This episode is a little different from usual, as it features two interviews originally recorded for my radio segment on 2RRR and the Community Radio Network. I thought I’d also publish them here for your listening pleasure. My first guest here is Dawn Jackson, a filmmaker from Perth whose new documentary Pointe: Dancing on a Knife’s Edge is currently touring Australia with a series of Q&A screenings. Pointe: Dancing on a Knife’s Edge is a captivating and moving documentary about Australian dancer Floeur Alder, daughter of ballet luminaries Lucette Aldous AC and Alan Alder. At 22, just as she was about to embark on her European dance career, she survived a brutal stabbing by a stranger outside her home. While the physical wounds healed, the trauma stirred turbulent memories from her past, sparking a deeply personal quest to find her place in the dance world. Dawn Jackson is an award-winning filmmaker and dancer passionate about social change through storytelling. Since completing her Master’s at the WA Screen Academy, specialising in directing, Dawn has been developing the feature documentary Pointe: Dancing on a Knife’s Edge, which recently won the inaugural Brian Beaton Award. She is also developing Caves House – Place of Love, an innovative social history documentary project, and Hush, a new dance/film work born out of an arts residency in the Arctic Circle. Dawn’s previous work includes the men’s mental health drama Fathom, which she directed and produced in 2017. —— If you’ve been following Cinema Australia for a while now, you’ll know that my next guest needs no introduction. Davo has released a new feature film almost every second year since his debut, The Lives We Lead, in 2015. Since then, Davo’s filmography has included Hunting for Shadows, A Silent Agreement, The Blood of God, Public Eye, and The Switchblade Sisterhood. Davo’s latest film, Mothers, Lovers and Others, follows the interweaving private lives and family dramas of several people who cross paths at an orgy. Davo certainly has a signature style, and as I tell him in this interview, there’s no one else like him making movies in Australia today. Anyway… enjoy.

In this episode, I’m joined by the great Peter Skinner to discuss his debut feature film, Two Ugly People. There’s not much point in me gushing here about how much I love this film, because I do enough of that throughout this interview. But I will say that it’s only August, and Two Ugly People is already not only one of my favourite Australian films this year, but one of my favourite films of the year in general. Two Ugly People follows two strangers (Michael Sheasby and Cato Ayyar IR) who meet by chance in a highway-side motel, but as their stay goes on, we begin to wonder if their meeting was by chance at all. What follows is truly hypnotic filmmaking from Skinner. Peter Skinner is an Academy Award-qualifying, St Kilda Best Film-winning, and Australian Directors Guild-nominated filmmaker. Beginning as a sculptor with a Bachelor of Visual Arts (First Class Honours), he later earned a Master of Film Studies from the University of Sydney and a Master’s in Directing from AFTRS. His work blends visual arts with narrative storytelling, earning critical acclaim. As co-founder of Seymour Pictures, he wrote, directed, produced, and edited his debut feature Two Ugly People, shortlisted for the 2024 Venice Film Festival. Growing up in working-class Sydney, his films explore love, identity, and the beauty within everyday lives. Anyway… enjoy.

In this episode, I’m joined by writer, director and producer Adrian Ortega to discuss the making of his new film, Westgate - a poetic exploration of family, culture, and the weight of past traumas. Set in 1999 in the shadows of the Westgate bridge collapse, Westgate follows single mother Netta (played by Sarah Nicolazzo) and her son Julian (played by Max Nappo). With her debts mounting, and the threat on eviction, Netta has only 24 hours to turn things around while also attending to her son’s unstable health conditions. Adrian Ortega is a Melbourne-based filmmaker whose debut feature Cerulean Blue premiered to sold-out audiences at the 68th Melbourne International Film Festival in 2019, winning the El Rey Award for Excellence in Film Directing at the Barcelona International Film Festival. Streaming on Stanin Australia, the film marked a high point in a career spanning acclaimed documentaries, festival-selected shorts, and productions under his company Proud Wing Films, championing fresh voices in Australian cinema. Anyway… enjoy.

Over a decade in the making, the fully independent science fiction feature film Space/Time is now available via VoD release after a successful but limited cinema run around the country. In this episode, I’m joined by the film’s director and co-writer, Michael O’Halloran, and co-writer Adam Harmer to discuss the making of the film in detail. Here’s the official synopsis for the film: When a team of scientists developing an engine for interstellar travel see their funding cut after a fatal disaster, they resort to criminal activity to finance and rebuild their device. Space/Time stars Ashlee Lollback, Hugh Parker and Pacharo Mzembe. Michael is an award-winning filmmaker whose passion for cinema began early. A QUT graduate, he’s directed acclaimed short films and high-profile commercials. Adam is known for his writing and producing work on short films including The Dossier Case and Break the Rock. Anyway… enjoy.

In this episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast I’m joined by The Aegean writer, director and co-producer Jacob Richardson to discuss his sweeping and ambitious new film.  The Aegean follows Hector (Costas Mandylor), a widowed Greek fisherman who feels the weight of his age in a world that has started to forget him. Everything changes when he meets Theodore (Nicky Dune), a resourceful, sharp, and endlessly positive teenager desperately seeking a saviour to rescue him from a dire situation. United by their shared struggles, they embark on a journey on the enchanting Aegean Sea, where they discover a newfound purpose and a reason to carry on.  Jacob Richardson is an Australian filmmaker whose award-winning work has made international headlines. Jacob's first short film, Salt of the Earth - about the Australian inventor of Chicken Salt - premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival. Jacob is also currently has a slate of other feature projects in development. Anyway… enjoy. 

Hello, and welcome to the Cinema Australia Podcast. In this episode, I’m joined by Within the Pines writer and director Paul Evans Thomas, who gives us a great insight into the making of his unmissable new film. There’s no need for me to bang on about why I loved this film so much—because I do enough of that throughout this episode—but I do urge you not to sleep on Within the Pines. It’s an excellent film that I hope people enjoy as much as I did. Within the Pines follows Sam Evans, played by Brendan Cooney, an experienced sound recordist who travels to an isolated forest in order to capture sounds far away from the noise of civilisation. As Sam ventures deeper, his mic picks up a sound no one wants to hear while alone in the woods. Paul Evans Thomas is an Adelaide-based filmmaker and verified YouTuber with over 360,000 subscribers to date on his channel Paul E.T., where he dissects the ins and outs of filmmaking. Paul has been obsessed with film since he was big enough to hold a camera—specifically the thriller/horror genre. An obsession that, combined with his experience in post-production, has helped bring to life the story of Within the Pines. Anyway… enjoy.

Hello, and welcome to the latest episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast. My name is Matthew Eeles. In this episode, I’m joined by Danielle Stamoulos, the writer and lead actor of the impressive new short film, Gorgo. Regular listeners will notice that this Podcast episode is shorter than usual as it was originally recorded for my radio show on 2RRR. Danielle is an AACTA-winning Greek-Australian filmmaker, actor, and writer working across film, TV, and theatre. Her short film GORGO, which she created, wrote, and starred in, won the 2025 AACTA Award for Best Australian Short Film. It also screened at major festivals, including Santa Barbara, Flickerfest (winning Best Original Music), St Kilda, Newport Beach, and Rhode Island. Danielle also won Best Performance at the recent 2025 Stellar Film Festival. Inspired by Greek ‘promised brides’ & Ovid’s Medusa myth, Gorgo is a dramatic short film that tells the story of a Greek bride’s cross-continental journey to marry a man she has never met. Matchmade by her best friend Athina, with promises of a new future in a distant land, Medousa finds herself arriving in Australia to a strange home—and a cold welcome. Thrust into her new marriage, she soon discovers a monstrous secret that threatens to tear apart the best friends’ vow of sisterhood. I really hope you get to see the incredibly moving short film at some stage. Keep an eye on cinemaaustralia.com.au and we will try to keep you as up to date as possible. Anyway… enjoy.

Welcome to this very different episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast. So, what’s so different about this episode? Well, it’s the first-ever Cinema Australia Podcast recording with a live audience. This episode was recorded during the recent WA Made Film Festival, where we invited friend-of-the-fest Zak Hilditch to join me and other punters for an interview about his career and his new film, We Bury the Dead. We Bury the Dead was filmed in Western Australia and follows Ava Newman (Daisy Ridley), a desperate woman searching for her husband in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment. Hoping to find him alive, Ava joins a "body retrieval unit," but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she's burying start showing signs of life. We Bury the Dead will celebrate its official world premiere at SXSW from March 9 to March 13. As the film isn’t officially out yet, and I missed it at the Adelaide Film Festival, most of this episode focuses on Zak’s career as a whole—which is hard not to admire. Following Zak’s Backyard Trilogy, a series of low-budget films he made in the early stages of his career, the filmmaker went on to make the cult classic These Final Hours here in Perth, followed by the Stephen King adaptation 1922 and his horror thriller Rattlesnake, both made for Netflix. Thank you to everyone who attended this session during the WA Made Film Festival. We hope to bring similar sessions to future festivals. Anyway… enjoy.

Welcome to the Cinema Australia Podcast. In this episode I’m joined by Charles Williams to discuss Inside, a prison drama starring Guy Pearce, Cosmo Jarvis, Tammy MacIntosh and newcomer, Vincent Miller whose name you should make note of because you’re going to hear a lot more from this impressive young actor. Here’s the synopsis: After being transferred from juvenile to adult prison, Mel (Vincent Miller) is taken under the wing of both Mark (Cosmo Jarvis), Australia’s most despised criminal, and Warren (Guy Pearce), a soon-to-be-paroled inmate. As a paternal triangle grows between them, we see that even the worst of men have a little bit of good inside that will be their undoing. Charles Williams is an acclaimed Australian film director whose short film All These Creatures won the Cannes Film Festival's Short Film Palme d'Or as well as an AACTA award here at home. Charles grew up in a remote country town in northern Victoria. Since then, his films have gone on to screen at more than 200 of the world’s most prestigious festivals. He has also been selected as part of TIFF’s Filmmaker Lab, The Golden Globes Filmmaker Residency and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Inside is Charles’ debut feature film. It has a discomforting psychological depth to it reminiscent of the films of Justin Kurzel like Nitram and Snowtown, and Thomas M. Wright’s The Stranger. There’s nothing familiar about Charles Williams’ filmmaking style though. Inside feels completely unique both visually and narratively. Anyway… enjoy.

Welcome to the Cinema Australia Podcast. In this episode, I’m joined by Under Streetlights writer, director and co-producer Danielle Loy to discuss this incredibly moving musical drama. This film is the exact reason why you shouldn’t sleep on independently-made Australian films. Quite often, they’re far better than a lot of the mainstream Australian films being made. Under Streetlights deserves all the attention it gets. Inspired by true events, Under Streetlights follows two young artists, Izak (played by Jacob Harvey) and Ella (played by Madison Hull) from vastly different worlds who collide through their shared passion for music, forging an unexpected bond that defies cultural barriers and fuels their fight to rise above their struggles. Danielle Loy is an award-winning filmmaker and lawyer from Alice Springs. Her documentary film Bush Law was awarded best documentary at the Melbourne International Film Festival by screen critic veteran Margaret Pomeranz. Danielle has spent her working life dedicated to bridging chasms of misunderstanding between indigenous and non-indigenous legal systems, and working in a plethora of roles in films and tv shows made in Central Australia. I can’t thank Danielle enough for sharing her personal stories that led to and inspired the making of Under Streetlights. This was an interview that I won’t forget anytime soon. Anyway… enjoy.

Welcome to the latest episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast. In this episode, I’m joined by Luke J.S. and Luke Wijayasinha-Gray to discuss Your Love is Mine, a moody and atmospheric relationship drama with a touch of horror. Your Love is Mine explores the depths of love and desperation and tells the story of a couple whose relationship is put to the ultimate test when a sudden tragedy strikes. As one partner goes to unimaginable lengths to preserve their union, the film delves into the emotional extremes that love can drive us to. Your Love is Mine stars Senie Priti, Lester Ellis Jr, and Maurial Spearim. It’s always a thrill to speak with independent filmmakers who are starting out in their career. I really can’t wait to see what these two do next. Your Love is Mine is available to stream now via Bounty Films. Anyway… enjoy.