First Glance
Feature
The Ballad of Wallis Island
Dir.
James Griffiths
/
2025
/
99 mins
/
UK
/
English
Can a rich, eccentric superfan reunite his favourite indie-folk duo? And can they mend his lonely heart?
Feature
The Baltimorons
Dir.
Jay Duplass
/
2025
/
99 mins
/
USA
/
English
In this SXSW Audience Award winner, a dental mishap plays cupid for a washed-up comedian and a disillusioned dentist on a life-changing Christmas Eve.
Feature
Blue Moon
Dir.
Richard Linklater
/
2025
/
100 mins
/
USA
/
English
Ethan Hawke brings legendary Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart to life in Richard Linklater’s A-list ensemble portrait of fallen stardom.
Feature
Careless
Dir.
Sue Thomson
/
2025
/
88 mins
/
Australia
/
English
In a country where ageing has become a business, this funny, moving documentary follows elderly people’s fight to grow old their way.
Feature
Cloud
Dir.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa
/
2024
/
123 mins
/
Japan
/
Japanese
Iconic director Kiyoshi Kurosawa satirically skewers our complacent belief in the anonymity of the internet in this unnerving, vicious psychological thriller.
Feature
Come See Me in the Good Light
Dir.
Ryan White
/
2025
/
109 mins
/
USA
/
English
From darkness into light, this poetic documentary brings us to the brink of what it means to love.
Feature
Dreams
Dir.
Michel Franco
/
2025
/
98 mins
/
USA, Mexico
/
English, Spanish
Jessica Chastain reunites with Michel Franco for this scathing yet enthralling drama about immigration, manipulation and a romance built on inequality.
Feature
First Light
Dir.
James J. Robinson
/
2025
/
118 mins
/
Australia, Philippines
/
Tagalog
A nun encounters a lethal criminal conspiracy and begins to question her beliefs in this poetic, sensory meditation on faith, power and corruption.
Feature
Fwends
Dir.
Sophie Somerville
/
2024
/
91 mins
/
Australia
/
English, French
Estranged mates get lost in Melbourne and fall back in love with one another in this lilting indie ode to the city and slacker cinema.
Feature
Harvest
Dir.
Athina Rachel Tsangari
/
2024
/
131 mins
/
USA, UK, Germany, Greece, France
/
English
A magnetic Caleb Landry Jones stars in this moody medieval parable adapted from a Booker Prize–shortlisted novel.
Feature
Iron Winter
Dir.
Kasimir Burgess
/
2025
/
Australia, Mongolia
/
Mongolian
Seeking to keep a centuries-old tradition alive, two friends battle extreme conditions as they herd 2000 horses through the icy Mongolian steppes.
Feature
It Was Just an Accident
Dir.
Jafar Panahi
/
2025
/
102 mins
/
France, Luxembourg, Iran
/
Farsi
Winning the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Jafar Panahi’s revenge thriller is both a broadside and real-world triumph against authoritarian oppression.
Feature
Journey Home, David Gulpilil
Dir.
Maggie Miles, Trisha Morton-Thomas
/
2025
/
88 mins
/
Australia
/
English, Yolŋu Matha
After his passing, legendary Yolngu actor David Gulpilil is brought back to his home country in a continent-traversing commemoration worthy of his transcendent talent.
Feature
Julia Holter: The Passion of Joan of Arc
Dir.
Carl Theodor Dreyer
/
1928
/
France
Acclaimed LA singer, songwriter and composer Julia Holter comes exclusively to MIFF to present a special live score to one of cinema’s all-time visionary works.
Feature
Lurker
Dir.
Alex Russell
/
2025
/
100 mins
/
USA, Italy
/
English
A cunning wannabe enters the orbit of an ascendant celebrity in this thrillingly tense debut about the hunger for – and hollowness of – stardom.
Feature
Marlon Williams: Two Worlds - Ngā Ao E Rua
Dir.
Ursula Grace Williams
/
2024
/
92 mins
/
New Zealand
/
English, Māori
One of Aotearoa’s most beloved artists, Marlon Williams, sets out on his most ambitious musical project yet: creating an album sung entirely in te reo Māori.
Feature
Maya, Give Me a Title
Dir.
Michel Gondry
/
2024
/
61 mins
/
France
/
French
Michel Gondry returns to his roots with this wildly creative animated omnibus, assembling surreal two-dimensional adventures to entertain his young daughter.
Episodic
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow
Dir.
Julia Loktev
/
2024
/
324 mins
/
USA
/
Russian
A gripping documentary portrait of Russian journalists living and working under the crosshairs of a hostile regime.
Feature
Not Only Fred Dagg but Also John Clarke
Dir.
Lorin Clarke
/
2025
/
Australia
/
English
For over 40 years, the iconic John Clarke tickled the funny bones of Australian and New Zealand audiences. Now, in this intimately produced documentary, hear his story in his own words.
Feature
One More Shot
Dir.
Nick Clifford
/
2025
/
92 mins
/
Australia
/
English
An end-of-millennium house party becomes an endless, tequila-fuelled time loop in this ingenious comedy starring Emily Browning.
Feature
Pasa Faho
Dir.
Kalu Oji
/
2025
/
86 mins
/
Australia
/
English, Igbo
A shoe salesman struggles to save his small business and pass on his values to his son in this quintessentially Melbourne tale of life in a migrant community.
Feature
Reflection in a Dead Diamond
Dir.
Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani
/
2025
/
87 mins
/
France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg
/
English, French, Italian
The filmmakers behind Let the Corpses Tan (MIFF 2018) bring a touch of Dario Argento’s brutally surreal aesthetic to their homage to 60s-Bond-style sexy spy thrillers.
Feature
Sorry, Baby
Dir.
Eva Victor
/
2025
/
104 mins
/
USA
/
English
One of Sundance’s buzziest debuts, this A24-backed dramedy about a young woman’s recovery from trauma announces writer/director/star Eva Victor as a formidable new talent.
Feature
Spreadsheet Champions
Dir.
Kristina Kraskov
/
2024
/
86 mins
/
Australia
/
English, Spanish, French, Greek
Six young people from around the globe channel their dreams into a competition with a difference: a test of their elite mastery of Microsoft Excel.
Feature
Twinless
Dir.
James Sweeney
/
2025
/
100 mins
/
USA
/
English
Dylan O’Brien gives an award-winning dual performance in this Sundance hit – a darkly comic, intriguingly queer study of grief loaded with twisty absurdity.
XR
The World Came Flooding In
Dir.
Isobel Knowles, Van Sowerwine
/
2025
/
30 mins
/
Australia
/
English
Melbourne International Film Festival partners with Now or Never for the world premiere of this immersive installation and creative VR documentary centred on the intimate stories of life during a natural disaster.