7:30pm

For eight survivors of childhood sexual abuse, a program that combines boxing and writing turns into a journey of recovery and friendship.

Dir. Shannon Owen / 2024 / 98 mins / Australia / World Premiere
Program Strand/s: Australian Films Special Events
8:45pm

Unconventional cinema that tests the boundaries of form and function.

Program Strand/s: MIFF Shorts
8:45pm

An eerie trip across the landscape takes a dark turn into Australian Gothic.

8:45pm

Postwar memories of the Taiwanese Kinmen Islands are seen as if through broken glass, summoned by way of incense, ceramics, sand, light and shadows.

8:45pm

A thrillingly bold montage of still images and video work that pays tribute to memory and time.

Dir. Lei Lei / 2024 / 18 mins / China / Mandarin / Experimental / Australian Premiere
8:45pm

A hypnotic interplay between footage of fireworks shot during a Japanese summer festival.

8:45pm

Winner of the Berlinale’s Teddy Award for Best Short Film, this story of a matriarchal family repurposes archival footage from communist Poland.

8:45pm

Monkeys overrun the remains of an ancient civilisation in this rich reflection on myth and reality.

8:45pm

Gaza, December 2023. A confrontation with a disturbing photo on social media triggers questions about what it means to be an onlooker.

8:45pm

Time collides and collapses in this kaleidoscopic reflection on change in Hong Kong.

9:00pm

Hop aboard as this engrossing film takes you to the world of the Unarians: cosmic visionaries who believe in higher planes, therapy and movie-making.

Dir. Jodi Wille / 2023 / 100 mins / USA / English / Documentary / International Premiere
Program Strand/s: Documentaries
9:00pm

Demi Moore satirises Hollywood ageism in this audacious and gory feminist body horror that was the talk of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Program Strand/s: Headliners
9:00pm

This daring work of first-person journalism charts the case that not only launched #MeToo in Japan but changed the country’s legal system for good.

Dir. Shiori Ito / 2024 / 104 mins / UK, Japan / Japanese / Documentary
Program Strand/s: Documentaries
9:00pm

Acclaimed documentarian Mahdi Fleifel makes his fiction debut with a Midnight Cowboy–inspired Palestinian refugee story.

Program Strand/s: Africa & Middle East
9:15pm

Tensions explode in a family’s country home in the Zürcher brothers’ follow-up to their acclaimed The Girl and the Spider.

Dir. Ramon Zürcher / 2024 / 117 mins / Switzerland / German / Drama / Victorian Premiere
Program Strand/s: Europe & UK
9:15pm

With this twist on the jingoistic, action-packed war movie, Cannes Un Certain Regard Best Director winner Roberto Minervini asks: what’s it all for?

Program Strand/s: North America
9:15pm

Guy Pearce stars in this prison-set portrait of incarceration and salvation – the feature debut from Short Film Palme d’Or winner Charles Williams.

2024 / 104 mins / Australia / Drama, Crime / World Premiere
Program Strand/s: Australian Films Bright Horizons
9:30pm

This effusive documentary explodes onto the screen as it chronicles the remarkable rise and staying power of the 80s new-wave band behind ‘Whip It’.

Dir. Chris Smith / 2024 / 94 mins / USA, UK / English / Documentary / Australian Premiere
Program Strand/s: Music on Film
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