Join us for a special Preview Screening of Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar latest film. Pedro Almodóvar returns with this witty, award-winning metafiction that satirises the vampiric nature of creativity. It’s 2004, and the wells of inspiration are drying up for movie director Elsa. Worse still, despite her firefighter/stripper boyfriend’s coddling, she’s as burdened by migraines as she is with her friends’ troubles. But all of this is merely a story; a creation of filmmaker Raúl, Elsa is the protagonist of the film that he’s struggling to complete in 2026, much to the dismay of his supportive partner, Santi. That spark suddenly returns when Raúl’s assistant Mónica takes leave to help a friend who has just lost a child, a tragedy that becomes a plot point in his own script. Perhaps this new inspiration will give Raúl insights into his own life and relationships; but how far is too far when an artist continually cribs from the experiences of others? Much like Pain and Glory (MIFF 2019), Pedro Almodóvar’s latest Competition headliner at Cannes – where it shared the Soundtrack Award – is an ingenious piece of self-portraiture that interrogates creativity and its impediments. The enthralling film-within-a-film explodes onto the screen with the director’s signature vivid colours and sumptuous settings, which are enhanced by the piquant soundtrack by long-time collaborator Alberto Iglesias. Leads Bárbara Lennie and Leonardo Sbaraglia are stellar as mirror images of each other and of Almodóvar himself, propelling an autofictional triumph that ponders art’s (mis)appropriation of life. - MIFF

The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity's saviour before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything.

Sparkling, dizzying, and deliciously potent, Fallen Angels, Noël Coward’s champagne-fresh comedy of bad manners, shocked and delighted audiences at its 1925 premiere. Two upper-class wives, their husbands away for the day, share a few toasts to their pre-marital dalliances—with the same man, who just may be en route from France to visit. Old rivalries and past scandals bubble to the surface in this intoxicating romp from one of theatre’s comedy masters. Starring Golden Globe-winner Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You) and Tony Award winner Kelli O’Hara (The King and I), with Tracee Chimo, Mark Consuelos (making his Broadway debut), Christopher Fitzgerald and Aasif Mandvi, this new Roundabout Theatre and Tony Award-winning production of ‘pure escapist fun’ (The New York Times) was filmed live on stage at Broadway’s Todd Haimes Theatre and now comes to the big screen.

GIANT, the 5-star critically acclaimed play starring John Lithgow (Killers of the Flower Moon, The Crown) as Roald Dahl, comes to the big screen. Winner of 3 Olivier Awards® including Best Play and a Tony Award® for Best Actor in a Play (John Lithgow), the production was filmed live in London’s West End ahead of its sold-out Broadway run. The stellar cast includes Aya Cash (The Boys, The Franchise, You’re the Worst), Elliot Levey (Cold War, Patriots, Good) and Rachael Stirling (The Divine Mrs S). A world-famous children’s author under threat. A battle of wills in the wake of scandal. And one chance to make amends...It’s the summer of 1983, The Witches is about to hit the shelves and Roald Dahl is making last-minute edits. But the outcry at his recent, explicitly antisemitic article won’t die down. Across a single afternoon at his family home, and rocked by an unexpectedly explosive confrontation, Dahl is forced to choose: make a public apology or risk his name and reputation. Inspired by real events, GIANT explores with dark humour the difference between considered opinion and dangerous rhetoric offering a complicated portrait of a fiendishly charismatic icon.

6pm arrival for a 6:30pm film start: Join us for our annual Halloween Party! This year we're screening the 20th anniversary special 4K release of Pan's Labyrinth with an introduction from the filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. Dress up for the chance to win special prizes. Tapas and sangria avail. on the night. Olé! In post–civil war Spain, 10-year-old Ofelia moves with her pregnant mother to live under the control of her cruel stepfather. Drawn into a mysterious labyrinth, she meets a faun who reveals that she may be a lost princess from an underground kingdom. To return to her true father, she must complete a series of surreal and perilous tasks that blur the line between reality and fantasy.

Based on the bestselling novel from Nobel Prize-winner Kazuo Ishiguro and written and directed by Academy-Award® winner Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit), Klara and the Sun introduces audiences to Klara (Jenna Ortega), an Artificial Friend who wants nothing more than to find the perfect home. When Klara meets Josie (Mia Tharia), each immediately senses a kindred spirit in the other. Josie has a fraught relationship with her mother (Amy Adams) and they’ve suffered great loss, but Klara’s innocent wonder and unwavering loyalty begin to heal the family and bring light to Josie’s complicated world.

Sharing the Best Director Prize at Cannes, this sublime time-hopping triptych recounts three men’s experiences of love, legacy and the unending fight for queer liberation. In 1937, musician Sebastián is conscripted into the Spanish Civil War by the pro-Franco army; there, he meets and falls for a handsome leftist prisoner. In 1932, Carlos attempts to gain membership to an exclusive casino but is rejected due to rumours about his homosexuality. And in 2017, historian Alberto inherits a gift from his estranged grandfather that exacerbates tensions with his mother. Across the decades, these men’s stories interweave and bleed into one another, revealing threads that connect them in profound, unexpected ways. Associate-produced by Pedro Almodóvar (All About My Mother, Bitter Christmas) and featuring supporting turns by Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close, the arrestingly poetic second feature from directorial duo Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo depicts how each generation faces its own forms of prejudice. Yet as much as it lays bare the present’s debts to the past, the film also challenges our notions of linear time, its dazzling collisions of image and sound coming together as palimpsests of personal and societal memory. Inspired by Federico García Lorca’s unfinished stageplay of the same name, La Bola Negra is a sweeping meditation on the battles we wage for ideology and belonging. - MIFF26

The Met: Live in HD season kicks off with Mozart’s satirical comedy of fickle young love, one of the composer’s most sublime creations. Phelim McDermott’s “colorful, inventive” (The New York Times) staging, inspired by Coney Island in the 1950s, sets the uproarious story at a boardwalk amusement park, where the two pairs of lovers at the heart of the tale find themselves on one emotional—and literal—thrill ride after another. Soprano Federica Lombardi and mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey sing Fiordiligi and Dorabella, opposite tenor Duke Kim and baritone Andrey Zhilikhovsky as Ferrando and Guglielmo. Bass-baritone Gerald Finley stars as the cynical Don Alfonso, with soprano Ana María Martínez as the witty maid Despina.

Puccini’s exhilarating drama of the Wild West returns in a new staging by celebrated British director Richard Jones, marking the company’s first new production of La Fanciulla del West in more than 30 years. Soprano Vida Miknevičiūtė makes an important Met debut as the larger-than-life Minnie, the tough tavern owner with a heart of gold who finds love when she least expects it. Tenor SeokJong Baek is the dashing bandit who rambles into the remote California mining town to steal her heart, opposite baritone Christopher Maltman as the lawman determined to deliver rough justice—and win Minnie for himself. Maestro Keri-Lynn Wilson takes the podium to conduct one of opera’s most action-packed adventures.

Two of opera’s most extraordinary artists star in Verdi’s thrilling take on Shakespeare’s immortal tale. Following past triumphs in many of Verdi’s signature baritone roles, Quinn Kelsey is the Scottish king haunted by the ghosts of his murderous ascent to the throne, opposite Lise Davidsen—the world’s reigning dramatic soprano—as the power-mad Lady Macbeth, whose ruinous ambition damns them both. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium for a penetrating production by Louisa Proske, a brilliant young director making waves around the world. Rounding out the all-star cast are tenor Freddie De Tommaso as the heroic Macduff and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as Macbeth’s friend-turned-victim Banquo

Following her radiant turn in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette—which garnered raves for “high notes that spun like liquid gold … Sierra touched the operatic firmament” (The New York Times)—superstar soprano Nadine Sierra takes on another alluring French heroine, the irresistible title character of Massenet’s passionate drama. Leading tenor Matthew Polenzani is her idealistic lover, the Chevalier des Grieux, with rising-star baritone Andrzej Filończyk as her stalwart cousin, Lescaut, in a breathtaking Belle Époque staging by director Laurent Pelly.

One of today’s leading dramatic tenors, Brian Jagde takes on the tour-de-force title role of what many consider the ultimate Italian opera, live to cinemas worldwide. Verdi’s monumental Shakespearean tragedy also features soprano Ailyn Pérez in her company role debut as the long-suffering Desdemona, alongside baritone Artur Ruciński as the sinister Iago. Michele Mariotti leads the full forces of the Met Orchestra and Chorus in the exhilarating score.

A profound philosophical meditation on compassion and reconciliation, this transcendent rendering of a medieval knight’s heroic quest for the Holy Grail returns in François Girard’s celebrated production, a “thoughtful and intrepid staging, full of striking imagery” (The New York Times). Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a cast of Wagnerian superstars, including tenor Piotr Beczała in the title role, mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as the enigmatic Kundry, baritone Peter Mattei as the ailing Amfortas, bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as the sorcerer Klingsor, and bass Jongmin Park as the wise Gurnemanz.

Sacred, scandalous, and irresistibly alluring, Saint-Saëns’s spectacular take on the biblical hero of legendary strength and the seductive Philistine whose beauty overpowers him returns in the Met’s larger-than-life production. Featuring a massive orchestra and chorus and some of opera’s most spellbinding tunes, this masterpiece of French grand opera is a feast for the eyes and ears. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts an electrifying cast led by the formidable star pairing of mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina and tenor Clay Hilley.

Following his smash-hit company debut with The Hours, composer Kevin Puts returns to the Met with his Pulitzer Prize–winning first opera, inspired by the true events of the 1914 Christmas truce, when soldiers spontaneously set aside the horrors of the First World War and crossed the trenches to mingle, exchange gifts, and sing carols with the enemy. A poignant depiction of shared humanity in the most inhumane circumstances, Puts’s grand, cinematic opera—with a libretto by Mark Campbell based on the film Joyeux Noël—has been widely acclaimed since its 2011 premiere, hailed as “an overwhelming emotive experience” by The Guardian. Silent Night receives an evocative staging by James Robinson that takes the audience directly to the battlefields of the Western Front. The star-studded cast, featuring soprano Elza van den Heever and tenors Ben Bliss and Rolando Villazón, among many others, is conducted by debuting maestro Dalia Stasevska.

Josh O’Connor (The Crown; Challengers) leads the cast in this searing revival of Clifford Odets’ knockout American classic. 1930s New York, at the height of the Depression. Joe Bonaparte is a gifted young violinist with a future in music, until a chance at fame and fortune lures him into the brutal world of professional boxing. He must confront what he’s willing to sacrifice, who he’s willing to become and how to find his place in a world that demands he choose a side. Brought to life with a live string quartet and filmed live from the Almeida Theatre. Olivier Award-winner Sam Yates (Vanya) directs this propulsive drama exploring ambition, identity, and the high price of success.

Starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, Practical Magic 2 returns to a world steeped in moonlit mischief and powerful ancestral magic, as the Owens sisters must confront the dark curse that threatens to unravel their family once and for all in a must-see cinematic event of fun, magic and mayhem.

In 2006, To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen sets out to make television history.

From Focus Features and Working Title comes an irresistible new take on Jane Austen’s iconic Sense and Sensibility: a charming, witty, and deeply relatable story of love and sisterhood starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles.

SHAUN THE SHEEP: THE BEAST OF MOSSY BOTTOM sees the residents of Mossy Bottom Farm looking forward to Halloween – until the clumsy Farmer trashes the Flock’s beloved pumpkin patch! When Shaun turns MAD SCIENTIST to fix the problem, things rapidly spiral out of control... With The Farmer missing and a wild beast roaming the woods of Mossingham, all the ingredients are in place for a monstrously fun family adventure.

After #MeToo broke the cultural silence on gender violence, survivors swiftly found themselves facing a new kind of silencing and fear as defamation laws became weaponized against women for speaking out. International human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson takes audiences into the courtroom and behind the headlines to reveal how the legal system is used to discredit and re-victimise survivors, with lawsuits designed to emotionally and financially ruin those who dare to speak their truth. Robinson brings unrivalled access to the women and journalists at the centre of high-profile legal battles across the globe. From International Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Selina Miles and Blayke Hoffman, SILENCED is a powerful, emotional and urgent documentary that challenges the devastating flaws maintaining the status quo within the justice system.

The St Kilda Film Festival Regional Tour takes the best of the 2026 festival program on the road! St Kilda Film Festival is Australia's largest and longest-running short film festival. The Festival is an Academy Awards qualifying event, showcasing Australia's emerging cinema. Don’t miss this special encore presentation of 13 of Australia's Top Short Films, selected from this year’s super-sized program. The films are presented across two sessions in the one screening: 'Award Winners', and 'Director's Choice'. There will be a short intermission between sessions and the bar will be open. To explore this years programme, visit: stkildafilmfestival.com.au/2026-films/

Based on true events, “Tenzing” chronicles the little-known story of Tenzing Norgay (Genden Phuntsok), a gifted Himalayan climber who, alongside New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary (Tom Hiddleston), was the first to summit Mount Everest. Encouraged by his wife Dawa (Thinley Lhamo), Tenzing finds an ally in expedition secretary Jill Henderson (Caitríona Balfe). Together, they persuade Colonel John Hunt (Willem Dafoe) that Tenzing belongs on the British climbing team, rather than merely serving it. Where Western climbers see “Everest” as something to be conquered, Tenzing reveres “Chomolungma” as the sacred mother goddess. What follows is an ascent defined as much by the tensions between backgrounds, classes and competing ambitions as by the perils of the mountain itself. But high above the world, empire, rank and aspiration fall away, leaving two outsiders bound by mutual respect and trust — and for Tenzing, the fulfillment of both a lifelong dream and a spiritual calling. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Jennifer Peedom, “Tenzing” is a story of greatness that refuses to be diminished — and the love that makes it possible.

Join us for a special screening featuring an exclusive pre-recorded Q&A with director John Wilson, in conversation with comedian and film critic Alexei Toliopoulos. Following its sold-out screenings at MIFF, this is an event not to be missed! Only three sessions will be available, and no encore screenings will be added—so book early to avoid missing out. A filmmaker applies lessons from a Hallmark movie writing workshop to pitch a documentary about concrete.

When Samuel (Hawke) is torn from his daughter and sent to a brutal prison, Warden Clancy (Crowe) offers a high-stakes proposition: smuggle gold out of a remote mine with a dangerous crew of prisoners and he’ll win his freedom. But as the group journeys into the unforgiving wilderness, the real threat isn’t the terrain - it’s the betrayal and violence festering within their ranks. Surrounded by greed, suspicion, and danger, Samuel must risk everything to reunite with his child.

A 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain travels to Provincetown and stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that will shape the course of his life.

On the outskirts of a village by the sea, lives a Fisherwoman; smelly, single and perpetually ridiculed. One day, fed up with her stuffy, small-minded neighbors, she commissions herself a husband to be made from wicker. In an otherwise conservative town, this unconventional romance sparks outrage, jealousy and chaos.

Shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup, CIA agents Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) are dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island by their bureau chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi). Amongst the Island's iconic statues, and as the longtime partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies, Chris's newfound bond with a pair of rebellious students (Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas) threatens to send everyone’s trip to this remote paradise sideways.