When Jonathan Parker was 4 years old, his mother’s words and a chance encounter with a Salvation Army Kris Kringle instilled in him a lifelong belief in the legend of Santa Claus. Now 24 and his parents long passed away, Jonathan is a spacey, pot-smoking college drop-out and multi loser in romance who has one shot left to find his true love; he writes a letter to Santa Claus. After meeting Toby, a new co-worker just moved to the city, Jonathan is convinced this is the one who was sent for him, even after he meets Toby’s long time boyfriend Keith. This doesn’t deter Jonathan, who proceeds to wreck everyone’s lives in pursuit of his dream man. Fighting snags, traps and pitfalls to Christmas Day, will Jonathan land his Christmas wish?

Based on photographer William Yang’s one man stage show, “Sadness” chronicles two diverging narratives through the use of slide photography, oral history and stylised recreation. One story follows Yang’s pilgrimage into the heart of the North Queensland sugar cane fields as he investigates the murder of his uncle Fang Yuen. The other is a series of moving portraits of the many friends and lovers Yang has lost to AIDS. Director Tony Ayres skillfully weaves these two separate stories together creating a powerful testament to family, friends, love and loss.

Megan is an all-American girl. A cheerleader. She has a boyfriend. But Megan doesn’t like kissing her boyfriend very much. And she’s pretty touchy with her cheerleader friends. Her conservative parents worry that she must be a lesbian and send her off to “sexual redirection” school, where she must, with other lesbians and gays learn how to be straight.