Uploaded April 2014 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago
DVD available from
artfilms.co.uk/Detail.aspx?ItemID=4736
STREAMING: artfilms-digital.com/Detail.aspx?ItemID=4736&CategoryID=19&SubCategoryID=239
Palm Beach is a reflection of the suburban sub-culture of Sydney's Northern Beaches area. A tale of surf, drugs and rock 'n' roll, it reveals 48 hours in the lives of a handful of young Australians.
This is the story of Nick Naylor, a surfing champion who has 'made it' and is living comfortably in Palm Beach. His easy-going lifestyle is interrupted by Joe Ryan, an old surfing chum from the Southside suburb of Maroubra. Joe has a problem: he desperately needs a supply of drugs to pay off an urgent debt. Nick reluctantly agrees to 'help out his old mate'.
Then there is the story of Leilani Adams, a teenager who has run away from home. She has been hanging out with older men, including an American yachtsman. Unknown to Leilani, she is being searched for by a private detective hired by her worried mother.
Finally there is the story of Paul Kite, a surfboard shaper who can't find work. He is unhappily dependent on his girlfriend, Kate O'Brien. Sick of being a bludger, Paul seeks a desperate solution to his problems.
These stories are woven together as the characters move through the beach-side suburbs leading to Palm Beach. They are all unconsciously bound together by the Sydney radio station they all listen to as it blasts out its continuous stream of on-the-spot news, hard-sell commercials and high-energy rock. Eventually, all the characters find themselves together at the same Palm Beach party. The different things that happen to them there have dire consequences for all of them. In the next 24 hours their problems are resolved in ways none of them could have imagined.
PALM BEACH shared First Prize for "Best Australian Film" at the 20th Adelaide International Film Festival, and was nominated in the "Best Original Screenplay" category in the Australian Film Awards.
DVD, PAL
Year 1979
Length 88 mins
DVD available from
artfilms.co.uk/Detail.aspx?ItemID=4736
STREAMING: artfilms-digital.com/Detail.aspx?ItemID=4736&CategoryID=19&SubCategoryID=239
Palm Beach is a reflection of the suburban sub-culture of Sydney's Northern Beaches area. A tale of surf, drugs and rock 'n' roll, it reveals 48 hours in the lives of a handful of young Australians.
This is the story of Nick Naylor, a surfing champion who has 'made it' and is living comfortably in Palm Beach. His easy-going lifestyle is interrupted by Joe Ryan, an old surfing chum from the Southside suburb of Maroubra. Joe has a problem: he desperately needs a supply of drugs to pay off an urgent debt. Nick reluctantly agrees to 'help out his old mate'.
Then there is the story of Leilani Adams, a teenager who has run away from home. She has been hanging out with older men, including an American yachtsman. Unknown to Leilani, she is being searched for by a private detective hired by her worried mother.
Finally there is the story of Paul Kite, a surfboard shaper who can't find work. He is unhappily dependent on his girlfriend, Kate O'Brien. Sick of being a bludger, Paul seeks a desperate solution to his problems.
These stories are woven together as the characters move through the beach-side suburbs leading to Palm Beach. They are all unconsciously bound together by the Sydney radio station they all listen to as it blasts out its continuous stream of on-the-spot news, hard-sell commercials and high-energy rock. Eventually, all the characters find themselves together at the same Palm Beach party. The different things that happen to them there have dire consequences for all of them. In the next 24 hours their problems are resolved in ways none of them could have imagined.
PALM BEACH shared First Prize for "Best Australian Film" at the 20th Adelaide International Film Festival, and was nominated in the "Best Original Screenplay" category in the Australian Film Awards.
DVD, PAL
Year 1979
Length 88 mins
