Upcoming film festivals in Melbourne

Australia’s longest-running short film festival, the St Kilda Film Festival (SKFF) returns this winter for its landmark 41st year. From June 5-15, the festival is set to showcase more than 150 films across 34 sessions to cast a light on Australia’s best local short filmmakers.  From family dramas to gothic horrors and brilliant animations, you can catch the films at sessions across the City of Port Phillip, which presents the festival. There are screenings at famous venues such as the Astor Theatre, Palais Theatre and South Melbourne Market, plus (for the first time since 2019) the St Kilda Town Hall.  Highlights from the 2025 SKFF program include the heartfelt documentary See Me: A Film About Redro Redriguez; Unspoken, by acclaimed actor Damian Walshe-Howling; Rage, a snapshot of the Sharpie subculture in 1970s Melbourne; and Born to Hustle, about jeweller, artist and entrepreneur Emma Addams. All the familiar showcases will also return in 2025, including the Australian Comedy Showcase; Pride Without Prejudice hosted by Victorian Pride Centre; the Documentary Showcase; Brave New Worlds; Shifting The Gaze; Under The Radar and more.  This year, the line-up will feature the festival’s largest First Nations program to date, with a particular focus on stories of motherhood and birthing by First Nations female filmmakers. There's also been a resurgence in Super 8 and 16mm filmmaking, with 12 titles shot on film, illustrating how the next generation of filmmakers are embracing...

It’s lights, camera, action for the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) this August, when a red carpet will be rolled out for a massive eighteen days of cinematic revelry. The festival celebrates Australian and international filmmaking with a program of more than 250 films. With so much to see, we've cut through the curtain to unveil everything you need to know.   What is the Melbourne International Film Festival? Now in its 73rd year, MIFF is one of the oldest film festivals in the world, alongside Cannes and Berlin. The annual festival is held over three weeks each year throughout Melbourne and surrounds. Founded in 1952, the festival presents a curated global program of screen experiences and the world's largest showcase of Australian filmmaking.  When is the Melbourne International Film Festival? Running between August 7 and 24, MIFF will include 18 days of bold in-cinema programming with star-studded events, world premiere screenings, headline features and filmmaker talks.  What sort of things can we expect from the program? So far, we've only gotten a sneak peek of the first 26 films of the 2025 program – including 17 international and local highlights, and two special events – but it's safe to say we're already excited. On August 11 and 12, don't miss Julia Holter: The Passion of Joan of Arc – an Australian premiere that's exclusive to MIFF. The live-score event reimagines the famed 1982 French film by visionary Danish director, Carl Theodor Dreye and...