2020
Al Cossar
#68.5
Stay Home. See the World.
In any year, the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is iconic to Melbourne: an extraordinary annual survey of the world of cinema, the world’s largest celebration of Australia’s own filmmaking, and a pure point of togetherness for our city and creative communities. It is a terrible thing to lose – and a necessary thing to reimagine when that happens.
The cancellation of MIFF’s traditional winter delivery in Melbourne, amid the developing COVID19 situation, was an imperative and responsible decision for public health and community safety. In this setting, MIFF 68½ is what, unexpectedly, came between MIFF’s 68th and 69th editions.
For a festival almost seven decades old, 2020 was a year of firsts. Our festival, for the first time, was presented digitally. For the first time, seen nationally. An entirely new way to sustain MIFF’s amazing film programming in the most unique and challenging of circumstances – a new way to connect with and foster audiences in the most difficult of moments, produced and seen under Stage 4 lockdown conditions.
MIFF 68½ showcased 118 films from 56 different countries, along with incredible virtual guests and online talks. Out of the cinema and into the lounge room, our audiences embraced the possibilities of cinema, with the festival achieving a viewership of 370,000 across the country. And we achieved the aspiration of gender parity in the program.
In the process, we found that art’s compelling properties – to see beyond ourselves, to inhabit the imaginations of others, to cultivate a spark of response and an inspiration within us as viewers – remain so for our community, regardless of the world around us.
In 2020, during an unthinkable point of vulnerability for festival culture, for the arts and for those at home disconnected from all of it – we thank you for your interest, your engagement, your contribution. Your support continues to be an unforgettable, indelible reason that MIFF is able to break new ground and build new possibilities each year.
Films
Short
3 Logical Exits
Director Mahdi Fleifel
Denmark,UK,Lebanon
MIFF 2020
Feature
9to5 - The Story of a Movement
Director Julia Reichert,Steven Bognar
USA
MIFF 2020
Short
Ali's Circle
Director Antoine Beauvois-Boetti
France,Uzbekistan
MIFF 2020
Short
All Cats Are Grey in the Dark
Director Lasse Linder
Switzerland
MIFF 2020
Feature
Anne at 13,000 Ft
Director Kazik Radwanski
Canada,USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Atlantis
Director Valentyn Vasyanovych
Ukraine
MIFF 2020
Short
B I N O
Director Billie Pleffer
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
Bento Harrassment
Director Renpei Tsukamoto
Japan
MIFF 2020
Short
Birds of Paradise
Director Céline Carridroit,Aline Suter
Switzerland
MIFF 2020
Feature
Black Bear
Director Lawrence Michael Levine
USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
Director Turner Ross,Bill Ross
USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Bombay Rose
Director Gitanjali Rao
India,Qatar,France,UK
MIFF 2020
Feature
Born to Be
Director Tania Cypriano
USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Boys State
Director Jesse Moss,Amanda McBaine
USA
MIFF 2020
Short
Call History
Director Lillian Paterson
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
City So Real
Director Steve James
USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Coded Bias
Director Shalini Kantayya
USA,UK,China,South Africa
MIFF 2020
Feature
Corpus Christi
Director Jan Komasa
Poland
MIFF 2020
Short
Da Yie
Director Anthony Nti
Belgium,Ghana
MIFF 2020
Feature
Dark City Beneath the Beat
Director TT The Artist
USA
MIFF 2020
Short
Darling
Director Saim Sadiq
Pakistan,USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
DAU. Natasha
Director Jekaterina Oertel,Ilya Khrzhanovskiy
Russia,Ukraine,UK
MIFF 2020
Short
Day in the Life
Director Karrabing Film Collective
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
Digger
Director Georgis Grigorakis
Greece,France
MIFF 2020
Feature
Dingo
Director Rolf de Heer
Australia,France
MIFF 2020
Short
Don't Forget to Go Home
Director Victoria Singh-Thompson
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt)
Director Monica Zanetti
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
Ema
Director Pablo Larraín
Chile
MIFF 2020
Feature
Exile
Director Visar Morina
Germany
MIFF 2020
Feature
Farewell Amor
Director Ekwa Msangi
USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
First Cow
Director Kelly Reichardt
USA
MIFF 2020
Short
Flesh
Director Camila Kater
Brazil,Spain
MIFF 2020
Short
Ghosts
Director Jee-youn Park
South Korea
MIFF 2020
Short
He Can't Live Without Cosmos
Director Konstantin Bronzit
Russia
MIFF 2020
Feature
Hong Kong Moments
Director Zhou Bing
Germany,Hong Kong
MIFF 2020
Short
Human Nature
Director Sverre Fredriksen
Netherlands
MIFF 2020
Feature
Hyenas (Before Nightfall #12 Recut)
Director Djibril Diop Mambéty
Senegal,Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
Hyenas (Restoration)
Director Djibril Diop Mambéty
Senegal
MIFF 2020
Feature
I Used to Go Here
Director Kris Rey
USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Identifying Features
Director Fernanda Valadez
Mexico
MIFF 2020
Short
Inès
Director Élodie Dermange
France,Switzerland
MIFF 2020
Short
Instructions to Let Go
Director Gustavo Gamero
Mexico
MIFF 2020
Feature
Just 6.5
Director Saeed Roustayi
Iran
MIFF 2020
Feature
Kala Azar
Director Janis Rafa
Netherlands,Greece
MIFF 2020
Short
Kapaemahu
Director Joe Wilson,Dean Hamer,Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu
USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Kill It and Leave This Town
Director Mariusz Wilczyński
Poland
MIFF 2020
Feature
Kuessipan
Director Myriam Verreault
Canada
MIFF 2020
Feature
La Llorona
Director Jayro Bustamante
Mexico,Guatemala
MIFF 2020
Feature
Lara
Director Jan-Ole Gerster
Germany
MIFF 2020
Feature
Last and First Men
Director Jóhann Jóhannsson
Iceland
MIFF 2020
Short
Laura
Director Madeleine Gottlieb
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
Looky Looky Here Comes Cooky
Director Steven McGregor
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
Los Lobos
Director Samuel Kishi Leopo
Mexico,USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Maddy the Model
Director Jane Magnusson
Sweden
MIFF 2020
Feature
Marona's Fantastic Tale
Director Anca Damian
France,Romania
MIFF 2020
Feature
Martin Margiela: In His Own Words
Director Reiner Holzemer
Germany,Belgium
MIFF 2020
Feature
Mayor
Director David Osit
Palestine,USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Mogul Mowgli
Director Bassam Tariq
UK
MIFF 2020
Short
Mother Bunker
Director George Metaxas
Australia,USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Nevia
Director Nunzia De Stefano
Italy
MIFF 2020
Short
Nimic
Director Yorgos Lanthimos
Germany,UK,USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
No Hard Feelings
Director Faraz Shariat
Germany
MIFF 2020
Short
Not a Wallflower
Director Lianne Mackessy
Australia
MIFF 2020
Short
Objects of My Disaffection
Director Sarah-Jane Woulahan
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
On the Record
Director Amy Ziering,Kirby Dick
USA
MIFF 2020
Short
Outside the Oranges Are Blooming
Director Nevena Desivojević
Portugal,Serbia
MIFF 2020
Feature
Paper Champions
Director Jo-Anne Brechin
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
Paris Calligrammes
Director Ulrike Ottinger
France,Germany
MIFF 2020
Feature
Perfect 10
Director Eva Riley
UK
MIFF 2020
Short
Pillars
Director Haley Elizabeth Anderson
USA
MIFF 2020
Short
Pinion
Director Asuka Sylvie
Australia
MIFF 2020
Short
Playback
Director Agustina Comedi
Argentina
MIFF 2020
Feature
Prayer for a Lost Mitten
Director Jean-François Lesage
Canada
MIFF 2020
Feature
Rebuilding Paradise
Director Ron Howard
USA
MIFF 2020
Short
Roqaia
Director Diana Saqeb Jamal
Afghanistan,Bangladesh
MIFF 2020
Feature
Rose Plays Julie
Director Joe Lawlor,Christine Molloy
Ireland,UK
MIFF 2020
Feature
Servants
Director Ivan Ostrochovský
Slovakia,Romania,Czech Republic,Ireland
MIFF 2020
Feature
She Dies Tomorrow
Director Amy Seimetz
USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Shirley
Director Josephine Decker
USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Shiva Baby
Director Emma Seligman
USA
MIFF 2020
Short
Silica
Director Pia Borg
Australia,UK
MIFF 2020
Short
Sky Aelans
Director Edward Manuga,Georgianna Lepping,Jeremy Gwao,Regina Lepping,Zahiyd Namo,Junior Patrick Kauha Makau,Manner Levo,Neil Nuia,Daniel Kakadi
Solomon Islands
MIFF 2020
Feature
Some Kind of Heaven
Director Lance Oppenheim
USA
MIFF 2020
Short
Something to Remember
Director Niki Lindroth von Bahr
Sweden
MIFF 2020
Feature
Songs of Repression
Director Estephan Wagner,Marianne Hougen-Moraga
Denmark,Netherlands
MIFF 2020
Feature
Speak So I Can See You
Director Marija Stojnić
Serbia,Croatia,Qatar
MIFF 2020
Feature
State Funeral
Director Sergei Loznitsa
Netherlands,Lithuania
MIFF 2020
Short
Still Working
Director Julietta Korbel
Switzerland
MIFF 2020
Feature
Suk Suk
Director Ray Yeung
Hong Kong
MIFF 2020
Feature
Sunless Shadows
Director Mehrdad Oskouei
Iran,Norway
MIFF 2020
Feature
Sweet Thing
Director Alexandre Rockwell
USA
MIFF 2020
Short
T
Director Keisha Rae Witherspoon
USA
MIFF 2020
Short
Tâm
Director Nora Niasari
Australia
MIFF 2020
Short
Thanks for the Ride
Director Tenika Smith
Australia
MIFF 2020
Short
The Diver
Director Michael Leonard,Jamie Helmer
Australia,France
MIFF 2020
Short
The Echo
Director Michael Gupta
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
The Fever
Director Maya Da-Rin
Brazil
MIFF 2020
Feature
The Giverny Document (Single Channel)
Director Ja'Tovia Gary
USA,France
MIFF 2020
Feature
The Go-Go's
Director Alison Ellwood
UK,USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
The Killing of Two Lovers
Director Robert Machoian
USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
The Leadership
Director Ili Baré
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
The Letter
Director Maia Lekow,Christopher King
Kenya
MIFF 2020
Feature
The Meddler
Director Alex Roberts,Daniel Leclair
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
The Metamorphosis of Birds
Director Catarina Vasconcelos
Portugal
MIFF 2020
Short
The Moogai
Director Jon Bell
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
The Plastic House
Director Allison Chhorn
Australia
MIFF 2020
Short
The Stranger
Director Rodd Rathjen
Australia
MIFF 2020
Feature
The Tango of the Widower and Its Distorting Mirror
Director Raúl Ruiz,Valeria Sarmiento
Chile
MIFF 2020
Short
The Weight of All the Beauty
Director Eeva Mägi
Estonia
MIFF 2020
Feature
This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection
Director Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
Lesotho,South Africa,Italy
MIFF 2020
Feature
Two of Us
Director Filippo Meneghetti
France
MIFF 2020
Short
Umbilical
Director Danski Tang
USA,China
MIFF 2020
Short
Under the Sun
Director Qiu Yang
Australia,China
MIFF 2020
Short
Up at Night
Director Nelson Makengo
Congo
MIFF 2020
Feature
Vitalina Varela
Director Pedro Costa
Portugal
MIFF 2020
Short
Wade
Director Upamanyu Bhattacharyya,Kalp Sanghvi
India
MIFF 2020
Feature
Welcome to Chechnya
Director David France
USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Wendy
Director Benh Zeitlin
USA
MIFF 2020
Feature
Wet Season
Director Anthony Chen
Singapore,Taiwan
MIFF 2020
Feature
White Snake
Director Ji Zhao,Amp Wong
China
MIFF 2020
Feature
Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema
Director Mark Cousins
UK
MIFF 2020
Short
Wood Child and Hidden Forest Mother
Director Stephen Irwin
UK
MIFF 2020
