the 15 best films to watch on australia day (if you're into that kind of thing)

By rowena grant-frost

18 January 2015

Australia makes great movies – some of the best movies in the world. Feel free to pick and choose from these as you please.

I understand Australia Day isn't for everyone. I get that. Some people don't feel comfortable with all the patriotic flag wearing and chest thumping because, honestly, it's a bit weird. For a very long time, being Australian meant being a tiny bit embarrassed about where you were from. The Cultural Cringe is completely, 100%, fair dinkum, dinky di Aussie as! Cultural Rejoicing and Flag-Cape-Wearing... not so much.

I plan on spending my Australia Day in the most Australian way possible: lying under a fan and rolling around in my own filth while sweating profusely and eating a sausage. While I am doing this I will, of course, be effortlessly fighting off all of Australia's deadliest animals, including the saltwater crocodile, the great white shark, the brown snake, the funnel-web spider, the laser-eyed wombat and Banjo Patterson. Ask any Australian and they will tell you: Australia Day is exhausting. If we manage to successfully defeat all of Australia's deadliest animals, though, we are allowed to keep our citizenship until we have to try again the next year.

In the nighttime, after the battle is won, I will dress up in my best singlet, eat a plate of fairy bread and watch Australian movies. Australia makes great movies – some of the best movies in the world. The reason why you might not think so is because your powerful Cultural Cringe is clouding your judgment (you are so Australian, congratulations).

I've put together a list of 15 Australian movies I am thinking about watching. I haven't decided which one I will watch yet, but this is my shortlist. Feel free to just pick and choose as you please:

aussie films

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: