Australians love watching mainstream films, but international films are often stereotyped as being boring or too difficult. This commercial for the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) shifts the focus back to the qualities we look for in any film – great stories and performances –regardless of where they’re from.

The commercial tells the story of two Polish characters trapped inside their own boring film. Peeling dirty potatoes out in the middle of nowhere, they ponder what it actually takes to make it into a film festival. They argue about how to make their boring film more interesting, tossing around the idea of killing someone or sexing things up a bit. But nothing works. In the end, not even a celebrity cameo from Academy awarded actor Geoffrey Rush can save them. One of the potato peelers accepts their predicament and states with finality – ‘We’re screwed’. The commercial concludes with the line, ‘MIFF. Only the best films make the cut.’