[1] The film documents the 1980 International Music Festival, which took place from 7–14 January 1980 at the Regent Theatre in Sydney, Australia.

Southern Crossing was financed by the Australian Film Commission and Richard Bradley Productions along with sponsorship investment from Qantas and Peter Stuyvesant International.

[5] Since completion of the film in 1980 the distributor has been Richard Bradley Productions who produced the poster and all associated advertising, publicity and sales.

The film received good critical reviews in Australia,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12] New Zealand,[13] England,[14] and the United States.

"[10] The Sydney Morning Herald critic John Shand gave the film three stars after reviewing the DVD as a solid production.