CinefestOZ have announced the finalists in the running for Australia's largest film prize along with a bunch world and Western Australian premieres to screen in Busselton, Augusta, Margaret River and Bunbury.
Films Here Out West, Nitram, River and The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson are this year's Film Prize finalists in the running for $100,000.
CinefestOZ chair Helen Shervington said that this year's finalists were a brilliant showcase that reflected the diversity and complexity of storytelling at this year's festival.
"I continue to be impressed by the calibre and originality of film submissions to the festival each year, and I'm proud to say the 2021 Film Prize finalists are fantastic," she said.
"We can't wait for our audiences to be back at the cinema watching these films - all of which will have their WA premieres at CinefestOZ.
"The range and creativity shown across all four films is exactly why supporting Australian storytelling through filmmaking is so important."
In the running for this year's prize is Here Out West a feature film that follows eight intersecting stories in Western Sydney.
Directed by Fadia Abboud, Lucy Gaffy, Julie Kalceff, Ana Kokkinos and Leah Purcell this film is a groundbreaking reframing of the Australian story.
Justin Kurzel's compelling drama-thriller Nitram, depicts the lead-up to one of the darkest events in Australian history, and was selected to premiere at the coveted Festival de Cannes this year - the first Australian film to do so in-competition in 10 years.
River is a documentary, directed by Jennifer Peedom (Sherpa, Mountain) and narrated by Willem Dafoe, inspiring audiences to acutely observe the surrounding land on which they live and reconnect with the natural world.
The unique film takes audiences on an odyssey of cinematic and musical feasts to explore the remarkable relationship between humans and rivers.
The spotlight for Busselton's opening night event shines firmly on The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, competing as a Film Prize finalist this year.
Director Leah Purcell has inverted Henry Lawson's iconic short story from page to silver screen, as well as taking on the film's titular role.
Set in remote Snowy Mountains, Molly Johnson's husband is away droving sheep, leaving her to care for their children. Despite being heavily pregnant, Molly must keep various threats at bay.
Purcell, a proud Goa, Gunggari, Wakka Wakka Murri woman, has adapted this high country searing thriller from her own acclaimed stage play; exploring gender, identity, racial violence and domestic abuse.
Opening night at the newly refurbished Margaret River HEART will screen Facing Monsters, directed by Bentley Dean featuring surfer Kerby Brown as he takes on some of the world's deadliest slab waves.
This suspenseful, action-packed drama unravels Kerby's inner demons whilst confronting the real-world consequences that his death-defying passion could have on his family.
Front and centre for Bunbury's opening night event is Love You Like That, an Australian seaside romantic comedy follows the lives, loves and losses of a community whose dynamics are thrown upside down by the arrival of a mysterious woman.
Opening night in Augusta will screen Akoni, the story of a Nigerian refugee who struggles to integrate into Australian society, until he meets a woman who opens her home, and ultimately her heart, to him.
CinefestOZ chief executive Malinda Nixon said that this year's program was an important opportunity to highlight the incredible work of Australian filmmakers, and WA creatives who were premiering their work to the world for the first time.
"We're incredibly proud of the diversity and inclusion that our film program continues to deliver, especially when it comes to projects that have been created, produced and filmed here in WA," she said.
The full program for this year's event will launch on Thursday July 29, with an exciting array of new and established filmmakers premiering their work.