AustLit

Most hidden truths always come to light, despite adverse consequences, and what should our role be in their unearthing? This question underpins Simon Stone's rendition of The Wild Duck, which recounts the conflict between two families and its effect on the teenage girl caught in the crossfire. Greg Dolgopolov evaluates the adaptation in terms of its adherence to the source text, its treatment of the original's themes, and its place within the 'secret family history' film subgenre.

In her latest film, Sue Brooks capitalises on the power of the subjective and the allure of the Australian landscape to chronicle the individual yet intersecting plights of a young woman and her parents. But the achievements of Looking for Grace go beyond a skillful take on middle-class family drama – with most of its key behind-the-scenes roles filled by women, it embodies a significant step in addressing the screen industry's gender imbalance, writes Zoë Wallin.

As the first film to hail from Vanuatu, the South Pacific-set forbidden romance of Tanna, which was produced in collaboration with Australia, is a landmark piece of cinema. Glenn Dunks delves into this historic film's origins and examines its achievements in light of other screen works about and set in this highly underrepresented region.

In his third feature film, Matthew Saville taps into his Adelaide roots and tells the story of a real estate agent languishing in the suburbs but electrified back to life by a mistaken phone call. Gary Westmore speaks to the director about how his film depicts grief, human connection and finding a way to see, once again, the beauty in the world.

This miniseries set within the busy walls of an all-boys highschoolincorporates portrayals of territorial staff, cross-cultural tussles, sexual-orientation politics and even a police investigation following the murder of a student. But, with only four episodes in which to unfold, these otherwise-compelling threads will fall short of tying powerfully together, writes David Crewe.

Coming-of-age plots were common in the new Australian cinema of the 1970s and 1980s, including some of the most notable achievements, such as Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975), The Getting of Wisdom (Bruce Beresford, 1978), and The Devil's Playground (Fred Schepisi, 1976). What was less common was to find them informed by a cosmic spirit, which is what distinguishes The Big Steal. It is not that the film doesn't treat its young protagonist's seriously, as good comedy always does, but rather that there is a really engaging lightness of tone, which Jane Freebury recalls and captures in her essay. She also reminds us of the attractively idiosyncratic contribution the creative team of Nadia Tass and David Parker made of a couple of decades of Australian cinema. – Brian McFarlane