First Films

02/08/2026

Our friends at Africa Film Fest Australia are opening their festival at the Sydney Opera House on September 3rd with the first film, Laundry, directed by Zamo Mkhwanazi.

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival - TIFF and has gone on to play at countless festivals around the world.

A powerful coming-of-age story about identity, ownership, resilience, and the price of survival, Laundry reminds us that oppression can destroy lives not only through violence but through the quiet erosion of opportunity, dignity, and hope.

See you there, and before the film, make sure to attend their wonderful opening night reception, with music by the epic DJ GnGR. Tickets for the film and reception below –

Laundry Film Tickets –

https://africafilmfest.au/laundry

Laundry Opening Night Reception Tickets –

https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/cinema/africa-film-fest-opening-night

25/07/2026

Groovescooter‘s 6th Annual STROBE Film Festival returns from 5 August to 4 September 2026 and is looking epic Georgie Zuzak!!!!

A debut feature we will be checking out is Sample People, directed by Clinton Smith and starring a crazy cast: Kylie Minogue, David Field, Simon Lyndon, Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, and Nathan Page.

Set against the backdrop of a blistering summer weekend, Sample People delivers a chaotic, multi-stranded thrill ride through the underground pulse of millennial Sydney. A hyper-stylized kaleidoscope of youth culture explodes across forty-eight hours of neon, chaos, and crime.

Driven by a high-octane Australian soundtrack and dripping in Y2K aesthetic, Sample People captures its characters under increasingly bizarre, vivid, and hazardous circumstances. As the heat rises and the partying spirals out of control, their desperate paths cross in unexpected ways.

This special restoration offers a rare opportunity to experience the film on the big screen once again.

Screening at the Sydney Opera House on 4 September, there will be a pre-screening Q&A with director Clinton Smith, Peter Buckmeyer, and Barton Smith!

Tickets and more info below. See you there!

www.sydneyoperahouse.com/cinema/sample-people-qa

29/06/2026

For Pride Month, we are pumped to see First Films’ Paul John Kwaku Struthers interviewed in the latest Letterboxd article by Leo Koziol, “A Different Corner: A journey through the hidden gems of Asia-Pacific q***r cinema”!

Paul’s picks are Twilight’s Kiss directed by Ray Yeung, Chedeng & Apple directed by Fatrick Tabada and Rae Red, Rūrangi directed by Max Currie, and Baby Jackfruit Baby Guava directed by Nhat Quang Nong.

It’s also great to see Paul interviewed alongside friends like Munir Saadat and Benson Wu!

Check out the full feature and discover everyone’s top picks below!

To celebrate Pride Month, luminaries of the Asia-Pacific share with Leo Koziol their favorite films from the region: hidden gems exploring hidden worlds, diverse human stories celebrating diverse human lives.

28/06/2026

After not being able to see Teenage S*x and Death at Camp Miasma at Sydney Film Festival, we were so excited to finally catch it as the Closing Night film of the 50th Frameline, and even better, meet the one and only director Jane Schoenbrun!

The film is beyond epic!

24/06/2026

A stunning looking debut, ÁRRU, will open the Hurtigruten Nordic Film Festival at Palace Cinemas.

Following its World Premiere at Berlinale - Berlin International Film Festival, and screenings at Sydney Film Festival and Tribeca, this feature debut from Elle Sofe has earned international acclaim, with Screen International writing that “Elle Sofe Sara’s striking debut feature sets a universal story within the distinctive culture of the Sámi people.”

From debut director Elle Sofe Sara, the powerful, music-filled new drama Árru follows a family of Sámi reindeer herders whose fight to protect their Indigenous lands from a proposed copper mining project exposes long-buried family secrets.

Tickets and more info below -

www.nordicfilmfestival.com.au/films/nor26-arru

18/06/2026

LEVITICUS is now playing in cinemas across Australia and opens in the USA from June 19!

Get out and support this stunning Australian feature debut from the visionary filmmaker Adrian Chiarella.

The Guardian called it “a haunting and innovative horror film,” while Stephen A. Russell wrote for ScreenHub that the lead performances are “remarkable.”

Don't miss Australia's most acclaimed new film. LEVITICUS is screening now across Australia and opens from June 19 in the USA!!!!!!!!!

14/06/2026

Fab news, Sydney Film Festival may have finished last night, but there are four days of Back By Popular Demand screenings starting tomorrow!

A debut everyone was talking about and has two screenings this week, with the screening at The Ritz Cinemas having some tickets left, is the one and only debut from John Wilson, The History Of Concrete.

A hysterical debut and instant classic from the genius behind How To with John Wilson. An unexpected meditation on politics, celebrity, religion and urbanism. Sundance Film Festival 2026.

Get in fast, as 5 sessions sold out and this 6th will soon. Tickets and more info below — https://www.sff.org.au/program/event/the-history-of-concrete/

08/06/2026

Winner of the Documentary Award at this year's Berlinale - Berlin International Film Festival, don't miss the Australian Premiere of If Pigeons Turned to Gold, the remarkable feature debut from Pepa Lubojacki, at Sydney Film Festival on Wednesday, 10 June, at Event Cinemas George Street!

Director Pepa Lubojacki will be present to introduce the film and take part in a Q&A.

Combining diary footage, AI-animated talking photographs, and a variety of spectacular graphic elements, Pepa pushes the boundaries of what is possible in documentary form! Cineccentric wrote, “This movie had me sobbing at the end ... a vibrant, mischievous film that feels handmade by Lubojacki in the best way possible.”

See you there! Tickets and more info below -

https://www.sff.org.au/program/event/if-pigeons-turned-to-gold/

06/06/2026

Monday, don't miss the Australian Premiere at Sydney Film Festival of another epic documentary debut, the one and only Nuisance Bear!

Directors Jack Weisman and Gabriela Osio Vanden picked up the coveted Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary at Sundance Film Festival this year, for this stunning documentary!

The documentary offers a thought-provoking study and features some of the most exceptional polar bear footage ever captured, while questioning our role as spectators of the wild. IndieWire wrote, "The imagery is startling."

See you at one of the screenings. Tickets and more info below -

https://www.sff.org.au/program/event/nuisance-bear/

03/06/2026

Sydney Film Festival starts today!!!!

So many debut films are in the program, and another we want to highlight is Baby Jackfruit Baby Guava, which will have its Australian Premiere at the festival!

Winner of the Special Jury Award in the Burning Lights Competition at the Visions du Réel International Film Festival, Screen International wrote this about the film, "What does a contemporary Vietnamese family look like? That’s the central question in Nông Nhật Quang’s Baby Jackfruit Baby Guava... The strength in Baby Jackfruit Baby Guava comes from what Nông chooses not to reveal, allowing the family’s story to unfold organically."

Tickets and more information on the film below, and see you there!

https://www.sff.org.au/program/event/baby-jackfruit-baby-guava/