Program search results
Nov 24, 2024
To a Land Unknown
Acclaimed documentarian Mahdi Fleifel makes his fiction debut with a Midnight Cowboy–inspired Palestinian refugee story.
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Nov 24, 2024
Back From the Ink: Restored Animated Shorts
A collaboration between Seth MacFarlane and Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, this restoration unearths lost classics from animation’s Golden Age.
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Nov 24, 2024
International Shorts 1
An awarded and acclaimed cornucopia from directors known and new.
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Nov 24, 2024
International Shorts 2
Remarkable short-form favourites from Cannes, Berlin, Tribeca and more.
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Nov 24, 2024
Experimental Shorts
Unconventional cinema that tests the boundaries of form and function.
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Nov 24, 2024
Golden Age of Iranian Animation, 1965-77
A showcase of Iranian animation, from the early efforts of Western-educated filmmakers to award-winning shorts produced by government agencies.
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Nov 24, 2024
Documentary Shorts
Far-reaching, resonating subjects pulled from various corners of the world.
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Nov 24, 2024
Accelerator Shorts 1
Bold works from emerging Australian and New Zealand filmmakers.
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Nov 24, 2024
Some Rain Must Fall
This Berlinale award-winning domestic noir is the arresting first feature from Melbourne-trained Short Film Palme d’Or winner Qiu Yang.
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Nov 24, 2024
Animation Shorts
Forms collide in this assorted collection of visual storytelling.
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Nov 24, 2024
The Moogai
Jon Bell expands his MIFF 2020 Best Australian Short Film winner into a feature-length horror steeped in the trauma of the Stolen Generations.
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Nov 24, 2024
Best MIFF Shorts
A collection of the best short films from the festival, as chosen by the MIFF Shorts Awards jury and the MIFF Shorts programmers.
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Nov 13, 2024
Tuning In: Grace Tan on Audio Technology and Visual Storytelling
Australian filmmaker Grace Tan is known for pushing boundaries in storytelling through her use of sound. Her short film A Daydream With Fini was featured at MIFF 2024, where she participated in the prestigious MIFF Accelerator Lab – a program composed of workshops, screenings, seminars and networking opportunities to up to 20 emerging filmmakers, whose work is also publicly showcased at the festiv...
Jun 04, 2024
Making Connections: An Interview with Annelise Hickey
Described by the 2023 Shorts Awards jury as a creative “who shows strong potential across many measures”, Annelise Hickey is the recipient of this year’s Award for Emerging Australian Filmmaker. Her short film Hafekasi, in the jury’s words, “explores the dynamics of multiracial families and a child’s point of view”, with the director “succeed[ing] in portraying Mona’s reality with tenderness and a...
Jun 04, 2024
A Campfire of Stories: An Interview with John Harvey
Described by the 2023 Shorts Awards jury as as “the story of one’s unbreakable connection to place and the ancestral power within”, Katele (Mudskipper) follows a Torres Strait Islander woman whisked away from her thankless job and unfolds in a world that “comes alive in vibrant colour … lovingly enveloped in traditional song and dance”.
We speak to writer/director John Harvey about submitting his...
Jun 04, 2024
Tiger Stripes – Four Ways
The live-editing workshop is an integral part of each year’s Critics Campus, and this year, four members of the cohort were assigned Amanda Nell Eu’s coming-of-age body horror Tiger Stripes. After penning their reviews, the participants sat through an intensive revision session with MIFF Publications & Audience Development Manager and Liminal Publication Editor Adolfo Aranjuez. Read their final re...
Jun 04, 2024
Multicultural Arts Victoria’s Picks for MIFF 2023
Founded in 1972 as the Festival of All Nations, Multicultural Arts Victoria (MAV) is a non-profit arts organisation championing the diversity of the diasporic population, which has deeply enriched the community and arts scene of Victoria.
MAV privileges non-Western ways of doing, knowing and being to tell stories that illuminate our humanity and improve intercultural understanding.
MAV is excite...
Jun 04, 2024
Film Bazaar 2023 Report
Held annually in November, the Film Bazaar is a five-day event that takes place in Goa, India, to support and showcase South Asian content and talent in filmmaking, production and distribution.
Slightly out of the usual MIFF festival route, it was a delight to attend as a guest at the end of 2022 – touching down amid palm trees at 2am and then being whisked away to the beachside resort that house...
Jun 04, 2024
Between Silly and Sincere: An Interview with Pat Mooney
Critics Campus 2022 participant Isabelle Carney speaks to Lime Parfait director Pat Mooney about intent, nostalgia and the ethics of the fib.
Pat Mooney thinks it’s okay to lie – at least when it comes from a place of love. This line of reasoning applies in his new short film Lime Parfait, which screens at MIFF 70 as part of the Accelerator Shorts program. Co-written by and starring Hannah Camill...
Jun 04, 2024
Making Seats at the Table: An Interview with Kerry Warkia
Critics Campus 2022 participant Brooke Heinz speaks to producer Kerry Warkia about the importance of representation and collective creativity, as exemplified by the film Kaīnga and its predecessors Waru and Vai.
For New Zealand–based Kāinga producer Kerry Warkia, restriction doesn’t mean limiting your vision. In fact, it can mean greater opportunity.
Warkia and her partner (both in producing and...
Jun 04, 2024
Transcending the Solitary Body in Bodies in Motion
Critics Campus 2021 participant Tiia Kelly unpicks the thematic and artistic threads weaving together the short films in the Bodies in Motion package.
...We see a body softly writhing, facedown in a pool of fabric. Behind lace curtains, dancer Michelle Heaven collects masses of material and holds them to her chest, stumbling back and forth. Heaven drops to the floor, wrestling with the sea of drap...
Jun 04, 2024
TIFF 2020, Three Ways
MIFF Programmers Kate Jinx, Kate Fitzpatrick and Mia Falstein-Rush ‘attended’ the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), courtesy of stable internet connections and laptop screens. Here are their highlights.
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By Kate Jinx
About as far from Toronto as you can get, I ‘attended’ TIFF from mandatory hotel quarantine in Sydney this year, where the only distractions I had from the online...
Jun 04, 2024
Meet MIFF Ambassador Gillian Armstrong
Gillian Armstrong first garnered attention in 1979 for her debut feature, My Brilliant Career, which gave her the distinction of being the first woman to direct a feature-length movie in Australia in almost 50 years. Her feature films and documentaries include Starstruck, High Tide, The Last Days of Chez Nous, Little Women, Oscar and Lucinda and Death Defying Acts; her latest work is a feature doc...
Jun 04, 2024
Itchy Feet: Films That Beckon You Outside & Inwards
From Senegalese coastal capital Dakar to the queer underworld of Tokyo in the late 60s, MIFF Programmer Kate Jinx selects 10 films that journey outside and inwards to watch from home.
Old Joy
USA (dir. Kelly Reichardt) - 2006
Old Joy
Kelly Reichardt’s quietly miraculous film about two old friends (Will Oldham & Daniel London) who reunite for a long hike in the Pacific Northwest is just the ton...
Jun 04, 2024
MIFF Shorts to Watch from Home
Is your attention span not what it used to be? Enjoy these expert recommendations of past MIFF shorts you can stream now for free, from Programmer Mia Falstein-Rush.
All These Creatures
13 Mins | Fiction | MIFF 2018
...Director: Charles WilliamsProducers: Elise Trenorden, Charles Williams
An adolescent boy ventures into childhood memories of his spiralling father and the curious infestation th...
Jun 04, 2024
Programming Team 2020
We're pleased to announce some exciting changes within MIFF's Programming team for 2020, from the inside and out.
We are excited to reintroduce Kate Fitzpatrick in the role of Programmer! Kate is one of MIFF's most film-learned and longstanding staff members (since 2012), who will already be known to audiences for her incredible work in areas including our Schools and VR programs. She has been an...
Jun 04, 2024
The Dead Don’t Die, Four Ways
During the 2019 Melbourne International Film Festival Critics Campus, our participants took part in a live-editing workshop. Four of them reviewed Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die, and then edited their drafts with one of this year's mentors, Dee Jefferson. Read their final reviews below – and don’t forget to check out all of our Critics Campus coverage on the MIFF Blog.
...Review by Luke McCarth...
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May 22, 2024
MIFF Play
The festival’s online streaming platform returns, with over 100 features and shorts from across the MIFF 2022 program available at home.
Watch Now
May 22, 2024
Shorts Awards 2023 winners announced!
The 2023 MIFF Shorts Awards recognised diverse works from Australia, Iran, USA, France, Qatar and beyond with a prize pool worth $50,000. The winners were selected from the 75-title-strong MIFF Shorts program by a jury consisting of filmmaker Alena Lodkina, curator and artist Kate ten Buuren, and Good Thing Productions’ Head of Production and Partner, Virginia Whitwell.
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May 22, 2024
Submissions now open
Submissions for the 73rd Melbourne International Film Festival are now open.
For more information about our submissions process, please read our 2025 submission regulations and FAQ.
Please subscribe to our Widescreen newsletter to receive updates about MIFF 2025 submissions....Submission Deadlines
Round 1: 31 October 2024Round 2: 30 November 2024Round 3: 31 December 2024Round 4: 31 January 2025Rou...
May 22, 2024
Past Festivals
While we’re always looking to the future, we invite you to acquaint yourself with the history of MIFF – from our beginnings in Olinda in 1952 to our most recent feature and short award-winners. Check out our seven-decade-strong Festival Archive, dive into our expansive archival project Festival Files, or access some recent festival reports below:...MIFF 2023 Festival Report
MIFF 2022 Festival Rep...
May 22, 2024
1. Submission Deadlines
...SUBMISSION DATES... OCTOBER (ROUND 1)...NOVEMBER(ROUND 2)
...DECEMBER(ROUND 3)... JANUARY (ROUND 4)...FEBRUARY(ROUND 5)...SubmissionsOpen...17 October 2024...1 November 2024...1 December2024...1 January2025...1 February2025...SubmissionsClose...31 October2024...30 November 2024...31 December2024...31 January2025...13 February2025...ENTRY FEES...Shorts and XR – Australian...USD$40...USD$50.....
May 22, 2024
9. Selection
Submission to MIFF is with the understanding that selection may be for any and all exhibition formats that constitute MIFF 2025, including in-cinema screenings, digital exhibition or both.
All Submitters will be notified of an outcome by end of June 2025. Festival programmers select and invite all films presented at MIFF. If the Submitter’s contact details change during the submissions period, yo...
May 30, 2024
10. Awards Eligibility and Consideration
As part of your submission to MIFF, additional to consideration for the overall festival program, your film may be considered for several specific feature or shorts award contexts within the festival.
For terms and regulations governing eligibility and consideration into these awards, please visit the Elevated Consideration for MIFF Awards and the Short Film Competition Regulations pages, respecti...
May 22, 2024
Does MIFF have a competition?
Yes, we have competitions for both feature and short films. See here for more information on our feature film competition, the richest in the southern hemisphere, and here for more information on our Academy Awards®, BAFTA and AACTA Awards accredited short film competition.
May 22, 2024
Do you have premiere requirements for submissions?
Films must not have been (or will not be) exhibited in the state of Victoria, Australia, in any form – including online broadcasting – prior to Monday 25 August 2025. The only exceptions to this requirement are for private screenings held for cast, crew and/or investors, and film-school graduation screenings.
Additional notes:...We do not accept submissions that have already been released for home...
May 22, 2024
MIFF Shorts
PRESENTED BY
...The much-loved and internationally acclaimed MIFF Shorts program highlights the art of saying more with less. Showcasing the best short films, this year’s selection includes animation, documentary, experimental, and Australian and international fiction shorts, plus special suites of works from Canada and by famed auteurs.
Plus, don’t forget the Accelerator program featuring exci...
May 22, 2024
*Shorts Awards Logo Strip
...Awards Ceremony Partner
...City of Melbourne Grand Prix for Best Short Film
...Film Victoria Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film
...MIFF Award for Best Animation Short Film
...Swinburne University of Technology Award for Emerging Australian Filmmaker
...Cinema Nova for Best Fiction Short Film
...RMIT University Award for Best Documentary Short Film
...Anna Schwartz Gallery Award fo...
May 22, 2024
How do I rent a film?
On MIFF Online there is no cart or basket option – you can rent the films from the individual session pages. To purchase a film for individual titles, click into the session page and select ‘Pre-purchase’ above the synopsis.
This will open up a payment window for you to enter your credit card details and finalise your transaction. Once you have successfully purchased the film, it will appear in yo...