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Snaffling hot titles from the fall showcases is one of the core strengths of Adelaide Film Festival’s placement later in the year. Taking place from 15 to 26 October, this year’s festival opens with a coup: the team have nabbed the Australian premiere of The Banshees of Inisherin director Martin McDonagh’s darkly comic CIA thrillerWild Horse Nine, direct from Venice.
The festival will also screen Polish-born, Sydney-based filmmaker Kuba Dorabialski’s Mia Wasikowska-led Agata the Writer straight from the city of canals, before wrapping with the world premiere of Australian documentary Hell Has No Fire Escape.
With so much on offer – 122 films from 52 countries – scheduling AFF can be overwhelming, so here are our 10 top picks to ease the way.
ScreenHub: Adelaide Film Festival’s opening night and award for Leah Purcell
Adelaide Film Festival 2026 – quick links
Djinn Wedding
One of the most visually arresting films you’ll see all year, Brother’s Keeper director Ferit Karahan’s latest emotional whirlwind heads to AFF direct from the Toronto International Film Festival.
An epic Anatolian saga, it details the fracturing bonds between four siblings who used to hunt for imaginary dinosaurs as kids, but now are barely speaking as they assemble for an unruly wedding, captured in a stunning one-shot by cinematographer Serdar Özdemir.
Bukal Bukal
The late, impossibly great Rhoda Roberts, a Bundjalung woman who towered over the arts in Australia, co-directed this empowering documentary alongside Pauline Clague.
It traces the efforts of Yindji activist and Elder Henrietta Marrie as she attempts to retrieve her great-grandfather’s Shell Regalia from the notoriously hoarding British Museum in London in a David-and-Goliath battle against colonialism’s long shadow. It screens as part of AFF’s (Port) Adelaide Film Festival line-up by the sea.
Lovers in the Blue Night
Making its way to AFF via Venice, Indian director Anuparna Roy’s lilting drama was nominated for the Queer Lion and the Horizons Award, winning the Netpac Award for Best Asian Film.
Set in teeming Mumbai as a storm blows in, it follows the fate of four migrants: Karim, a closeted gay man in a marriage of convenience with bar worker Ameena, along with Sukka, a petty crook hoping to rise above his caste, and Omran, the pimp Ameena thinks is her secret admirer.
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Briefly dating Madonna, besties with Keith Haring and mentored by Andy Warhol, street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat graduated from graffiti to New York City’s ritziest galleries. Burning bright before being lost way too soon, his work is now among the most sought-after in the world. This soulful documentary from Viridiana Lieberman and Quinn Wilson strips back the myth to reveal the man behind it.
River
Anyone who has ever lost a parent unexpectedly will feel the deep well bubbling up in Sunflower producer Zane Borg’s sophomore feature. Dedicated to the memory of his mum, it casts Mia Barrett as the titular character, who’s unmoored by her grief. The 16-year-old connects with Mad Rush and My Brilliant Career actor William McKenna’s emo, Marcus, in this affecting drama that also features The Pitt star Shabana Azeez and Mr Inbetween’s Justin Rosniak.
All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea
Award-winning UK documentary filmmaker Jeanie Finlay has delivered intimate portraits on everything from a trans man giving birth, in Seahorse, to attitudes towards weight, in Your Fat Friend, and a behind-the-scenes look at the final season of Game of Thrones. All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea follows northern English fisherman Stan Rennie as he becomes an unexpected activist when poisoned crabs and lobsters wash ashore, determined to find answers to prevent his industry from dying.
Future Tense
If you like your dystopias with a side order of time travel, South African filmmaker Jenna Cato Bass’ sci-fi gold leaps to AFF from Toronto International Film Festival.
With our world teetering on the brink, the privileged escape to the past to holiday in clean air. Decidedly un-rich Cape Town resident Lwando (Lawrence Maleka) wins a prize to do the same, heading back to 1647 with his girlfriend Tara (Kristen Raath). But he has ulterior motives in this ode to fighting the future by righting the past.
The Balkan Cowboy
Dublin-based artist Dragana Jurišić’s family fled the genocidal forces of General Ratko Mladić in the wake of Yugoslavia’s dissolution. Her remarkable, form-upending documentary sees her return to her hometown to shoot a cowboy movie in the style of photographer Hari Džekson’s homemade efforts, in turn inspired by George Stevens’ Shane. Casting locals from all backgrounds, their auditions open a path to healing in this Sarajevo Film Festival gem.
Donkey Princess
Chilean filmmakers Cristobal León and Joaquín Cociña (The Wolf House) spin a tantalisingly tall tale with this dimension-hopping fable. Princess Diana (Ema actor Antonia Giesen) is forbidden to love by her bruised-hearted widower father, the king, but she can’t help falling for Lalo (Andrew Bargsted). When he’s banished from their realm, Diana pops on a magical bracelet to search for him across warping realities in this part-animated delight that premiered at Locarno.
Aftermath
In times of great trauma, our relationship with the truth can splinter. Wendy Scurr worked at the Port Arthur Historic Site, saving countless lives on that terrible day in April 1996. When she and her colleagues were left without proper support, and with the Tasmanian Government’s refusal to open a public enquiry, conspiracy theories swirled.
Filmmaker Jared Nicholson, co-directing with Hearts and Bones helmer Ben Lawrence, finds his own old wounds opening in this warts-and-all look at the aftermath of Australia’s worst mass shooting.
