The Best of Australian Shorts will screen from 5.30pm on Saturday, May 21, followed by Short Laughs Comedy at 9pm.

Each of the hand-picked short films are entertaining, inspiring, award-winning and fresh from their premieres at Flickerfest Bondi, and give Newcastle Flickerfest audiences a window into the hottest contemporary shorts from at home and abroad today.

The Best of Australian Shorts program shines a spotlight on home-grown talent. Highlights include the quirky comedy The Home Team starring Paul McDermott and Tara Morice (Strictly Ballroom) and the fun, neighbourly drama Stonefish written by and starring George Pullar and directed by Megan Smart.

Also screening, fresh from its Flickerfest Bondi premiere, is cheeky Newcastle film Sex Lives written and directed by Tighes Hill local Thomas Hudson. It's the second short film of his to have been selected for Flickerfest in recent years.

The Short Laughs Comedy program features clever comedy from across Australia and the world, including Don vs Lightning, starring Peter Mullan, and Nash Edgerton's black comedy Shark starring Nash and Rose Byrne.

There's also the UK/Canadian comedy animation Affairs Of The Art which was recently nominated for an Oscar for best animated short film.

Flickerfest festival director Bronwyn Kidd is once again thrilled to bring Flickerfest back to her hometown.

"Over the past 31 years Flickerfest has been honoured to be the platform for so many incredible filmmakers to share their films with audiences," she tells Weekender.

"After a tumultuous two years for everyone we are thrilled that Flickerfest can continue to shine a light in the darkness through our festival of insightful, uplifting, joyous and creative short films from at home and across the world.

"I grew up in Newcastle and I'm always thrilled to come home and share our celebration of cinema on the big screen with Newcastle audiences and to also shine a light on talented Newcastle filmmakers and include them on the big screen alongside their national and international peers.

"Our Newcastle program has been curated with fun and inspiration in mind.

"The films will give Newcastle audiences the opportunity to escape everyday life through the magic of cinema and experience some truly heartfelt and uplifting stories that illuminate the universality of life, the incredible resilience of us all in challenging times and, most importantly, the essential role of humour in our world."

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