Bright Horizons
PRESENTED BY
MIFF’s film competition, Bright Horizons, celebrates filmmakers on the ascent, featuring an extraordinary international line-up of first- and second-time filmmakers competing for one of the richest film prizes in the world – supported by VicScreen.
Explore this strand with a Bright Horizons 3-Pass!
Big Girls Don’t Cry
Set in a coastal New Zealand town over the summer of 2006, this queer coming-of-age story – executive-produced by Jane Campion – is a bittersweet slice of pre-smartphone-era teendom.
Blue Heron
A filmmaker sifts through old videos and memories in this emotionally devastating coming-of-age marvel, a multiple award winner at Locarno and Toronto.
Elephants in the Fog
This Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury Prize–winning thriller set among a Nepalese third-gender community sees one matriarch choosing between duty and love.
The Friend’s House Is Here
Both a charismatic hangout movie and a courageous act of dissent, this Sundance winner spends quality time with two young women trying to make art in Iran.
Goodbye, Cruel World
In Cannes Critics’ Week’s tender, strikingly shot closing-night film, two lonely teenagers find an unlikely connection.
Josephine
A heartbreaking portrait of innocence lost, this acclaimed Sundance award winner and surefire Oscar contender is one of the most essential films of 2026.
La Gradiva
Simmering desires erupt among a group of teens visiting the ruins of Pompeii in this Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize winner.
Sweet Milk Lake
After being mistaken for his brother, a young trans man adapts to a precarious new life in his estranged father’s rural town.
Wicker
Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård lead this cheeky, star-studded and irresistible fable about a cranky fisherwoman and the sexy handwoven husband she wishes for.
Yesterday The Eye Didn’t Sleep
The evocative debut of a former student of Abbas Kiarostami and Béla Tarr, this is an atmospheric portrait of the patriarchal weight of Bedouin tradition.