Three AFTRS films will stream on SBS On Demand from Thursday 12 March. Alba, Gorgo and Sunnies join a slate of student‑produced work reaching audiences across Australia, following national and international festival screenings and recognition for their outstanding craft.
ALBA
Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production film Alba was written and directed by Mariella Solano in 2019, produced by a crew of AFTRS students, including cinematographer Julian Pertout, production and costume designer Chloe Beckley, editor Tiffany Lui, and sound supervisor Alex Linder, as part of a wider crew.
The film premiered at Flickerfest in 2021 and went on to screen at the Sydney Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival and Westpac Open Air Cinema. It was also nominated for Best Direction in a Student Film at the 40th Australian Directors’ Guild Awards. Alba follows a recently separated couple, Alba and Matt, as they prepare to compete in the finals of a Marinera competition. La Marinera, a traditional Peruvian dance, celebrates flirtation, youth and romantic tension. Set within the Latin‑Australian community, the film is a coming‑of‑age story about heartache, uncertainty and stepping into one’s power.
Mariella Solano, the film’s writer/director, said: “I’m so proud of how far Alba has travelled. When I originally pitched a coming-of-age story through the lens of La Marinera, a traditional Peruvian dance, I thought it would only resonate with family and my Latin American community here in Australia. I believe Alba’s success speaks to the hunger for more cross-cultural stories. SBS is where I was first introduced to world cinema, and it is an absolute dream come true for a work of mine to find a home here.”
Watch Alba on SBS On Demand.
GORGO
Another film exploring immigrant roots is Gorgo, a modern reimagining of Ovid’s Medusa myth, produced in 2021. Gorgo has been widely acclaimed, winning the 2025 AACTA Award for Best Australian Short Film, the Australian Directors’ Guild Award for Best Direction of a Student Film for director Veniamin Gialouris, and Flickerfest’s Avid Award for Best Original Music in an Australian Short Film for composer Sam Weiss. The Master of Arts Screen project premiered at Flickerfest and screened at Saint‑Tropez Antipodes Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, St Kilda Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival and Canberra Short Film Festival. It also toured Europe as part of the prestigious Les Nuits en Or program presented by L’Académie des César (French Academy of Cinema).
Written by Danielle Stamoulos, who also stars as Medusa, Gorgo follows a Greek bride travelling to Australia for an arranged marriage to a man she has never met.
Director Veniamin Gialouris said: “The team and I are so excited that Gorgo is finally available nationwide on SBS. It’s a film that is in dialogue with the experience of migrating to Australia, and SBS feels like the perfect home for this story.”
Watch Gorgo on SBS On Demand.
SUNNIES
Sunnies has also enjoyed significant festival success, winning the CILECT CAPA Prize (jointly awarded) for Best Fictional Short in Asia‑Pacific, Best Screenwriter at CinefestOz, and Best Film at the Saint‑Tropez Film Festival. After premiering at Sydney Film Festival in 2021, Sunnies screened at LA Shorts International Film Festival, Short Shorts Film Festival Japan, Asinabka Film & Media Arts Festival Canada and Flickerfest. The film later featured at SXSW Sydney in 2024 as part of NSW House alongside eight other AFTRS productions. Produced in 2020 as a Master of Arts Screen film, Sunnies will also join NITV linear programming on Friday 20 March at 6:30pm.
Writer/director Ismail Khan said: “It’s incredibly exciting for Sunnies to be shared with Australian audiences at the home of cross-cultural storytelling, SBS/NITV. The film has travelled internationally, bringing to light a pressing reality woven into Australian life, seen through the eyes of a young adolescent. If our future rests in the hands of our youth, then this film exists to centre their voice within a world shaped by adults.”
Watch Sunnies on SBS On Demand.
ALBA CREW
Writer/Director – Mariella S. Solano
Producer – Taylor Venter
Cinematographer – Julian Pertout
Production and Costume Design – Chloe Beckley
Editor – Tiffany Liu
Sound Design – Alex Linder
Music – Jai Pyne
GORGO CREW
Writer – Danielle Stamoulos
Director – Veniamin Gialouris
Producer – Katie Amos
Cinematographer – Petra Leslie
Production Design – Emily Jansz
Costume Design – Merette Boutros
Editor – Sam Grammer
Sound Supervision – Andrew Thomas Dean
Original Music – Samuel Weiss
SUNNIES CREW
Writer/Director – Ismail Khan
Producer – Skye Leon
Cinematographer – James Ward-Miller
Production and Costume Design – Sharna Graham
Editor – Alexander Cox
Sound Supervisor – Sean Doyle
Original Music – James Mountain
