Holiday Viewing: Best Family Films of the Year
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HOME SONG STORIES. Starring Joan Chen, Yuwu Qi and Joel Lok. Directed by Tony Ayres. Rated M (moderate themes). 108 minutes
Tony Ayers biopic about his Chinese mother fighting her demons while caring for her children. AFI best film in 2007.
ROMULOUS MY FATHER. Starring Eric Bana, Franka Potente, Marton Csokas and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Directed by Richard Roxburgh. 104 minutes. Rated M (moderate themes, moderate sex scenes, moderate coarse language).
Raimond Gaita's biopic about his about his Romanian father. This is a survivor's tale, and a homage to a father who was worn down by a life most of us could not bear. Kodi Smit-McPhee is mesmerizing as the young Rai.
THE JAMMED. Starring Emma Lung, Veronica Sywak and Saskia Burmeister. Written and directed by Dee McLachlan. Rated MA 15+ (strong themes and violence). 89 minutes.
Very tough expose of the horror of modern human trafficking and sex slavery but also peels back the complex moral layers involved for everyone, including governments. Uncompromising, confronting and very challenging.
SEPTEMBER. Starring Xavier Samuel, Clarence John Ryan and Mia Wasikowska. Directed by Peter Carstairs. 83 mins. Rated M (infrequent moderate coarse language).
The story of two Australian 16 year old boys, one black and one white, whose pure and unaffected friendship begins to fall apart under the pressures of a changing social and political climate. Starts out slowly, but enables us to enter into a story set against the wide, dry and languid landscape of the Australian outback.