Bondiwood

Overview

Sydney's Bondiwood film festival started with a conversation, a hypothetical and a realisation. Could you make a movie just using folks from Bondi? If so, who would be involved? Also, what do their filmographies look like? When coming up with a list of people and pictures proved easy, this cinema celebration was born, putting the results of a friendly chat up on the big screen at Bondi Pavilion.

From Thursday, September 26–Sunday, September 29, 2024, Bondiwood is getting the projectors whirring to showcase flicks with ties to this famous patch of the Harbour City. Some are internationally beloved, such as Chopper, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Bran Nue Dae. One, slasher film Cut, stars Kylie Minogue. And with Tanna, audiences can see the first Australian movie to be nominated for Best International Feature (then called Best Foreign-Language Film) at the Oscars.

Also on the lineup: the Joel Edgerton (Dark Matter)-starring Wish You Were Here, the Ryan Kwanten (The Portrait)-led Red Hill, an event digging int Mad Max's origins with a video introduction from George Miller, 1982's Going Down in the closing-night slot, a Q&A with filmmakers Kieran Darcy-Smith (Wish You Were Here's director) and Nash Edgerton (Gringo) about making the leap from shorts to features, a showcase of surf films and more.

Festivalgoers will hear from talents involved with the flicks on the program at every session — and other talks include filmmaking 101, guerilla shooting and key legals if you're going to make a movie, helping the next batch of Bondiwood names on their path.