The Gun is a powerful dramatic thriller tracking the journey of a gun as it moves through the hands of the people who must possess it. Innovative and compelling, The Gun is far more than a frantic dash through the seedy alleys and strip clubs of the San Fernando Valley - it is a trip through the minds of people so desperate for The Gun that they are ready to kill for it.

As the sun rises over the Iranian desert on a morning like any other, a boy leaves his home to collect shrubs to sell at the market. At the same time, a desperate woman sets out in her battered jalopy to dump the body of her lover into the well. He is the only witness to her crime and he must die. She guns the engine and sets off after him; he runs for his life, using the textures and secrets of the desert to evade her. This Hitchcockian pursuit leads us through ancient ruins, goatherds' cottages, underground aqueducts and finally to the boy's house and a gory, sudden end. The boy's rising desire for revenge and the woman's deteriorating health and increasing disorientation mean that the original reason for the chase is quickly forgotten, as is the distinction between pursuer and pursued.

Discussion with Bob Connolly. Black Harvest, Filmmaking in the Papua New Guinea Highlands

Discussion with director Leonard Retel Helmrich. Chaired by Graeme Isaac. A cinematic journey into the every-day life of a Christian woman, her son, and her granddaughter in the growing social chaos and escalating Muslim fundamentalism in Indonesia, the largest Islamic community on the globe. Leonard Retel Helmrich painstakingly presents Indonesia with such detail and understated emotion it radiates fervent beauty. Among a population of 240 million people, the film finds quiet moments with three generations of a Christian family amidst the bustle and texture on the outskirts of Jakarta. The widow Rumidja is a Christian who prays regularly with her grand-daughter, but practices some Muslim traditions and even graciously contributes to the local mosque for its new speakers. Rumidja's son Bakti roams their tight-knit community, living his own life, refusing to participate in Muslim traditions until he decides to marry a Muslim woman and must convert.

Discussion with Dasha Ross, Chirs Kiely, Susan MacKinnon, Julia Overton, Penny Robins. How do broadcasters, funders and distributors shape Australia's documentary output? Commissioning editors from SBS, ABC and Film Australia, distributors and representatives from funding bodies discuss:their visions of what documentaries should be made, how they contribute to what gets made, where documentary is heading, theatrical exhibition or television? series or singles? strategies for success. Documentary filmmakers and teachers Gillian Leahy and Pat Fiske will moderate the session.

George, a former Sheffield foundry worker, becomes Gamekeeper on a country estate in South Yorkshire. He delights in his job, enjoying the countryside and protecting the pheasants from all their predators, both foxes and poachers. However, this is no bucolic idyll. His son is bullied, his wife isolated and the poachers that he is chasing are his former colleagues. His stoicism and dry humour see him through. Whatever the contradictions, it has to be better than three shifts in a steel factory.

Two men reflect on their resolutions for the New Year, moments prior to their death.

A documentary that manages to tug at many different emotions, PORTRAITS OF A NAKED LADY DANCER offers a glimpse of life as an exotic dancer. Travelling to Washington, DC, director Deborah Rowe speaks to a selection of ladies who ply their trade in the clubs of the city. Rowe had attempted to fund previous film projects by stripping to earn money, so was perfectly placed to draw out intimate testimonials from her subjects. Zoe and Jessica are the two girls whom Rowe primarily focuses on, and the duo tell remarkably different stories about their time in the industry. What makes the film even more fascinating is the five year gap in filming, with Rowe returning to her subjects after a lengthy hiatus to see how their attitudes have changed towards the profession. The results are startling, and it's a testament to Rowe's filmmaking skills that once the credits roll, it's hard not to wonder exactly what the future holds for these girls.

Hank and Aaron, who like to say that together they’ve hit more home runs than Hank Aaron, are running low on attendees at their Alien Abductees Anonymous Of America meetings. Hank started AAAA (or Quadruple A) because girlfriend Crystal claimed to have had an alien abduction experience, and Hank figured that putting her in a room with crazy people would bring her to her senses. Instead, he discovered he has a talent for therapy, or “share-apy,” as he calls it.

A documentary about the 15th Raindance Film festival

PEP SQUAD is a lurid trip through the lives of a handful of students attending the seemingly average Oak Hill High School. But what might have been a pleasant little tale about life in the Midwest quickly turns rotten. The Student body is uniformly jaded, obsessed with sex, drugs and suicide, the parents are clueless, self-involved and thoughtless, the principal is a lecherous bum who gets a well-deserved comeuppance, the cheerleaders are a bunch of drunken sluts in short-skirts and pompoms who can be easily bought off and the coveted title of Prom Queen is something the candidates would kill forÖliterally!

Intending to shoot a documentary about American life, middle-aged loser Dan (director Daniel Yost) is instantly kidnapped by a manic couple (Robert Blanche & Sarah Rosenberg) who demand that he documents their trip to the beach on video.

An interview with Daniel Yost, director of Shooting Nick

A Bulletin from the Ministry of Information

While out cruising for yet another one-night stand, thirty-something Joe meets the attractive and friendly Julie. They go back to her place but sex is interrupted by an argument. They find themselves talking and talking.

Peter is dispatched by moral crusader Henry Harding from Parliament to infiltrate the fetish/S&M world to gather evidence for persecution. Thrust into the sex-glamour-shock of the clubs, Peter falls under the spell of New York sex goddess Tanya Cheex. Her outragous show and lifestyle threaten to send her straight to jail.

A Bulletin from the Ministry of Information

A young widow, an aging widower-returnee, and a priest from a bankrupt parish are struggling to come to terms with the post-war environment, complete with its prejudices, illusions, and unpleasant mentality. What follows is a romantic comedy set in rough landscape, about a woman who falls in love with a local priest. He is not blind to her love, but is unable to choose between the church and her, until the circumstances force him to make his choice.

Boomerang starts just after the chaos in Belgrade has stopped. Quiet has descended on the city. Taking place during one frantic day in Belgrade, "Boomerang" is the story of a group of likable losers who have nothing to lose. And so on this day, they are falling in love, getting married, solving murder mysteries, exploring new business ventures, having children, and even rising from the dead. All paths lead to Cafe Boomerang where this cast of disparate and dissolute characters converge and combust in a final delirious series of events which, ready or not, propels them into a new day. A high-speed dark comedy Boomerang is a slice-of-life served with plenty of laughs and a dash of bite.

After receiving a telegram informing him that his mother has passed away, Savo embarks on a memorable train journey where he encounters a host of colourful, crazy characters looking to escape the reality of a country in turmoil.

After twelve years spent abroad, the main character returns to his native city, where he meets his old love, friends and parents again They spend four days together and after that nothing will be the same in their lives. TOMORROW MORNING is a love drama. It speaks of a deep passion, sensuality, tenderness, jealousy, possessiveness , infidelity -conflict between irrational and rational. But, above all, it speaks of a need to bring back time, to treasure the moment of happiness and togetherness, the time of great expectations, the moment that happens once and never returns. It speaks of self rediscovery.

The main heroes in the comedy "A Little Night Music" are Spasoje and Cole, two likable but silly chaps, constantly getting into funny and hazardous situations. They work in a morgue and one night, out of curiosity, they decide to answer the phone ringing in the pocket of a dead man. There starts the thriller and plot with numerous twists. Their lives become more and more complicated and they get closer and closer to danger.

Savo takes a bizarre and funny train journey across Yugoslavia. On the way to his mother's funeral he winds up meeting an array of weird and wonderful characters, falling in love with a girl who's speciality is underwater stripping.

Rahil is a twelve-year- old Iraqi girl living in an impoverished neighbourhood in Italy. Her guardians, Jamal and Anna, often argue and the local bullies label her ‘stinky’. Despite the hardships, she clings to the hope that her destiny is to travel as her name (which means ‘nomad’) would suggest. Her only friends are a doll that she names Mohammed and her pet dog, dyed blue to match the colour of the Baghdad sky. There are unanswered questions in Rahil’s life namely the real identity of her guardians and the reason why Jamal receives payments from the local mafia. Then there are Rahil’s vivid memories of trips through the desert with armed men in Arab dress. When one of Jamal’s ‘business deals’ ends in violence, Rahil is left to fend for herself and wander the rail tracks alone, encountering a variety of characters who help her fulfil her destiny and gradually reveal her secret. Rahil’s Secret follows in the tradition of classic films such as Whistle Down the Wind and The Spirit of the Beehive, where the world of children with all its petty cruelties collides with the harsher adult domain. The film’s story has a contemporary political resonance and effectively reflects the immigrant experience as Rahil faces pressure to conform to the beliefs of her adopted country and suppress her own racial identity. Both an intriguing mystery and an entirely believable portrait of childhood, the film features an amazing debut performance from Ons Ben Raies as Rahil.

A Bulletin from the Ministry of Information

ìUnbelievably Britishî is a short film that pastiches the five clichÈd genres of current British Cinema, namely: ï Gangsters with wads of cash ï Eloquent druggies ï Romantic Comedies with an Upper Class Englishman and a token American female co-star ï Costume Dramas with some frail young beauty having to decide to marry for either love or money ï A Working Class Hero finding strength in the face of adversity by following some cross-gender specific calling

An Entrepreneur and a self styled Producer set up a Nationwide talent search of members of the public to star in a in a British Gangster Film. What follows is Car Crash entertainment.

ÔSquatting is still a legal occupationÕ. Director Sepp R Brudermann gives us six visions of squatting in London and shares with us the freedom and conflicts brought by living such a transitional, insecure lifestyle. We start with a group of professionals who move from empty house to empty house and when raided by the police, they fly away on holiday. ÔThereÕs always a negative view of squatters. Well look at us, we work nine to fiveÕ. We follow various other groups of people who live together in order to freely express their creativity. One man who on losing his community is able to see the value of sharing his space with others comments: ÔIÕve come back to my council flat but then I look out the door and I know I am surrounded by people who donÕt want anything whatsoever to do with one anotherÕ. Elsewhere a woman despairs and feels trapped by other peopleÕs lack of consideration and disgusting habits and dreams of moving away. While the Urban Nomads are seen to be in a social experiment they hope will help change the world, we meet a community trying to save a local business from being developed into expensive flats which the locals would never be able to afford. A compelling look at a layer of our urban community which is rarely seen. JvF

CARRY ON KEN is a documentary tribute to the life and work of acclaimed British film director Ken Loach. The film is part of Ken Loach's 70th birthday celebrations and coincides with the release of his latest Palme D'Or winning film, THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY. This documentary charts his career and his working methods through film clips and interviews with many of his collaborators including Robert Carlyle, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox, Ricky Tomlinson and Peter Mullan.

Father and Son have to choose a film from a selection of Hollywood’s finest. But it is Saturday afternoon…

Stuck in 50s British suburbia, nine-year-old Ivy loses herself in glamorous images of Hollywood magazines. But when her mother gives her a traumatic Pudding Bowl haircut, her imagination takes flight as she refuses to be cut down by misfortune.

A Bulletin from the Ministry of Information

Recorded in occupied Palestine, UPROOTED explores questions and forms of resistance witnessed and experienced in this permanent war zone. The film attempts to answer the question of what constitutes resistance, and examines the tendency prevalent in the post 9/11 world to classify all resistance as terrorism

An interview with Donia Mili, director of Uprooted

The Last Monk is a tantalizingly erotic tale of a young woman named Swapna and her dawning spiritual awareness as she journeys to the desolate region of Ladakh in the Indo-Tibetan plateau, the cradle of one of the oldest civilisations on earth, so that she can complete her doctoral dissertation in Cultural Buddhism. To do so, she must leave Pushkar, her husband of only 15 days and IT professional, behind in Delhi. In Ladakh she meets the enigmatic but charming Sonic, 25-year-old Buddhist scholar who opens her eyes to a mystical landscape.

A Bulletin from the Ministry of Information