There's so much more to Australian cinema than Nicole Kidman, and this year's Australian Film Festival is your chance to learn all about it with screenings of the best movies from recent years. The Australian Consulate-General Hong Kong has been organising the festival since 1994. Tracy Hansen, the consulate's director of public affairs, said sourcing the right films for the local audience was a challenge. 'We need to watch a lot of films to decide which ones will suit the Hong Kong audience,' she said. 'Australian films are usually quite quirky. They often contain a lot of unique Australian slang and, of course, Australian humour. Sometimes others don't get our jokes, but I don't see this as a barrier for international audiences. It's these elements that make Australian films more appealing.' Ms Hansen added that compared to Hollywood films, Australian films focused more on the characters rather than the technical aspects of the films. 'You will often find that the characters in Australian films have more depth and although the films are Australian, the issues they deal with are universal,' she said. Among this year's screenings, animation programme Harvie Krumpet and Adam Elliot's trilogy, Uncle, Brother and Cousin are not to be missed. 'The characters are hand-made clay models and each set comprises hand-painted storyboards,' said Ms Hansen. Harvie Krumpet won an Oscar in the best animated short film category earlier this year. Starring the voice of Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), the short film tells the moving tale of Polish-born Harvie Krumpet. Poor Harvie loses both his parents and then suffers under the German invasion. His bad luck doesn't end after his emigration to Australia, but he never gives up. Another highlight is the romantic comedy Love's Brother, directed by Shine scriptwriter Jan Sardi and shot by Andrew Lesnie, who also did the cinematography for Lord of the Rings. It won the best film, best director and best cinematography awards at the 37th Worldfest Houston International Film Festival in the United States, although it has not yet been released in Australia. If you prefer big stars, Ned Kelly might be your cup of tea. Starring Rush, Naomi Watts and Orlando Bloom, this award-winning film is based on Robert Drewe's Our Sunshine, a novel about the life of Australian bushranger and icon Ned Kelly, played by Heath Ledger. The film festival also pays a special tribute to The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, a comedy about three drag queens travelling across Australia that first brought the world's attention to Australian cinema. The Australian Film Festival starts on September 11. Screenings will be at the Arts Centre and Science Museum. Tickets are $50 and $30 (full-time students) from Urbtix on 2734 9009 and HK Ticketing on 3128 8288. For details visit www.australia.org.hk