The Sydney Underground Film Festival is set to return to the Factory Theatre from 10 to 13 September, marking the annual event’s 20th anniversary. As announced, it’s set to be one of the biggest festivals yet, with a ‘record-breaking’ number of film submissions featured across its program.
The focus here is on elevating bold and eclectic films and documentaries. Per the SUFF team, this year’s films all ‘stretch the status quo’ while ‘exploring the margins of cinematic expression and proving no end of creativity is undeserving of its time in the spotlight’.
Sydney Underground Film Festival 2026 – quick links
Sydney Underground Film Festival spotlights the ‘most creative’
Organisers say the 2026 program has been curated to spotlight films at their ‘most creative’. Opening night will begin with documentary Tura!, based on the story of Tura Satana, an icon of burlesque and cult films, and the festival will close with revenge thriller The Furious, described an ‘electrifying martial arts spectacle’ with practical stunt work and ‘breathtaking choreography’.
During its run, the festival will also feature the world premiere of several Australian films, including Branden Wittchen’s Meat Daddy, about a weekend meeting future in-laws that ‘soon unravels into a surreal nightmare’, Andrew Leavold’s The Taller They Come, a ‘a wildly entertaining descent into filmmaking madness’, and acclaimed director Gillian Armstrong’s 1982 film Starstruck.
‘It’s hard to believe we’ve made it to festival number 20,’ Katherine Berger, Festival Co-Director says. ‘We’ve always backed bold, strange and independent voices, and this year feels like the perfect chance to celebrate everything SUFF has become.’
Highlights from the 2026 Sydney Underground Film Festival
Here are all the major highlights from the Sydney Underground Film Festival:
- Tura! (directed by Cody Jarrett) – ‘Tura! looks beyond Satana’s unforgettable performance as Varla in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! to reveal the remarkable woman behind one of exploitation cinema’s most enduring legends. Tura! is a wildly entertaining documentary about a woman who refused to play by anyone else’s rules.’
- The Furious (directed by Kenji Tanigaki) – ‘The Furious is a jaw-dropping martial arts thrill ride from legendary stunt coordinator-turned-director Kenji Tanigaki, bringing together an all-star line-up of action icons including Joe Taslim (The Raid), Yayan Ruhian (The Raid), Moe Tse (The Enforcer), Brian Le (Everything Everywhere All at Once) and Jeeja Yanin (Chocolate).’
- The Velocipastor 2 (directed by Jesse Gouldsbury) – ‘Doug and Carol head to Milan to investigate a string of grisly murders at an Italian fertility festival, where a masked sex maniac is carving through victims with alarming enthusiasm. Throw in Soviet spies, Interpol, questionable theology, gallons of gore, and the welcome return of that inflatable dinosaur suit, and you’ve barely scratched the surface.’
- Starstruck (directed by Gillian Armstrong) – ‘Starstruck is one of the most eccentric films of the Australian New Wave, capturing a side of Sydney unlike anything else from the era. Working behind the bar in her family’s crumbling pub beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Jackie dreams of becoming a pop star.’
- Jump Scare (directed by Donnie Hobbie) – ‘An all-female metal band retreats to a remote desert cabin to write their next album, only to find themselves fighting for survival when a family of flesh-hungry cannibals crashes the session.’
- Godhead (directed by Mark H Rapaport) – ‘When a baby is abandoned on the steps of a remote church, a reclusive priest raises him as his own. Years later, two mysterious twins arrive at his door claiming that one of them is the physical embodiment of the Holy Ghost.’
- Assets & Liabilities (directed by Zach Weintraub) – ‘Assets & Liabilities is a suburban slacker comedy that follows Zach, a father dreading middle age as he juggles work, family life, and the looming sale of an investment property. When his wife and daughter head away for the weekend, he sees an opportunity to reconnect with his younger, less responsible self.’
The program also includes short films and other festival activities.
