The Cinematheque

“Painfully brilliant … Kokkinos’s cinematic oeuvre is among the most hard-hitting bodies of work in Australian cinema.”

Luke Buckmaster, The Guardian

Ari (Alex Dimitriades), a dissolute 19-year-old second-generation Greek Australian with taboo desires, is caught between his conservative Greek background and modern Melbourne. Based on the novel Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas, Head On works with the tropes of Greeks in diaspora, such as intragenerational conflict, wise aunts, and even Greek dancing. Yet Ana Kokkinos, a lawyer-turned-filmmaker, directs with freshness and originality, and grounds the film in a strong sense of realism. Supported by the dynamic cinematography of Jaems Grant and a riveting main performance from Dimitriades, Head On was selected to premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, and is now regarded as a landmark piece of Australian queer cinema.

In English and Greek with English subtitles