Click each image to play the film in full at SBS On Demand. Please note that the films on this list expire at various times throughout the month (If there is no 'play' button in the image, the film is no longer available).
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
M
USA, 2001
Genre: Science fiction, Fantasy
Language: English
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Jude Law, Haley Joel Osment
What's it about?
After he is rejected by his human family, David, the first of his robot kind programmed to show unconditional love, embarks on a journey to find belonging, uncovering a world where the line between robot and machine is both vast and blurred.
Coming soon to SBS On Demand 16 March 2019 after 11.10pm AEDT until end of March
After the Apology
M
Australia, 2017
Genre: Documentary
Language: English
Director: Larissa Behrendt
What's it about?
A landmark documentary investigating whether anything has really changed since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's official apology to the 'Stolen Generations' in 2008, which also looks at the current state of state of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child removal in Australia and those battling to end this national issue.
Black and White
M
Australia, 2002
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Craig Lahiff
Starring: Robert Carlyle, Charles Dance, Ben Mendelsohn, David Ngoombujarra
What's it about?
This drama, set in the 1950s, is based on the true story of young Indigenous man Max Stuart, convicted of the murder of a nine-year-old girl, who professes his innocence, claiming a confession was beaten out of him. Due to entrenched racism, his case seems hopeless despite the crusading efforts of Rupert Murdoch - then publisher of the Adelaide News - in securing a retrial.
[link title="Black and White review: One man's conviction divided a nation" url="node/538277"]
Cowboys & Aliens
M
USA, 2011
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Thriller
Language: English
Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Paul Dano
What's it about?
In 1873, a stranger with no memory of his past (Craig) stumbles into the harsh desert town of Absolution run by Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). When Absolution is attacked by marauders from the sky, and its residents begin to suffer, the lonely gunman remembers who he is and where he's been.
Farewell, My Queen
M
France, 2012
Genre: Drama, History
Language: English
Director: Benoit Jacquot
Starring: Lea Seydoux Diane Kruger Virginie Ledoyen
What's it about?
Veteran Benoit Jacquot breathes new life into the story of the final days of the opulent French monarchy, told from the perspective of Marie Antoinette's ladies-in-waiting and based on the best-selling novel by Chantal Thomas.
[link title="Farewell, My Queen Review" url="node/6090"]
FEU: Crazy Horse Paris
M
France, 2012
Genre: Documentary, Sexuality
Language: French
Director: Bruno Hullin
Starring: Lumina Classica, Nooka Karamel, Baby Light
What's it about?If you ever wondered what mixing the work of famous shoe designer Christian Louboutin and the dancers of Paris' most iconic cabaret clubs, Crazy Horse, would look like and had doco maker Bruno Hullin capture it, then wonder no more. This is it, in all its dazzling glory.
First Girl I Loved
M
United States of America, 2016
Genre: Drama, Romance
Language: English
Director: Kerem Sanga
Starring: Dylan Gelula, Brianna Hildebrand
What's it about?
In this coming-of-age tale, 17-year-old Anne falls in love with Sasha, the most popular girl at her L.A. public high school. But when Anne tells her best friend, Clifton, his hidden jealousy threatens to get in the way of more than the girls' budding romance.
Ginger & Rosa
M
UK, 2012
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Sally Potter
Starring: Elle Fanning, Alice Englert
What's it about?
Set against the backdrop of the Cold War and the sexual revolution, the lifelong friendship of Ginger and Rosa shatters. Through beautiful cinematography, a sultry soundtrack and wonderful characters, the film explores feminism, radical politics and the nuclear threat in early 1960s London.
[link title="Ginger And Rosa Review" url="node/6214"]
Iceman
MHong Kong, 2014Genre: Action, Martial Arts
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin, Hindi, English, Japanese
Director: Wing-cheong Law
Starring: Donnie Yen, Baoqiang Wang, Shengyi Huang
What's it about?This remake of the 1989 film The Iceman Cometh stars martial arts legend Donnie Yen (Ip Man, Hero) as a Ming Dynasty royal officer who, after being falsely accused of treason, is buried alive in the snow while fighting with three of his captors. Their frozen bodies thaw out 400 years later in 2013 Hong Kong, and they do what any warring martial arts legends would: pick up exactly where they left off.
Indictment: The Crimes of Shelly Chartier
M
Canada, 2017
Genre: Documentary, Politics and Current Affairs
Language: English
Director: Lisa Jackson
What's it about?
Shelly Chartier grew up in a small First Nations community in Manitoba, Canada. A shy and reclusive youngster, Chartier ended up in jail for catfishing an NBA athlete and an aspiring model. The Indigenous filmmakers reveal the compelling historical circumstances of Chartier’s life and her struggle to rebuild it after her incarceration. In unpacking Chartier’s crime, they raise important questions about Canada’s justice system.
Laurence Anyways
MA+
Canada, 2012
Genre: Drama, Romance
Language: French
Director: Xavier Dolan
Starring: Melvil Poupaud, Nathalie Baye
What's it about?
An epic love story centreing on Laurence and his 10-year journey to become a woman while struggling with society's expectations and holding down a relationship and a job as a school teacher. The third film of French-Canadian auteur Xavier Dolan (I Killed My Mother, Heartbeats) won the Queer Palme and Best Actress awards at the Cannes Film Festival 2012.
[link title="Laurence Anyways review" url="node/6084"]
Moonlight
M
USA, 2016
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Barry Jenkins
Starring: Naomie Harris, Janelle Monae, Andre Holland, Mahershala Ali
What's it about?
The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.
Coming soon to SBS On Demand 15 March 2019 after 10.30pm until 22 March 2019 (10.30pm AEDT).
Pride
M
UK, 2014
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Language: English
Director: Matthew Warchus
Starring: Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Paddy Considine, Andrew Scott
What's it about?
Comedy-drama based on a true story set in the summer of 1984 – when Margaret Thatcher is in power and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is on strike. At the Gay Pride March in London, a group of gay and lesbian activists decides to raise money to support the families of the striking miners. But there is a problem - the union seems embarrassed to receive their support. However the activists are not deterred, and they decide to ignore the union and go direct to the miners.
[link title="Pride movie review" url="node/23961"]
Paradise Road
MA15+
Australia, 1997
Genre: War, Drama, History
Language: English
Director: Bruce Beresford
Starring: Glenn Close, Cate Blanchett, Pauline Collins, Frances McDormand
What's it about?
The story of a group of women imprisoned by the Japanese in Sumatra during World War II, who form a choir, using music recalled by a fellow inmate, as a way of coping with the trauma of their situation. From Bruce Beresford, director of Ladies in Black and Driving Miss Daisy.
Watchmen
MA15+
USA, 2009
Genre: Action, Fantasy
Language: English
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode
What's it about?
In an alternate dystopian 1985, the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown, but after one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered an investigation into the killer is initiated. The reunited heroes set out to prevent their own destruction, but in doing so discover a deeper and far more diabolical plot. Based on the much-loved graphic novel by Alan Moore.
[link title="Watchmen review: The superheroes we need right now" url="node/4515"]
Xingu
M
Brazil, 2012
Genre: Adventure, Biography, Drama
Language: Portuguese, Tupi
Director: Cao Hamburger
Starring: João Miguel, Felipe Camargo, Caio Blat
What's it about?
From some of the team behind City of God comes this epic tale about three brothers who go to live with an Amazonian tribe. Beginning in the 1940s, Xingu follows Leonardo, Claudio and Orlando as they venture into the Amazon to live with an Indigenous tribe over the next 20 years. Stunningly capturing the exquisite wildlife of the rainforest, this heart-wrenching adventure opens up a world rarely shown on screen.
