Short films by emerging filmmakers from Australia participating in the MIFF Accelerator Lab 2021. See the work of tomorrow’s hottest directors today.

Short films by emerging filmmakers from Australia participating in the MIFF Accelerator Lab 2021. See the work of tomorrow’s hottest directors today.

An aspiring Peruvian performer must decide whether she’s dancing for others or for herself.

In 1960s rural India, a village chief and his son resist the pressure of conforming to the new world of Christianity.

In the midst of a global amnesia pandemic, one man is sent to a government facility to remember who he is.

This psychological crime thriller pushes genre into daring territory and dazzles with a lush visual style that heralds the arrival of a major new Chinese filmmaking talent.

In the woods, a young woman and man scuffle as they fight for life.

An unplanned pregnancy unites two very different Costa Rican women in unique ways.

A bereaved single mother does battle with the Iranian justice system in this tense drama.

An African migrant living in Spain is confronted with the bitter meaning of ‘home’.

Amid Iran’s widespread 2019 floods, three young musicians set out for a career-making gig in Tehran. But as the water rises, their chances of making it on time diminish.

A chance meeting paves the way for a deeper connection.

An explosive study of a woman unravelling, and awakening, amid religious intolerance, domestic indifference and gender-based persecution.

A mixed martial arts fighter discovers she’s pregnant in the lead-up to the most important fight of her career.

One of world cinema’s most famous locations becomes the backdrop for this intricate relationship drama by Mia Hansen-Løve.

A collection of the best short films of the festival, as chosen by the MIFF Shorts Awards Jury and the MIFF Shorts Programmer.

Winner of two Locarno Leopards of Tomorrow awards, this stunning portrait of adolescent abandon unfolds at the threshold of emerging maturity.

In this timely and electric Un Certain Regard–premiering drama, a family must contend with the distressing prospect of being separated by immigration officials.

Military rule fuses with ultra-modern digital technologies to open up an ethereal portal that transcends time.

Claudie seeks advice from an old flame as a new love is born from the embers.

This complex, evocative period piece about human disconnection invites you to a party in 1990s Belgrade – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume optional.

A unique melding of biopic and biographical documentary, this 90s classic – sumptuously restored in time for its 30th anniversary – pays tribute to a vanished era of cinema.

A long-lost masterpiece of 1970s Iranian cinema finally re-emerges on the big screen.

This 1933 French realist classic is a humane and subversive exploration of child poverty, the limits of schooling and the sanctuary offered by love.

A sweet, touchingly funny tale about a working-class teen whose newfound passion for singing helps her connect with her deaf family in new ways.

Winner of a Silver Bear at the Berlinale, this genre-bender takes an immersive, existential ride deep inside the Mexico City police force.

Isolated and maligned by her peers, a woodworker crafts a more assured self-image.

The intricacies of a moment of connection are dwelt on in this meditative examination of male desire by Tsai Ming-liang.

A Soviet official finds her loyalty to the regime tested when her daughter goes missing in the aftermath of a massacre.

Two Fijian-Indian sisters escape their cousin’s wedding to get high on disobedience and drugs.

Ryūsuke Hamaguchi returns with another enigmatically melancholy tale of human desire, loneliness and love – one that nabbed Cannes’ Best Screenplay award.

Leah Purcell AM writes, directs and stars in this highly anticipated adaptation – a vivid reckoning with Australia’s colonial history through the tale of one woman’s resilience.

A hypnotic portrait of a young couple surviving life in an off-the-beaten-track, opportunity-starved outback town.

In a nondescript place, seemingly forgotten by time, a teenager tries to outrun his loneliness.

This hypnotic exploration of a family’s psychological turmoil under the shadow of Thai history won the FIPRESCI Prize in this year’s IFFR competition.

A real-life mother–daughter duo play a semi-fictional mother–daughter duo struggling to make ends meet in this charismatic feminist class comedy.

In this coming-of-age tale, which won Venice’s Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film, a Colombian 15-year-old born into privilege experiences a rude awakening.

Contemporary Europe, Jewish identity and the legacy of the Holocaust form a bubbling cauldron in this intergenerational triptych.

An elegant, neorealist debut that captures the beating heart of Lagos in the stories of two local dreamers struggling with their city’s Kafkaesque capitalism.

The directorial debut from producer Tanith Glynn-Maloney reimagines the 1954 auditions for Charles Chauvel’s iconic final film.

A Bruce Lee martial-arts classic gets an Indigenous twist as the first feature film ever to be fully dubbed in an Aboriginal Australian language.

This Gen Z Before Sunrise finds tender romance in youthful self-discovery.

The drift of twentysomething life comes under the lens in this celebrated Aussie slacker satire.

Slow-cinema master Lav Diaz returns with another mordantly meditative piece – one that nabbed him Venice’s Orizzonti Best Director gong.

MIFF alumnus and Shorts Award winner Eddy Bell returns with an intimate and critical portrait of one of Australia’s worst droughts.

An intricate psychological ode to simmering emotion amid unfettered separation anxiety, which took home two Encounters awards at the Berlinale.

A man’s devotion to his wife is put to the ultimate test in this rare cinematic venture into the Horn of Africa.

In this achingly romantic postwar-set film, which won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, a man imprisoned for his sexuality finds that love offers sweet release.

The new film from dual Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi, which took home Cannes 2021’s Grand Prix, is a tale of redemption, veneration and modern morality.

The bold directorial debut of Portrait of a Lady on Fire actor Luàna Bajrami is a luminously kinetic depiction of teenage ennui and troublemaking.

Selected for Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, the debut feature by Jafar Panahi’s son Panah is a chaotic, tender road trip set against a rugged landscape.

Attempting to quell some tension, a mother and daughter head to the hot springs… but more heat isn’t what they need.

A satirical, modern-day David-and-Goliath tale that presents a persuasive case for citizens’ responsibility to fight for the future.

Tilda Swinton sets the screen ablaze in Pedro Almodóvar’s expressionistic, dangerously dramatic English-language debut.

Cannes’ 2020 Short Film Palme d’Or winner depicts the lengths a young man goes to in a bid to see his girlfriend one last time.

A collective springs to life in this radiant tribute to radical Black politics.

Connection is at the heart of Hong Sang-soo’s charming yet deceptively complex multiple-character study.

Moment and memory blend as you bear witness to a Samoan rite of passage.

Constance Wu stars in this elegiac Hawaiian drama as the late wife of a man haunted by his past and slowly becoming a spectre in the present.

Melbourne has never looked sleeker than in this low-key mumblecore piece.

A young woman awakens to find herself in the midst of a living nightmare.

Essie Davis is incandescent as a squeegee-wielding mama bear who won’t stop fighting for those she loves – even if it ruins her own life.

This illustriously produced vigilante drama centres on a mother who will do anything to get her kidnapped daughter back.

Weave your way through the bustling streets and idyllic beaches of Lagos.

Noomi Rapace stars in this Un Certain Regard prize-winning supernatural drama about a couple who raise a very special child.

Co-writers Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales depict a modern-age bond in this touching SXSW Audience Award–winning film, told entirely across screens.

Two estranged friends stumble upon each other and reconnect over a shared loss.

Ema star Mariana Di Girólamo is magnetically front and centre – literally – as a dangerous wannabe social media influencer in this dark drama.

A Palestinian man’s relationship with his homeland is put to the test in this Un Certain Regard–premiering film from the award-winning director of The Band’s Visit.

Selected for Critics’ Week at Cannes, Spanish filmmaker Clara Roquet’s coming-of-age debut captures female desire and friendship on the lush coast of Catalonia.

Produced by Wang Yang and Palme d’Or winner Qiu Yang, Lili Alone is a beautifully mournful story about one woman’s sacrifice.

This story of a Syrian refugee awaiting resettlement on a remote Scottish island is at once heart-wrenching and humorous.

Co-written by Christos Tsiolkas, this period drama depicts a newly-single father’s efforts to weather the turbulence of change – in his life and in the world around him.

In the 2021 Sundance Short Film Grand Jury Prize winner, a young girl stumbles upon secrets at her local church in Lagos.

In a near-future Melbourne defined by state corruption and constant surveillance, a group of small-time activists hatches a plan to commit a “victimless atrocity”.

A lead turn reminiscent of Marlon Brando anchors this neo-realist look at the Maltese fishing industry.

Emma Dante adapts her own acclaimed play: a melancholy tale of five Sicilian sisters whose lives are forever changed by a trauma from their youth.

In this Brazilian Gothic cri de coeur, the murder of a trans woman reverberates in the lives of the people around her.

Göteborg’s 2021 Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award winner dives into personal memories that embody the persistence of life in the face of enormous tragedy.

Stunningly restored in 4K, the sagacious second feature from Senegalese author turned filmmaker Ousmane Sembène cements his legacy as the ‘father of African film’.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul returns with this hotly anticipated English-language collaboration with Tilda Swinton, which won the 2021 Cannes Jury Prize.

A mysterious package reopens old wounds and breaks down walls of intergenerational silence in this drama about mothers and daughters, history and time.

On a slag heap that once belonged to a coalmine, revellers seek erotic gratification.

Co-writers Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales depict a modern-age bond in this touching SXSW Audience Award–winning film, told entirely across screens.

Leah Purcell AM writes, directs and stars in this highly anticipated adaptation – a vivid reckoning with Australia’s colonial history through the tale of one woman’s resilience.

This bruising, tender queer drama reminiscent of Beau Travail explores homophobia and repressed desire in the Apartheid-era South African military.

In Jacqueline Lentzou’s exceptional feature debut, an already strained father–daughter relationship is put under pressure.

Two brothers with diametrically opposed approaches to their faith are pitted against one another in this tense family drama.

A timber feller, kept awake by his infant child’s cries of hunger, encounters something perturbing in the woods.

You’re in excellent hands with this wicked class satire about a very special immigrant masseur and the affluent individuals who grow besotted with him.

Winner of the Silver Lion at the 2020 Venice Film Festival, this shocking, dystopian thriller is an incendiary indictment of class, racism and power that speaks to our times.

Michael Beets depicts an elderly woman enacting the titular Japanese death ritual for her husband.

Rachel Perkins’ affecting Aussie classic sees three estranged sisters reluctantly reunite for their mother’s funeral and grapple with long-suppressed family secrets.

The first Iran–US co-production to open in Iranian cinemas since the revolution pits a couple against a malevolent hotel, trapping them in with their secrets.

A young prison inmate is transformed into a modern-day Scheherazade in this electrifying tribute to the power of storytelling.

In this multi-award-winning drama, a child pickpocket dreams of a better life.

When the Victorian Government locks down his public-housing building, a teenager responsible for his mother’s welfare is pushed to the brink.

A narrative depiction of the events leading up to one of the darkest chapters in modern Australian history from MIFF Accelerator Lab alumnus director Justin Kurzel.

Steven Soderbergh assembles the starriest of casts, headlined by Don Cheadle and Benicio Del Toro, for this explosive period crime caper.

Carrie Brownstein and St. Vincent play versions of themselves in this music mockumentary that explores the absurdities of fame and friendship.

The lives of Indigenous women collide in this powerful feature debut, which takes aim at poverty, prejudice and the patriarchy.

This winner of multiple Czech Lion awards as well as Venice’s UNICEF Award is a stunning, utterly harrowing indictment of humanity at its worst.

Awarded IFFR’s top prize, this lean, arresting debut follows a primal father–son road trip across the arid landscapes of southern India.

Céline Sciamma returns with a delicate tale of childhood and an intergenerational connection that crosses through time.

Capturing the malaise of Chinese society at the tail end of the 20th century, Jia Zhang-ke’s restored feature debut is ripe for re-examination.

Nicolas Cage is back with the perfect film for his skill set: a revenge thriller centred on a stolen truffle pig, but with a sober tone that showcases the Oscar winner of yore.

In this delightful slacker story, a young Parisian comic-book artist is on the hunt for stability, a career, self-confidence, love – but nothing seems to go her way.

Göteborg’s Best Feature Film winner fearlessly dissects the contemporary porn industry through the perspective of a young woman determined to be a star.

This adaptation of Jennifer Clement’s bestselling novel explores the visceral impact of Mexican drug cartels on the lives of three young girls.

An exquisitely shot insight into dance, dramaturgy and performance featuring dancer Michelle Heaven.

Love and reality go under the scalpel in this story of obsession on the streets of Budapest.

A Lynchian depiction of self-transformation in the social media age.

This gutsy and charming film about a young Ghanaian-American woman at a crossroads marks the arrival of a filmmaker with a fresh, unique vision.

Nominated for Best International Feature Film at this year’s Oscars, this extraordinary account of a 1995 Bosnian massacre is powerful, essential viewing.

You always have to watch out for those early warning signs.

Mads Mikkelsen headlines this ingenious, pitch-black Scandi revenge comedy.

A teenager is faced with the choice between rising up to become the better man or debasing himself for acceptance.

An intimidating encounter with a group of teens forces a 12-year-old to ponder her place in the world.

Laura Dern is unforgettable in this 1986 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner – now digitally restored – as a teen who pursues experiences she’s not really sure she wants.

Tradition and technology meet head-on in this tense coming-of-age drama about two Egyptian teens and a web of deceptions.

Co-executive-produced by Ian Thorpe, this sports drama centres on a teenager fighting to stay afloat in the world of competitive swimming – and in his family life.

Zoe Terakes and Brenna Harding star as best friends mutually overcoming a tragedy.

A gang of streets kids is hired to pull off a dangerous heist in this Oscar-shortlisted coming-of-age drama from Iranian master director Majid Majidi.

A middle-aged woman cares for her elderly father, whose will to live is on the wane.

Questions of morality and duty play out against the backdrop of the Iranian justice system in the 2020 Berlinale’s Golden Bear winner.

From Palme d’Or winner Nanni Moretti comes this highly anticipated new drama of disparate lives in an Italian apartment complex.

A tense mother–daughter survival story that paints an empathetic picture of outsider life across the subways and streets of New York City.

After her father unexpectedly hits her, a young girl decides to toughen up.

The darkly humorous 2021 Clermont-Ferrand International Competition Special Jury Prize winner pits a funeral custom against languishing olive trees.

Both a “lockdown journal” and a piece of fiction, this collaboration between Portuguese auteurs pushes the limits between truth and tale.

Winner of the 2021 Prix Un Certain Regard at Cannes, this Russian drama from the producers of Beanpole travels to the dark heart of an unusual family.

Christian Petzold’s reimagining of an ancient myth will pull you in with its shadowy undertow.

A French couple travelling by campervan around Australia discover their relationship is at a crossroads.

Starring Pamela Rabe, Margot Nash’s acclaimed first feature – now gloriously restored – is a must for the big screen.

Abbas Kiarostami protégé Ahmad Bahrami’s 2020 Venice Orizzonti Award winner is a dreamlike expedition to a remote Iranian factory.

This Berlinale FIPRESCI Prize winner is a romantic, Kafkaesque fable full of poignant whimsy and playful imagery.

Japanese favourite Ryūsuke Hamaguchi enchants with a playfully enigmatic, female-centric triptych that won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Berlinale.

On the streets of Kabul, a child dreams of making it big. Will a chance encounter with a foreigner bring his shot at stardom closer?

A Noongar high school student struggles to perform a Shakespearean sonnet for her drama class.

Joachim Trier’s latest – winner of Best Actress at Cannes – is an elegant, playful character study about a young woman’s existential crisis.

Jafar Panahi, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Laura Poitras and other global cinema heavyweights reflect on 2020 in this sweeping anthology film for the COVID age.

On the cusp of turning 10, a Jamaican girl is about to learn how not to drown.

Yael Stone and Emily Barclay star as frenemy sisters in this sibling dramedy by Madeleine Gottlieb.

An infamous tweetstorm about a wild, pole-dancing Florida road trip has become one of the most hotly anticipated movies of the year.