Concrete Playground

Short film meets the sea for another year with the 20th annual Flickerfest, and this time they're boasting a pithy tagline: May the Shorts Be With You!

Yes, pack a Star Wars inspired pun or two for your trip to Bondi Pavilion and get in amongst the creative force of the world's premiere short filmmakers. Whittled down from a record 1793 entries, this year’s 100 strong programme looks set to be a stunning way to kick off your cinematic new year.

Amongst the Australian entries for the Academy Award accredited festival is the World Premiere of The Telegraph Man. This World War II drama stars Jack Thompson, Gary Sweet and Sigrid Thornton and takes the similar point of view as the recent American tale The Messenger. Brendan Cowell fronts another World Premiere film, Bee Sting, about a father and son falling for the same woman, while audience will get the chance to experience Ariel Kleinman's superb submarine drama Deeper Than Yesterday, which won prizes at both Cannes and the Sydney Film Festival.

Another prize-winner at Cannes, Serge Avedikian's animated Chienne d'Histoire is part of the an impressive international line up, which also includes the recently Academy Award shortlisted Ana’s Playground and the Sundance selected Echo. Magnus von Horn’s Echo — about two boys facing the consequences of their crime — is screening as part of the festival’s Spotlight on Poland, which includes Bartek Kulas’ Polish vision of a character from a Nick Cave ballad, Millhaven.

Other programme highlights include a selection of environmentally conscious shorts screening as part of GreenFlicks, as well as documentaries, comedy shorts, the Flicker Kids specials and of course the Star Wars Tribute. The 1977 classic spoof Hardware Wars is a must-see (it's even George Lucas' favourite), while another affectionate tribute, Star Wars Retold, lets someone who has never seen the film take a crack at recounting the saga.

As ever, Bondi is only the first stop in Flickerfest's national tour, so this great selection of shorts will be with us for quite a while after all.