Get your fix of Aussie cinema online

Fri 12 Oct 2012, 12:00am

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Up until about a week ago, I’d never seen Rolf De Heer’s 2006 film Ten Canoes. I was lucky enough to stumble upon it whilst browsing on SBS’s online catch-up service, OnDemand. Since viewing this incredible film, I’ve been left with an appetite for more quality Australian cinema. However as an online media consumer without a functioning television, this kind of content can be difficult to track down.

Fortunately, the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) has just launched a new platform called AACTA TV which allows members to access a selection of Australian-only short films, documentaries and feature films online. The collection includes a healthy mix of Australian classics (including Careful, He Might Hear You and Shame) and recent feature films (Wish You Were Here and Toomelah.)

The documentaries on offer include those nominated for the 2nd AACTA Award for Best Feature Length Documentary. They include A Common Purpose, about a South African murder trial that marked the country’s transition from apartheid to democracy. Two music-related docs, The Curse of the Gothic Symphony which tells the story of a group of Brisbane music enthusiasts determined to put on a production of Havergal Brian’s rare work Gothic Symphony; and Dr Sarmast's Music School, a 2012 SFF selection which chronicles a musicologist’s journey to Kabul to reopen an old music school. The final doc on the bill is the recent TIFF audience favourite, adventure surfing film Storm Surfers 3D.

AACTA TV gives users the option to either stream online or download the content. An AFI membership is required (eligible to anyone for $45-$55) or an AACTA membership (exclusive to performers and practitioners of the Australian screen industry.) Full details on how to install AACTA TV are available here.