The Lebanese Film Festival returns to Canberra for its 13th edition with a two-film showcase on December 5-6 reflecting Lebanon’s resilience, memory and identity. Both screenings are FREE with no membership required. Learn more about the Festival on their website at www.lff.org.au

In an isolated mountain village in Lebanon, a group of Christian and Muslim women decide they’ve had enough of their men’s escalating, petty religious feuds. Determined to protect their community from the wider country’s turmoil – which seeps in through radio and television – the women concoct increasingly outlandish schemes to distract and manipulate their husbands and sons into keeping the peace.

Acclaimed Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki directs and stars in this delightful and inventive film that tackles the explosive subject of sectarian strife with unexpected humour, musical numbers, and feminine wit. Originally released in 2011, Where Do We Go Now? quickly became a Cannes favourite and timeless crowd-pleaser thanks to its powerful ode to sisterhood and resilience.

Prime Minister is an intimate documentary that chronicles the remarkable and often tumultuous journey of Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s 40th and youngest-ever Prime Minister. It begins in August 2017, in the lead-up to national elections, when Ardern unexpectedly became New Zealand’s opposition party leader at the age of 37, followed shortly by winning the election and discovering that she was pregnant. Quickly becoming one of the most recognisable leaders in the world, Ardern became known for her compassionate approach to a series of crises that would soon follow, testing her as a leader, a politician, a woman and a mother.

Going behind the scenes of her administration and her private life, the film provides unparalleled access through footage shot by her husband alongside in-depth interviews with those closest to Ardern, giving viewers a unique vantage point into her unexpected rise to global prominence and her time in office.