In a remote monastery in 1940s Australia, a mission for Aboriginal children is run by a renegade nun, Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett). A new charge (Aswan Reid) is delivered in the dead of night – a boy who appears to have special powers. When the monastery takes possession of a precious relic, a large carving of Christ on the cross, the new boy encounters Jesus for the first time and is transfixed. However, the boy’s Indigenous spiritual life does not gel with the mission’s Christianity and his mysterious power becomes a threat. Sister Eileen is faced with a choice between the traditions of her faith and the truth embodied in the boy, in this story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival.

Produced by Dirty Films and Scarlett Pictures

Shayda (Zar Amir Ebrahimi), a brave Iranian mother, finds refuge in an Australian women’s shelter with her six-year-old daughter, Mona (Selina Zahednia). Over Persian New Year, they take solace in Nowruz rituals and new beginnings, but when her estranged husband re-enters their lives, Shayda’s path to freedom is jeopardized. Drawn from personal experiences, SHAYDA is Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari’s debut feature.

An Origma 45 and Parandeh Pictures production, executive produced by Dirty Films

In Christos Nikou’s debut feature in the English language, Anna (Jessie Buckley) increasingly suspects that her relationship with her longtime partner Ryan (Jeremy Allen White) may not actually be the real thing. In an attempt to improve things, she secretly embarks on a new assignment as an assistant to Amir (Riz Ahmed) working at a mysterious institute designed to incite and test the presence of romantic love in increasingly desperate couples.