AS THE LEASH COMES LOOSE (Dir: Jackson Hayat, 19m)

Veterinary euthanasia specialist Emma Whiston endeavours to alleviate the suffering of others, whilst navigating her own struggles with mental health.

ELSA AND ERVIN (Dir: Mark Hellinger, 11m)

Having narrowly escaped the Nazis in Czechoslovakia, a young boy, Ervin, finds himself alone in an orphanage in 1940s Hungary. When his older sister hears he is in danger she risks her life to save his.

ACT OF HEROISM (Dir: Jary Nemo, 15m)

This short documentary film explores the history of emergency rescues in South Eastern Australia by Aboriginal people of non-Aboriginal people.

In the 19th and early 20th century in the colony of Victoria in South Eastern Australia, Aboriginal Australians saved lives. They knew how to manage fire and flood in the bush and where to find food in times of scarcity. Despite the devastating impacts of European invasion, Aboriginal people consistently offered help and rescue to colonists.

ACTS OF HEROISM looks at instances where Aboriginal people took action in emergency situations in Victoria and reflects on the legacy of these shared histories. It includes Indigenous and academic perspectives, with speakers Yaraan Couzens-Bundle, Jidah Clark, Uncle David Wandin, Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher, Professor Richard Broome and Associate Professor Fred Cahir. Directed by Jary Nemo, produced and written by Lucinda Horrocks and Jary Nemo, the film features the original music of composer Deb Lowah Clark.

CORNERSTONE MELBOURNE (Dir: Zeta Hamilton-Durkin, 15m)

Violetta discovers a timeless building while searching for her father, meeting creatives who question the future of their studios due to an unravelling threat. A documentary about the labyrinthine Nicholas Building, a cherished artistic beacon in Melbourne.

THE DRIVERS (Dir: Fraser Cameron, 15m)

We're often told not to talk to strangers. Don't open up too much or ask about anything serious. People don't have time. You don't know what might set them off. They don't want to share their personal lives with you. Better to ask about the weather, the football, if it's been a busy night. Keep it light and be on your way.

THE DRIVERS invites you to jump in the back of a ride-share car, and learn something new about its driver - by asking something new. Something intimate, personal and real. Set in Melbourne, this short explores what's shared when you replace small talk with big questions. Love, loss, childhood - life is a wild ride, for all of us.

PEOPLES TREE (Dir: Febe De Geest, 17m)

Laws prohibiting tree cutting in India have become stricter recently and actively enforced due to the lobbying of climate activists. As such, tree trimmers increasingly lose their jobs, contributing to the precarity they face. This ethnographic film shows the story of two tree trimmers belonging to a tribal community and living in an informal settlement in India.

YIAYIA MOU (MY GRANDMOTHER) (Dir: Koraly Dimitriadis, 8m)

Australian-born poet Koraly Dimitriadis recounts her Cypriot grandmother's story. Set in the ancient Paphos Theatre that has not seen a performance in over a thousand years, this epic poem echoes the heartache of the migrant experience across three generations of women.

20m Q&A post-film.