Where is our next Baz? Let’s start with these new talents
Australians love to debate culture-related questions endlessly. Every year during Triple J’s Hottest 100 countdown we declare that a particular song “must be higher” or “what do they know?” as each sequence is revealed. It’s time for Australian movie lovers to watch the movie, which was released last week. Age And Sydney Morning Herald List of the 50 Best Australian Movies of All Time. The result was a mixture of celebration of this country’s artistry and critical reflection on how far we have to go.
Some questioned the inclusion of Jane Campion PianoIt’s a film shot and produced in New Zealand, ignoring the fact that Jan Chapman (one of this country’s hardest working producers) is behind it. For others, the works of Ivan Sen (Under the CloudsNo.14) and Gillian Armstrong (My Perfect CareerNo.45; starstruckNo.50) should have been in the top 10.
Canon’s lists like this and the controversy they create are nothing new. The British Film Institute’s Sight and Sound survey has conducted a similar survey every ten years since 1952. And every year, moviegoers’ eyes turn to Hollywood for the ultimate canonization event: the Oscars. But every system is flawed, no matter how many viewers it gets. These lists are given importance based on how they are used. They confirm a filmmaker’s legitimacy in seeking funding, attract audiences, and inform curricula. They cease to be mere ideas and turn into untouchable facts.
What caught my attention in the top 50 list was the intense tendency towards films made before 2000. This is to be expected. Movies like this Waking Up with Fear (No.4), Picnic at Hanging Rock (No.3) and Crazy Maximum (No.5) They cemented Australia’s cultural identity not only through their individual strength but also through the longevity of those who led them. They have had more opportunities to be seen, discussed, and reconsidered in national conversations than most new releases. The problem is that new voices are underrepresented.
The directors of these classic films benefited from a generous system of direct government funding and tax incentives in the 1970s and ’80s. The Australian film industry was flush with money, but most importantly it was going towards Australian productions featuring local talent telling Australian stories in front of and behind the camera. Various filmmakers today face a much more difficult landscape, a fact obscured by the survey results.
Today, the Australian government offers a 30 percent offset for major film and television productions. This has resulted in countless international productions being filmed here, but these films say little about Australia’s modern identity. At the same time, local filmmakers find it nearly impossible to access the ever-shrinking pool of government funding. It’s no surprise that Australians prefer to watch international content over local movies. How can a young Australian filmmaker compete with a $100 million budget and A-list actors?
Some might say it’s easier than ever for young filmmakers because all they have to do is pick up an iPhone or create a movie with AI. But let’s be honest, why would we, the audience, buy a ticket to a movie that costs less than a bucket of popcorn?
So I was incredibly excited when I saw it. bird eaterThe film, directed by Jack Clark and Jim Weir, entered the Top 50 list at number 33. With their feature debut, these young directors made a low-budget Australian film look like a high-budget one with a (then) unknown leading lady (Shabana Azeez, who had found success in HBO series). Pitt) and touched on a national conversation about modern masculinity. today’s Waking Up with Fear.
Lists like last week’s Top 50 remind us of the tremendous depth of talent in this country but fail to capture the full picture of what’s going on right now. These are exercises for reviving memories. Let’s remember that Peter Weir and Gillian Armstrong were once young, unknown directors; We need to start taking risks with unknown names because one of them will be the next Baz Luhrmann or George Miller.
I’d like to finish with my own list of 10 relatively recent Australian films that I believe deserve a place in the top 50.
A Great Regiment (directed by Adam C. Briggs and Sam Dixon, 2024): Josie leads a life of passive, mundane discontent until a mental breakdown forces her into the Queensland bush.
baby teeth (directed by Shannon Murphy, 2019): A terminally ill teenager upsets her parents when she falls in love with a small-time drug dealer.
Friends and Strangers (director: James Vaughan, 2021): Follows two middle-class travelers on a dryly funny exploration of Sydney’s underbelly.
From Every Side (director: Bina Bhattacharya, 2025): A multiracial family finds themselves surrounded on all sides as they pursue modern life in Sydney’s outer suburbs.
It’s Running In My Blood (directed by Maya Newell, 2019): A young Aboriginal boy struggles to balance his traditions with the public education system.
in (dir: Charles Williams, 2024): Transferred to an adult prison, Mel is taken under the wing of Australia’s most hated criminal.
Island of Hungry Ghosts (dir. Gabrielle Brady, 2018): Explores the overland migration of crabs on Christmas Island and the social impacts of a high-security asylum seeker detention centre.
Lesbian Space Princess (directed by Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobbs, 2025): In this acclaimed animated film, a space princess is plucked from her sheltered life and embarks on a galactic adventure to save her bounty hunter ex-girlfriend from evil aliens.
Purgatory (director: Ivan Sen, 2023): A weary detective arrives in a remote provincial town to investigate an unknown murder case of a local indigenous girl.
of an era (director: Goran Stolevski, 2022): A Serbian ballroom dancer has an unexpected and intense 24-hour love affair with a friend’s older brother.
Matthew Donlan is a Sydney-based film critic and founder of Fleapit. (Instagram: @thefleapit)
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