Sydney Shorts 2026

Australian Premiere

We’re thrilled to present a panoramic program of shorts from emerging filmmakers in Sydney. These visionary new voices capture the pulse of genre filmmaking today, and provide a glimpse into the bright future of Australian filmmaking. We are delighted to be joined by the filmmakers at our shorts showcase screening at Ritz Cinemas on Monday 4 May, 7:15pm.

Dance to Soothe Nothing  
Dir. Thomas van Gool, Prospera • 7 min • English  
A couple fighting over curtains decide to stop arguing and start dancing instead.   

follow  
Dir. Lindsay McDonald • 8 min • English  
Alone in a new city, a young man finds solace in keeping in touch with old friends via social media where an unexpected attachment forms as his friends start posting photos of their new-born children.  

Free Money  
Dir. Lisianne Chan • 8 min • English, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese (Cantonese)  
Asian-Australian Wen is in for a surprise when she tags along to lunch with Aunty Poh and her friends. The Aunties take the honour of paying the bill very seriously. When limbs start flying, Wen and Aunty Poh come to terms with the importance of friendship and family.   

In Vain  
Dir. Mason Massimo Hubbard • 5 min • English  
A psychological portrait that delves into the inner disintegration of a woman forced to carry the weight of impossible ideals of self-image, motherhood, and faith.   

Lay Down and Rot   
Dir. Sean Burns • 9 min • English  
Behind the kind eyes of a gentle, unassuming fellow lies the depraved, loathsome delusions of a lunatic. Based on a real story from the now banned subreddit r/incel, this film follows a detestable chap as reality collides with his own puzzling fantasy in the search for love.   

Misery and Other Choices  
Dir. Samuel Lucas Allen • 10 min • English 
The world sizzles with climate change. A politician lets it burn. A young couple finds out they are pregnant. What should they do if they find the politician alone and barely breathing? A darkly comic drama that asks what will you do when the world is on fire?  

Showtime Baby  
Dir. Adam Marks • 12 min • English  
A dysfunctional band loses their frontman 10 minutes before showtime, leaving a teenager to navigating egos, hard drugs and a little death to wrangle them back together. A loud and fast fever dream that interrogates our assumptions on identity and awakens the inner child in us all.   

The Bad Room  
Dir. Nicola Sercombe • 7 min • English 
Set amongst the Sydney housing crisis, a young couple’s hopes of buying their dream home are put to the test when they learn the house they’re inspecting is haunted. Well, not the whole house. It’s just this one room... A very bad room.  

The Impossible Dream  
Dir. Nikola Jokanovic • 5 mins • English 
After being made fun of at the pub, Quaid attempts to set a Guinness World Record – no matter the price.