When the country of Australia comes to mind, one may think of cute koalas, beautiful white-sand beaches, or the hundreds of thousands of terrifying creatures that flock there. Another unique aspect of the land-down-under is its quirky, eccentric films, such as Muriel's Wedding or The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, both of which have helped solidify Australia as an idiosyncratic and cinematic goldmine.

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Australian films' otherworldly environment and cultural landscape have allowed the rest of the world to peek into the sacred land, with its unique perspective on life and art. These films have also helped remove the veil of swashbuckling bush-rangers permanently standing over a barbie cooking shrimp and instead show a more nuanced and complex country with its own voice.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

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Image via Warner Bros.

Starting off the list with a familiar face, Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth and most recent installment of George Miller's legendary action franchise and is arguably the best of the bunch. Once again set in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Australia's desert and following the adventures of Max (Tom Hardy) as he finds himself wind-swept into the brutality of machine-loving gangs, the film is an array of breathtaking special effects, action, and acting. The inclusion of Furiosa (Charlize Theron), the hardened war captain of the warlord Immortan Joe turned heroine and protector of his child-bearing wives, adds a sense of humanity and hope in the often desolate and cruel world that Miller creates.

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The film is a relentless, non-stop car chase filled with suspense at every corner, with incredible practical effects that bring the action in a way that hadn't been seen since classics like Die Hard or Predator. Fury Road helped redefine the action genre with a strong focus on its characters' autonomy, empowerment, and camaraderie. As a result, George Miller helped create one of the greatest action films of all time and further reignited a much-loved franchise back into the limelight and cultural zeitgeist.

'The Sapphires' (2012)

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Often described as "the Australian Dreamgirls," The Sapphires is a film about four Yorta Yorta Indigenous Australian women in the late 1960s who became a popular girl group and traveled to war-torn Vietnam to perform for the troops. The film is a glitzy, dazzling musical-comedy that encapsulates all the glamour of the 1960s through beautiful costumes and design and addresses the real racial injustice against Indigenous people that is often overlooked in Australian history and culture. The film doesn't shy away from depicting how the government-led trauma following The Stolen Generation affected children and families and the discrimination and racism that the girls face daily.

Equally heartbreaking as it is joyful, The Sapphires is a beautiful and authentically Australian story that shows the resilience of Indigenous women, even in the terrifying face of war, who demand to be heard and listened to by a country that has long silenced them. With stellar performances by Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens, Miranda Tapsell, and Chris O'Dowd, The Sapphires is a film to check out just for the enchantment these actors bring to the screen alone, with the message of hope and community binding it as a must-watch and as a classic of Australian cinema.

'Babyteeth' (2019)

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Babyteeth is a real find. Telling the story of a teenager recently diagnosed with cancer is usually filled with sadness and pity, but Shannon Murphy instead decided to depict a young girl with enough fiery determination and passion for living her life on her terms before it's cut short. Eliza Scanlen, also known for her role as fellow sick girl Beth in Greta Gerwig's Little Women, plays the part of the main character Milla with acute sensitivity as she attempts to navigate the already stressful teenage experience as well as the equally daunting epiphany of coming to terms with her mortality. Meanwhile, her family tries to tiptoe around her and ignore the elephant-in-the-room cancer diagnosis.

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The film allows its protagonist to utilize her autonomy and tell a coming-of-age story that is more reflective and messier than most of its predecessors. Instead, it offers a raw and offbeat telling of teenagehood that refuses to accommodate its audience to a more wholesome or expected story of living through cancer. Babyteeth is a fantastic film that stays with you long after the credits roll and is a perfect addition to Australia's cinematic repertoire.

'Ladies in Black' (2018)

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Set in bustling inner-city Sydney in 1959, Ladies in Black tells the story of four female retail workers in a busy department store during the sunny Christmas season as they begin to form friendships and strong bonds with each other. While a bit lighter film, Ladies in Black remains an important film that focuses on the importance of female solidarity, the immigrant experience, and living life on your terms.

The ideas of immigration in post-war Australia are viewed in this film through a specific 1950s lens. While it can be argued that the film whitewashes and idealizes the real immigrant experience, it still gives enough nuance and respect to display the rampant xenophobia of the time. Regardless, Ladies in Black is a charming and nostalgic flick that embraces its set city in all its glory, allowing audiences a glimpse back into the glistening, troubled past and into the minds of those who inhabited it.

'Charlie's Country' (2013)

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Australia's brutal colonial past remains an ever-present issue in modern Australia. No film perfectly encapsulates the immense despair and grief of the contemporary Indigenous Australian experience as excellently as Rolf de Heer's film, Charlie's Country. Led by legendary actor David Gulpilil in the titular role, the film centers on Charlie's struggle to maintain a traditional lifestyle against the modern laws of White Australia and his quest to return to the tropical bushland and live as his ancestors did. The film shows the internal turmoil of Charlie's existence; he faces discrimination and a loss of culture in his community and then has to endure severe loneliness when living out on his own as he tries to carve out a life in a world that no longer exists.

The film has a slow pace, helping to emphasize the relentless frustrations Indigenous Australians face today, with beautiful shots of the Northern Territory that show the undisturbed magnificence of the great Australian wilderness. Gulpilil shines in this film and exhibits the complexities and tragedies of being native to a growing, alien land. Visually stunning and poignant, Charlie's Country is a movie experience that reflects the reality of post-colonial Australia.

'Holding the Man' (2015)

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Based on the critically acclaimed memoir of Timothy Conigrave, Holding the Man is a romantic-drama film about the love story between Tim (Ryan Corr) and John (Craig Stott) as they try and navigate their way through the devastating and all-too-recent AIDS epidemic during the 1980s. Directed by Neil Armfield, the film depicts a beautiful but heartbreaking tale of two people experiencing unacceptance, misunderstanding, and dismissal in their lives, as they try and face it all together. Their romance begins in the repressive atmosphere of a Catholic all-boys school in Melbourne. It remains strong after they graduate and even in the face of rampant homophobia and through the melancholic and isolating experience of AIDS.

Holding the Man tells a story ripe with emotion. It contains just as many soft, human moments filled with compassion as there are scenes of deep sadness, making it distinctively Australian yet universal through a real, historical tragedy that has been experienced all around the globe. It's a film that is important in understanding the real, unheard victims of the AIDS epidemic and the secret histories of their lives.

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