MIFF 2025 is here at last: the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has dropped its 2025 First Glance lineup, teasing cinephiles with an ambitious spread of world premieres, Australian debuts, and special events ahead of its 73rd edition.
This year’s festival runs from 7–24 August across Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Among the international heavy-hitters is It Was Just An Accident, the latest from acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, which took out the Palme d’Or at Cannes earlier this year. Described as a razor-edged revenge thriller forged from real prison stories, it’s a defiant return for the director following years of censorship and travel bans.
Jump to the list of films at MIFF 2025
Other global standouts include A24’s Sundance breakout Sorry, Baby, written by and starring Eva Victor; Blue Moon, Richard Linklater’s stylish chamber drama featuring Ethan Hawke as lyricist Lorenz Hart; and Twinless, a queer dark comedy anchored by a double performance from Dylan O’Brien that earned accolades at Sundance.
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Closer to home, the MIFF Premiere Fund backs seven new Australian productions, showcasing a vibrant range of local voices. These include One More Shot, a Y2K-era time-loop comedy by Nicholas Clifford featuring Emily Browning and Aisha Dee; First Light, a visually lush debut by Filipino-Australian artist James J. Robinson; and Pasa Faho, a heartfelt portrait of African-Australian suburban life from Kalu Oji.
In documentaries, Sue Thomson’s Careless explores ageing on one’s own terms; Lorin Clarke presents an intimate portrait of her legendary father in Not Only Fred Dagg But Also John Clarke; and Spreadsheet Champions offers a surprisingly high-stakes glimpse into teenage Excel competitions.
MIFF will once again lean into its live and immersive programming. LA musician Julia Holter will perform a live score to Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent classic The Passion of Joan of Arc across two nights at the Melbourne Recital Centre, while a VR installation titled When the World Came Flooding In will explore shared trauma from natural disasters.
The digital arm of the festival returns with MIFF Online (15–31 August), featuring selected titles and free shorts via ACMI’s Cinema 3 platform. MIFF Regional will tour festival favourites to towns including Bendigo, Shepparton, Castlemaine, and Rosebud across two weekends in August, supported by VicScreen.
The prestigious MIFF Awards are back on 23 August, with the $140,000 Bright Horizons Award up for grabs. Final competition lineups and juries will be revealed later in July, following the full program launch on 10 July.
Tickets to Julia Holter: The Passion of Joan of Arc are on sale now via the Melbourne Recital Centre. MIFF Member pre-sales for all other titles open 10 July, with general sales from 15 July.
Full list of MIFF 2025 films announced so far:
MIFF Premiere Fund:
- Careless
- First Light
- Iron Winter
- Not Only Fred Dagg But Also John Clarke
- One More Shot
- Pasa Faho
- Spreadsheet Champions
Special Events & XR
- Julia Holter: The Passion of Joan of Arc
- The World Came Flooding In
Australian and International
- Blue Moon
- Cloud
- Come See Me in the Good Light
- Dreams
- Fwends
- Harvest
- It Was Just An Accident
- Journey Home, David Gulpilil
- Lurker
- Marlon Williams: Two Worlds – Ngā Ao E Rua
- Maya, Give Me a Title
- My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow
- Reflection in a Dead Diamond
- Sorry, Baby
- The Ballad of Wallis Island
- The Baltimorons
- Twinless
MIFF 2025 takes place across Melbourne and Victoria from 7-24 August 2025. Visit the MIFF 2025 website for more information.
