby on the way. He put family first and is now regretting it. Hector is shocked.

'Manolis decides to meet with Aisha, to try to put an end to the familial disharmony. He implores her to forgive, to come to Greece with the family, but with Harry coming to, Aisha will not be swayed, and he loses it with her. Regretful, he returns home to Koula, feeling feeble and powerless. But to his surprise, Koula is delighted by his taking action, and the ice between them thaws.'

Source: ABC website, http://www.abc.net.au/tv/theslap/
Sighted: 24/11/2011

'Imagine the characters from a classic film noir - flawed private eye, femme fatale and underground crime lord - meet the superhuman heroines of a Hong Kong Wuxia sword-fighting spectacular. Set the action in the Chinatown of a futuristic Australian city and bring in multi-media landscapes, acrobatics, parkour, trampoline, dance, circus and martial arts, and you might have something close to the on-stage spectacle of Stalker's "Shanghai Lady Killer".

The plot follows an Australian detective, hired to track down a mysterious female Chinese assassin. Her mission is to kill the Mayor, a successful and popular migrant from Shanghai who is in the midst of his re-election campaign. A dark secret looms over the action, threatening to tear the city apart. Popularised by the Shaw Brothers studios in the 1960s and revisited in Kill Bill and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - the Wuxia genre is the main inspiration for this contemporary Australian stage production. Through its fast-paced plot, powerful female characters and aerial and ground-based physical theatre, "Shanghai Lady Killer" also explores the Australian fascination with and fear of China. Source: www.brisbanefestival.com.au/ (Sighted 17/08/2010).

Adapted from Sophie Cunningham's best-selling novel, Geography is a contemporary love story about young Australian Catherine and older LA-based ex-pat Michael.

'This premiere television movie stars Claudia Karvan as a woman who becomes the advocate for a young Iranian detainee, and develops a complex relationship with him that threatens her marriage.

'Julia is a young mother trying to come to terms with the loss of her new born to SIDS. While her husband Peter throws himself into work to cope with the tragedy, Julia becomes more despairing and isolated from the world around her. Recognising that she needs a distraction, her sister-in-law suggests that Julia accompany her to the Detention Centre where she volunteers as an advocate for detainees. Julia reluctantly accepts the offer, and while there, meets Amir Farshchi, a young Iranian asylum seeker.

'Amir claims to be a student persecuted by the Iranian authorities, but the Department of Immigration disputes his identity. Amir is severely depressed, suicidal and close to deportation. Julia is immediately drawn to his vulnerability and throws herself obsessively into his case - much to the disapproval of her in-laws and husband Peter, whose tolerance is tested by the growing closeness between the young detainee and his wife.

'When Amir is finally released from detention, Julia welcomes him into her home only to find herself increasingly attracted to the handsome, damaged young man. Growing more suspicious of Amir's identity and his relationship with his wife, Peter eventually asks Amir to leave the family home.

'When Julia finds out what has happened she is furious and runs into the arms of Amir. Now Julia must decide whether her marriage is worth saving and which man she truly loves.'

Source: SBS Television website, http://www.sbs.com.au/
Sighted: 31/03/2009

'This is the true story of Rose, a glamorous Shanghai nightclub singer, who struggles to survive in '70s Australia with two young children. Based on writer/director Tony Ayres' own life, The Home Song Stories is an epic tale of mothers and sons, mothers and daughters, unrequited love, secrets and betrayal.'

Source: Australian Film Commission. (Sighted: 8/10/2014)