South by Southwest Sydney (SXSW Sydney) has announced its full 2025 Screen Festival program, with more than 100 feature films, five world premieres, and 39 Australian premieres in just seven days.
With a lineup spanning genre-bending thrillers, intimate dramas, live events and industry-defining premieres, this year’s festival promises to once again cement Sydney as the Asia-Pacific hub for daring, risk-taking cinema.
Leading the charge is Opening Night film Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, starring Jeremy Allen White, which sets the tone for a program committed to bold storytelling. Headliner titles fresh from the global festival circuit include Bugonia, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Die My Love, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, and Blumhouse’s Black Phone 2.
Festival Director Jordan Bastian says the 2025 selection reflects SXSW Sydney’s ethos of embracing creative risk. ‘We are not here for safe choices or predictable cinema,’ Bastian explains. ‘We want films that linger, stories that stay with you long after the credits roll.
‘SXSW Sydney is about falling in love with cinema all over again.’
SXSW Sydney Screen Festival: quick links
SXSW Sydney: spotlight on international premieres
Among the Featured Sessions are Japanese thriller Exit 8, adapted from Kotake Create’s viral game; The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, winner of the Cannes Un Certain Regard Prize; and Peter Hujar’s Day, a new collaboration between actor Ben Whishaw and director Ira Sachs.
Australian audiences will also see the local premieres of Paramount Pictures’ Primate, starring Oscar-winner Troy Kotsur; Omar Rodríguez-López’s Luna Rose; and F*ck My Son!, adapted from Johnny Ryan’s notorious underground comic.
SXSW Sydney: showcase films and local voices
The Showcase selection offers major international names and standout Australian work. Highlights include The Ice Tower with Marion Cotillard, Steve Buscemi in dark comedy Psycho Therapy, Amanda Kramer’s body-swap satire By Design featuring Juliette Lewis and Melanie Griffith, and Pete Ohs’ surreal The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick.
Locally, debut director Miley Tunnecliffe presents Proclivitas, while The Great Entertainer – produced in collaboration with the Foxtel Group – celebrates the late Brian Walsh, with its world premiere at the Ritz on 16 October. A pre-screening in-conversation will feature Rudi McGregor, Bernadette Cooper, Lana Greenhalgh and Matt Shirvington, moderated by Deborah Hutton OAM.
SXSW Sydney: episodic, shorts and live events
Television also takes centre stage, with Jungle Entertainment presenting a preview of Stan Original series He Had It Coming, followed by a Q&A with creator Gretel Vella. Other episodic highlights include Mattie Do’s horror The Sleeping Beauty, Moorhead and Benson’s Jacques the Giant Slayer, and Nuhash Humayun’s Dui Shaw.
The shorts program expands in 2025 to spotlight television pilots, horror anthologies and new work from emerging Australian voices, including First Nations filmmakers. Key titles include Charlie Kaufman’s How to Shoot a Ghost starring Jessie Buckley, BAFTA-nominated Stomach Bug, and Chasing the Party produced by Sam Rockwell. Several shorts will also screen for free as part of SXSW Sydney Unlocked at Tumbalong Park.
Music video culture also has a home at SXSW Sydney, with screenings of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s Grow Wings and Fly, Emily Wurramara’s Lordy Lordy, and Gut Health’s Cool Moderator, among others.
On stage, Alexei Toliopoulos and Gen Fricker will host a live script read of the 1983 classic BMX Bandits, joined by special guests for what promises to be a night of high-energy nostalgia.
Retrospectives and judging panels
Additional programming includes a Paul Feig retrospective – with screenings of Bridesmaids (including a Q&A with Feig himself), The Heat, and a marathon of beloved series Freaks and Geeks – and a Wicker Man spotlight that revisits both the 1973 and 2006 cult versions.
Jurors this year include filmmakers, comedians, and musicians such as Alexei Toliopoulos, Remy Hii, Ben Lee, and Ruby Miles, who will oversee awards for Best Feature, Best Short, Best Episodic and Best Music Clip.
SXSW Sydney Screen Festival details
SXSW Sydney runs from 13–19 October 2025 across key venues including Dendy Newtown, Ritz Cinemas, Palace Cinemas and, for the first time, the Seymour Centre in NSW.
Passes, Wristbands and Rush Tickets (from $25) are now available. To explore the full SXSW Sydney 2025 Screen Festival program, visit sxswsydney.com.
