Little Tornadoes

Introverted Leo (Mark Leonard Winter) is a metalworker at his small town’s local plant. After his wife vanishes, leaving him to care for their two young children, he is bereft – barely able to cook a decent meal or keep the household running. So when a recently-arrived Italian colleague suggests that his sister, Maria (Sylvia Colloca), act as surrogate homemaker, Leo reluctantly accepts. But can one woman’s warm, nurturing presence fill the void left by another, and can Leo yield to the winds of change?

The film distils the many upheavals of 1970s Australia – from immigration and post-war resettlement, to anti–Vietnam War protests and the women’s liberation movement – into a narrative about one man’s struggle to adapt and a new immigrant endeavouring to find her place in a foreign land. LITTLE TORNADOES is a portrait of a country at a turning point and the human desire for connection.

From director/writer Aaron Wilson (Canopy), co-writer Christos Tsiolkas (The Slap, Head On), and starring Mark Leonard Winter (The Dressmaker, Balibo) and Silvia Colloca (Van Helsing).