Special filmmaker Q&A event! Beyond Borders Patagonia is an exploration of Chile’s wild frontiers. A journey rooted in Chilean culture, perfect waves, snow-capped peaks and barren deserts. The film follows surfer and filmmaker Jed Fasso alongside a close-knit crew of cinematographers, surfers and snowboarders as they push deep into Patagonia. All chasing a shared dream: to discover a new wave and a hidden mountain in the Andes. With no blueprint and no guarantee of outcome, the journey is a testament to wild adventure, and a reminder that stepping into the unknown can unlock an incredible world of stories, challenges, and a deeper sense of who we are.

Rock icon Marianne Faithfull's six-decade journey through music, fame and reinvention unfolds in an intimate documentary, blending reality and imagination as she makes her final artistic statement.

A babes in arms session for parents wishing to attend films. Open to the general public as well. Brought together by the unexpected inheritance of an abandoned house in rural Normandy, four cousins discover they share a mysterious family history. In 1895, their ancestor Adèle, then aged 21, leaves her hometown to search for her mother in Paris. She discovers a city on the cusp of modernity, bustling with new-found avant-garde creativity, with the rise of photography and the birth of Impressionist painting. As her descendants retrace her steps, they unravel Adèle’s surprising past. The two timelines of 1895 and 2024 intertwine and collide, confronting the cousins’ contemporary attitudes with life in late 19th century Paris, leaving everyone’s future forever changed.

Brought together by the unexpected inheritance of an abandoned house in rural Normandy, four cousins discover they share a mysterious family history. In 1895, their ancestor Adèle, then aged 21, leaves her hometown to search for her mother in Paris. She discovers a city on the cusp of modernity, bustling with new-found avant-garde creativity, with the rise of photography and the birth of Impressionist painting. As her descendants retrace her steps, they unravel Adèle’s surprising past. The two timelines of 1895 and 2024 intertwine and collide, confronting the cousins’ contemporary attitudes with life in late 19th century Paris, leaving everyone’s future forever changed.

To celebrate the opening of the French Impressionist exhibition Discovering the Impressionists, The Piv has partnered with Geelong Gallery to offer Friends of the Gallery exclusive $10 tickets—available today only. To access this special offer, find your discount code in your Friends of the Gallery email or on the Geelong Gallery website, and enter the code at checkout. Regular-priced tickets remain available for all sessions. Brought together by the unexpected inheritance of an abandoned house in rural Normandy, four cousins discover they share a mysterious family history. In 1895, their ancestor Adèle, then aged 21, leaves her hometown to search for her mother in Paris. She discovers a city on the cusp of modernity, bustling with new-found avant-garde creativity, with the rise of photography and the birth of Impressionist painting. As her descendants retrace her steps, they unravel Adèle’s surprising past. The two timelines of 1895 and 2024 intertwine and collide, confronting the cousins’ contemporary attitudes with life in late 19th century Paris, leaving everyone’s future forever changed.

When Helen's beloved father passes away, she is overtaken by grief and loses herself in memories of their time birding and exploring the natural world together. She becomes obsessed with the idea of training her own goshawk, and so she brings the fearsome bird Mabel home to Cambridge with her. Ready to embark on the arduous process of trying to train the wildest of animals, Helen fills the freezer with hawk food and turns off her phone. But as she labors to teach Mabel how to hunt and fly free on her own, Helen uncovers how neglected her own emotions and life have become. Based on a true story and a memoir of the same name, H IS FOR HAWK is a soaring journey of the connection between people and nature, and how it might be possible to reconcile loss through love.

In 1970s New Zealand, young Brian is devastated by the loss of his mother and determined to stop his dad from marrying the woman he sees as her replacement. Convinced he can reach his mother through prayer and penance, Brian finds refuge at a run-down convent with three delightfully eccentric elderly nuns. But when he overhears plans to shut the convent down and split the sisters apart, sending the most vulnerable to a terrifying institution, Brian sparks an unlikely mission: escape to the Southern Alps to find a former nun-turned-lawyer who might just save them all. For Brian, it’s more than a legal battle—he believes this is the miracle he’s been praying for, a chance to reunite with his mother atop the sacred mountain, Aoraki. What follows is a wild, hilarious, and heartwarming road trip as a boy and three nuns face down their fears, outwit crooked officials, lose a sister to fishmongers, and even cash a bet shop win, all while racing against time to save their beloved convent. With its soul firmly planted in faith, family, and fierce loyalty, Holy Days is a joyful comedy packed with heart, humour, and high-speed hijinks. It’s a story about letting go, holding on, and finding home in the most unexpected places.

Join us for a special preview screening of HOLY DAYS, prior to the national theatrical release. In 1970s New Zealand, young Brian is devastated by the loss of his mother and determined to stop his dad from marrying the woman he sees as her replacement. Convinced he can reach his mother through prayer and penance, Brian finds refuge at a run-down convent with three delightfully eccentric elderly nuns. But when he overhears plans to shut the convent down and split the sisters apart, sending the most vulnerable to a terrifying institution, Brian sparks an unlikely mission: escape to the Southern Alps to find a former nun-turned-lawyer who might just save them all. For Brian, it’s more than a legal battle—he believes this is the miracle he’s been praying for, a chance to reunite with his mother atop the sacred mountain, Aoraki. What follows is a wild, hilarious, and heartwarming road trip as a boy and three nuns face down their fears, outwit crooked officials, lose a sister to fishmongers, and even cash a bet shop win, all while racing against time to save their beloved convent. With its soul firmly planted in faith, family, and fierce loyalty, Holy Days is a joyful comedy packed with heart, humour, and high-speed hijinks. It’s a story about letting go, holding on, and finding home in the most unexpected places.

So nice we get to play it twice! Join us for an encore screening after the hugely successful sold-out Q&A. A group of students and teachers from The Delhi College of Linguistics hit the road to discover Australia and gain first-hand experience of its authentic language and culture. When their plane is diverted to the country town of Dubbo due to storms, and their tour-leader is detained by customs, the hapless bunch unearth the 'real' Australia while never making it to Sydney, Melbourne...or even Brisbane.

In this tender, intimate and humorous feature documentary, award-winning film-maker Trevor Graham joins acclaimed Sydney artist, and Archibald Prize finalist, Digby Webster to tell a love story for our times. Digby and his girlfriend, trainee chef Camille Collins, have been smitten ever since they first met eight years ago in a Sydney pub. Both live with Down syndrome and Digby is painting the story of their relationship. Now in their late 30s the couple want to marry. But their devoted parents are resistant to their dreams of wedded bliss. Frustrated, the dynamic duo are forced to confront difficult truths about family, love, life and human limitations.

MIFF and the AFL, supported by VicScreen, present five short documentaries centred on Australia’s game. A group of young Chinese Australian footballers come together; the first openly queer ex-AFL player steps back onto the field; a community fights for the safety and dignity of its children; a former AFLW player traces a path from her heroes to the new generation of African Australian stars; and cheer squad members prepare to face a club they haven’t beaten in a decade. Films in this package: Carn the Chinese! (dir. Angela How), For the Boys (dir. Mitchell Withers), Invincible Spirit (dir. Mark Thomson, David Callow), KURA: An African AFL Story (dir. Akec Makur Chuot, Meg Duncan) and North Melbourne Cheer Squad (dir. Jasper Caverly, Andrew Goode).

A chicken crosses the road and discovers adventure on the other side in this offbeat, moving and utterly unique bird’s-eye view on the suffering of the world. A poultry transport driver steals a factory-farmed hen, planning to put her in a tasty soup. When he stops his truck at a servo, she escapes, evading a hungry fox and braving a busy highway before getting cooped up in a run-down seaside restaurant. All she wants is to find a safe nest to brood her own chicks – but as she repeatedly strives to find out what becomes of her eggs, she encounters a world in which hens aren’t the only creatures to be exploited. Fans of animal-centred dramas like Andrea Arnold’s Cow (MIFF 2021) and Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO (MIFF 2022) – or even the Oscar-winning animation Flow (MIFF 2024) – will adore this feathery fancy from György Pálfi (Taxidermia, MIFF 2006). Filmed vividly at chook’s-eye level, its allegory is compelling but never didactic, witty without being gimmicky. There are no animatronics or CGI – just thrilling action and set pieces that need to be seen to be believed, along with the genuine emotion that the inimitable Hungarian auteur draws from an all-star flock of trained birds.

Take a 30-year journey with the beloved Australian alternative rock band, from humble beginnings to the harder aspects of growing up. Perth alt rockers Jebediah were a breed apart in the halcyon days of the late-90s and early-2000s Australian indie music scene. In stark contrast to the often volatile and soon-to-splinter groups they toured with, the easygoing quartet – lead singer Kevin Mitchell (aka Bob Evans), his drummer brother Brett, bassist Ness Thornton and lead guitarist Chris Daymond – stuck fast to one another. Commanding national attention on triple j and soon channelling the cred of multiple studio albums into their own record label, Jebediah seemed like quintessential industry survivors. But as the band entered its third decade, the freewheeling lifestyle of their youth had begun to cast a shadow. With recreation shifting to addiction and connections fraying, will these lifelong friends and creative partners find a way to keep the music alive? Built from a wealth of archival and home-movie footage ranging from the band’s humble high school beginnings through to the current day, as well as firsthand perspectives from local music icons such as Tim Rogers, Phil Jamieson and Janet English, Arlo Dean Cook’s MIFF Premiere Fund–supported documentary is a rocking roller-coaster ride and a candid cautionary tale about the price of fame.

A filmmaker’s approach to chemistry experiments produces dazzlingly psychedelic results in this spectacular, scientifically illuminating Australian debut. When thinking about the world’s natural wonders, it’s likely the big stuff – the mountains, the canyons, the oceans – that first spring to mind. But what about those things you can’t see, such as light, gravity and quantum energy? Using a high-powered camera and absolutely no AI, Melbourne-based filmmaker Josef Gatti makes brilliantly manifest those intangible building blocks of our universe. Across 10 chapters, each dedicated to a single scientific concept, kaleidoscopic Petri dish displays are augmented by tracks from Nils Frahm and British electronic musician Rival Consoles. It’s nature, but like you’ve never seen it before.

Sandra Hüller’s knockout, Silver Bear–winning performance anchors this tragic folktale about a woman who poses as a male soldier in 17th-century Germany. When thinking about the world’s natural wonders, it’s likely the big stuff – the mountains, the canyons, the oceans – that first spring to mind. But what about those things you can’t see, such as light, gravity and quantum energy? Using a high-powered camera and absolutely no AI, Melbourne-based filmmaker Josef Gatti makes brilliantly manifest those intangible building blocks of our universe. Across 10 chapters, each dedicated to a single scientific concept, kaleidoscopic Petri dish displays are augmented by tracks from Nils Frahm and British electronic musician Rival Consoles. It’s nature, but like you’ve never seen it before. Beginning its life a decade ago as a series of shorts, Phenomena takes mesmerising final form as a full-length feature: a masterful melding of art and science that has toured documentary film festivals around the world. Gatti’s articulate and charming voiceover narration – crafted with the assistance of his father, a physics teacher – offers a mind-blowing, singular journey into the hidden world around us. This is the high school science lesson you’ve always wished you had.

A Cornish seaside town mysteriously returns to life in analog auteur Mark Jenkin’s lo-fi sci-fi meditation on memory starring George MacKay and Callum Turner. Thirty years ago, fishing trawler the Rose of Nevada vanished off the coast of Cornwall, taking its crew with it. Their village has been in decline ever since. When the boat suddenly reappears out of the fog one day, many townsfolk regard it as a good omen. A new crew is hired and heads out to sea. After a few days, they return with a full catch … but their home isn’t quite as they remember it.

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 true story of one of the world’s richest men and one of the 21st-century art world’s greatest frauds. Or is it? Unfolding like a Hollywood thriller, The Oligarch and the Art Dealer unpacks with exquisite precision all the shady details of the Bouvier Affair: a high-profile court case between Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev, the notoriously private owner of the world’s most expensive art collection, and his former trusted art dealer and friend Yves Bouvier, a maestro of freeports – duty-free tax havens-cum-storage lockers for the ultra-wealthy’s Picassos, da Vincis, Klimts and Magrittes. It’s a case that shocked the world, not least because it forced Rybolovlev – a man without a phone number, email address or computer – into the open and shone a spotlight on the clandestine dealings and deliberate secrets of the global elite.

Join us for the Opening Night of MIFF 2026 with this hilarious comedy starring two of our all-time favourite actors. 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. In a seaside village lost to time, a fisherwoman delivers the food relied on by the townsfolk, who barely tolerate her cantankerous presence. Unexpectedly named the next to wed and sick of the disdain, she commissions the local basketmaker to weave her the perfect husband, and he goes above and beyond. When you’re married to the hottest and handiest man around, however, jealousies inevitably flare up. Adapting Ursula Wills-Jones’s 2008 short story, this Sundance-premiering twist on a period love story – directed by Australian-born Eleanor Wilson and filmmaking (as well as real-life) partner Alex Huston Fischer, and including MIFF Accelerator alum David Michôd among its producers – is at once ingenious and charmingly irreverent. But it’s no straw-man depiction of middle-aged sexual wish fulfilment: the film uses its whimsical premise to critique small-mindedness, superstition and overzealous conservatism. Olivia Colman goes all-in for a role that recalls her fiery turn in The Favourite, while Alexander Skarsgård (Lee, MIFF 2024) is magnetic as a creature with more humanity than his human counterparts – testament to the practical effects by Joe Dunckley (Avatar) and WETA Workshop. Capped off with transportive cinematography by Oscar winner Lol Crawley (The Brutalist) and counting Peter Dinklage (The Toxic Avenger, MIFF 2025), Richard E. Grant and Melbourne’s own Elizabeth Debicki (The Tale, MIFF 2018) among its cast, Wicker is a fantasy romance that asks whether we truly know our heart’s desire.

This screening might host a surprise filmmaker Q&A! In this award-winning Australian indie comedy, an unsuccessful writer, stuck living the same day on repeat on a subantarctic island, must find another unwitting victim to take his place. Amos, a failed novelist with a failed marriage, arrives on a remote southern island in full midlife-crisis mode. But his escape soon becomes a prison: he discovers he’s trapped infinitely reliving the same day, complete with the same dead birds, weird board games, tinned spaghetti and unexplained murders. The only way to get off this hamster wheel is to trick someone else into replacing you, and Amos’s estranged ex-wife, Gemma, seems like the perfect candidate – but her arrival complicates things, and Amos is forced to confront his past. Having landed a veritable alphabet of international film festival prizes – an Audience Award at Austin, Critics’ Prize at Brussels and Best Feature at Cleveland – Yesterday Island is a true crowdpleaser, a small-budget but exceptionally shot achievement in inventive worldbuilding. It also functions as a blackly funny parable about moral responsibility, evoking Greek myth to put its own unique spin on classic time-loop films like Groundhog Day, Palm Springs and One More Shot (MIFF 2025). Boosted by a game cast including acclaimed stand-up Ivan Aristeguieta, up-and-coming comic performer Florence Noble, and veteran character actors David Fane (Eagle vs Shark, MIFF 2007) and Francis Greenslade, Yesterday Island is a film you’ll want to revisit over and over again.

In “Moana,” Disney’s live action reimagining of the beloved Oscar®-nominated animated adventure, Moana (Catherine Lagaʻaia) answers the Ocean’s call and, for the first time, voyages beyond the reef of her island of Motunui with the infamous demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) on an unforgettable journey to restore prosperity to her people. The film is directed by Emmy® and Tony Award® winner Thomas Kail (“Hamilton”); produced by Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Beau Flynn, Hiram Garcia and Lin-Manuel Miranda; and executive produced by Kail, Scott Sheldon, Charles Newirth and Auliʻi Cravalho, who voiced Moana in the animated films “Moana” and “Moana 2.” “Moana” features original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foaʻi and Mark Mancina, and an original score composed by Mancina. Audiences can experience the brilliant cinematic sights, sounds and songs of “Moana” exclusively in cinemas on July 8, 2026.

BAFTA Award-winner Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) joins Aidan Turner (Rivals) in a striking new staging of Christopher Hampton’s celebrated adaptation of the classic novel, where among the glittering salons of the super-rich, one misstep can mean ruin. Marquise de Merteuil is a master in the art of survival. Alongside the magnetic Vicomte de Valmont, they turn seduction into strategy and weaponise desire. But when their alliance collapses into rivalry, the battle between them threatens to destroy everyone in their path. Filmed live on stage at the National Theatre, Marianne Elliott (Angels in America) directs this thrilling game of love, lies, and social warfare.

Award-winner Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) plays the title role in this razor-sharp reimagining of Molière’s classic dark comedy. Telling the truth isn’t always that simple. Alice, a brilliant novelist, despises the carefully constructed lies of modern society. But the more she challenges those around her, the fiercer the backlash becomes. Soon, she must confront the price of speaking her truth in a world that would rather silence her. Filmed live on stage at the National Theatre, Indhu Rubasingham directs Martin Crimp’s (Cyrano de Bergerac) highly anticipated play.

In 18th century Venice, 20-year-old violin virtuoso Cecilia lives at the Pièta orphanage, where, despite her talent, she remains confined, knowing that marriage is the only way out. Yet, her life takes a turn after she meets Antonio Vivaldi, a brilliant and ambitious composer who becomes the new violin teacher. Guided by Vivaldi and his music, Cecilia finds the strength to challenge the destiny that once seemed inevitable.

Join us for a one time only filmmaker Q&A! After a drug-fuelled car crash, ex-private schoolboys Ayden and Jesse escape into the Melbourne CBD and are plunged into a night of unbridled debauchery and rapidly escalating violence.

This music-packed documentary tells the story of Pene Pati and his brother Amitai Pati, and their against-the-odds journey from Samoa to platinum-selling success in the trio Sol3 Mio and on to the world’s greatest opera stages. Bursting with humour, heart and soaring performances, the film reveals the resilience born of adversity, the richness of family and culture, and the rewards that come from following an unlikely dream.

To celebrate their joint thirtieth birthday, lapsed high-school besties Clare, Angie and Isabel organise a luxury weekend away at the six-star Lothian Gate farmstay with their partners in tow. While the women share a nostalgic bond, the men are strangers, and the simmering social machinations test the couples' loyalty. Meanwhile, across the perfectly manicured grounds, the fraught relationship between the farmstay's conflicted caretaker Felix and his partner Sapphire threatens to derail the weekend.

Join us for a special one-off Q&A with filmmaker James Robert Woods! Not to be missed! To celebrate their joint thirtieth birthday, lapsed high-school besties Clare, Angie and Isabel organise a luxury weekend away at the six-star Lothian Gate farmstay with their partners in tow. While the women share a nostalgic bond, the men are strangers, and the simmering social machinations test the couples' loyalty. Meanwhile, across the perfectly manicured grounds, the fraught relationship between the farmstay's conflicted caretaker Felix and his partner Sapphire threatens to derail the weekend.

The children of a once famous artist (Ian McKellen) hire a forger (Michaela Coel) to complete some unfinished, long ago abandoned canvases so they’ll have an inheritance when he dies.

Almost twenty years after making their iconic turns as Miranda, Andy, Emily and Nigel—Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci return to the fashionable streets of New York City and the sleek offices of Runway Magazine in the eagerly awaited sequel to the 2006 phenomenon that defined a generation. The film reunites the original main cast with director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna, and introduces an all-new runway of characters including Kenneth Branagh, Simone Ashley, Justin Theroux, Lucy Liu, Patrick Brammall, Caleb Hearon, Helen J. Shen, Pauline Chalamet, B.J. Novak and Conrad Ricamora. Tracie Thoms and Tibor Feldman also reprise their roles as “Lily” and “Irv” from the first film. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is produced by Wendy Finerman, and executive produced by Michael Bederman, Karen Rosenfelt and McKenna. The film debuts exclusively in cinemas April 30, 2026.

A middle-aged couple who are feeling stagnant in their relationship invite the younger and livelier couple from the apartment upstairs for a get-together that takes an unexpected turn.

Two old friends are walking 600 kilometers through the Scottish highlands, to reconnect with each other, with nature and with parts of themselves they have lost.

Christopher Nolan’s next film, The Odyssey, is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX® film technology. The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX® film screens for the first time and opens in cinemas everywhere on July 16, 2026. The Odyssey stars Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson and Lupita Nyong’o, with Zendaya and Charlize Theron. The Odyssey is produced by Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan for their company, Syncopy. The executive producer is Thomas Hayslip.

The toys are back and this time, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang's jobs are challenged when they come face-to-face with Lilypad (voice of Greta Lee), a brand-new tablet device that arrives with her own disruptive ideas about what is best for their kid, Bonnie. Will playtime ever be the same?

A gifted piano tuner’s meticulous skills for tuning pianos lead him to discover an unexpected aptitude for cracking safes, turning his life upside down.

Back due to popular demand! This is an encore screening after the SOLD OUT filmmaker Q&A. There will be no Q&A after the film and tix are at regular prices. Ten years ago Muzafar Ali and his wife Nagina escaped the Taliban in Afghanistan and found themselves living in Indonesia as refugees when Australia ‘stopped the boats’. Determined to do something, they started a small two room school, which soon became the hub of a community, and the most successful refugee-led initiative in the world. We Are Not Powerless tells the story of what can happen when a community refuses to give in and work together for hope, love, and education.

Back by popular demand! Sure to sell out! Join us for a Q&A screening with people involved in the journey of We Are Not Powerless. Ten years ago Muzafar Ali and his wife Nagina escaped the Taliban in Afghanistan and found themselves living in Indonesia as refugees when Australia ‘stopped the boats’. Determined to do something, they started a small two room school, which soon became the hub of a community, and the most successful refugee-led initiative in the world. We Are Not Powerless tells the story of what can happen when a community refuses to give in and work together for hope, love, and education.