Adelaide Film Festival has announced its first five titles as it pushes forward with a physical event in October as originally planned.
Anousha Zarkesh and Nathan Lloyd have once again led the charge at the annual Casting Guild of Australia (CGA) Awards, scooping the major prizes across television and film at Saturday's virtual ceremony.
Australian feature films are currently dominating the box office, with exhibitors reporting a "revitalised" audience appetite for local stories. However, both producers and distributors have concerns about being able to actually get Aussie features off the ground in the future, with the Producer Offset slated to fall from 40 to 30 per cent from July.
In a remarkable result, four Australian films - 'The Dry', 'Penguin Bloom', 'High Ground' and 'Occupation: Rainfall' - took home almost 50 per cent of the national box office last weekend.
Australia's lucky run at the box office continues. Four out of the five highest grossing films last weekend were local titles, with new release 'Long Story Short' joining the ranks with 'The Dry', 'Penguin Bloom' and 'High Ground'.
Cinemas should have scored a significant boost last weekend, with two major releases in the way of Disney's 'Raya and the Last Dragon' and Roadshow's 'Chaos Walking'. Yet exhibitors report softer starts for both titles than they hoped for.
Crime thriller 'The Little Things' is the first new release in weeks to succeed in knocking Robert Connolly's 'The Dry' from the no. 1 position at the box office.
With continued paucity of product from the US and other international territories, Australian films remain the main event at the box office.