
Accelerator Shorts 1
Short films by emerging filmmakers from Australia participating in the MIFF Accelerator Lab 2021. See the work of tomorrow’s hottest directors today.

Accelerator Shorts 2
Short films by emerging filmmakers from Australia participating in the MIFF Accelerator Lab 2021. See the work of tomorrow’s hottest directors today.

Accelerator Shorts: MIFF 68½

Animation Shorts

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

Australian Shorts

Bach-Hông
A young Vietnamese-French woman is faced with the communist takeover of Saigon on 30 April 1975.

Beautiful They
A chance meeting paves the way for a deeper connection.

Big
The film that made Tom Hanks a genuine star is now roughly the same age as its grown-up lead was, yet it remains equally as innocent and charming.

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

Bodies in Motion

CODA
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.

Documentary Shorts

Don't Forget to Go Home
Two Fijian-Indian sisters escape their cousin’s wedding to get high on disobedience and drugs.

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

Entre tú y Milagros
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.

Experimental Shorts

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

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

Gravedad
In a world with extremes of gravity, Rosa must navigate what it means to feel emotional ups and downs.

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

I Am Afraid to Forget Your Face
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.

International Shorts 1

International Shorts 2

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

Jeanette Is the Dog
Melbourne has never looked sleeker than in this low-key mumblecore piece.

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

Libertad
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.

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

Maat Means Land
Poised at the intersection of activism and art, wunderkind Fox Maxy’s TikTok-esque tapestry documents the injustice and legacy of colonisation.

The Macaluso Sisters
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.

The Most Beautiful Boy in the World
An unsettling, melancholic portrait of what fame did to the talented young star of Death in Venice.

Mr Bachmann and His Class
This sprawling, tender documentary captures the inspiring relationship between an unorthodox German schoolteacher and his culturally diverse teenage class.

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

Off Country
Indigenous teenagers navigate exams, social dramas and maintaining meaningful connections to home while at boarding school.

The Painted Bird
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.

Poleng
Naina Sen explores the relationship between biracial identity and generational belonging through traditional Balinese dance.

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

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

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

Smooth Talk
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.

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

Streamline
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.

Such Small Hands
When a new arrival is alienated by her peers at a girls’ orphanage, she exacts revenge by inventing an activity that takes gameplay to the extreme.

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

Sun Children
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.

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

Trona Pinnacles
A family unravels while road-tripping near Death Valley in the California desert.

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

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

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

Your Street
Winner of Best Short Film at the Swiss Film Awards, this documentary observes the impact of time – and historical trauma – on one commemorative street.