The Melbourne Film Festival

The Melbourne Film Festival is a two week program of everything film.

It is an iconic Melbourne event - and one of the most outstanding international film festivals around.

Each winter, the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) presents a feast of cinematic delicacies from over 50 countries.

As well as intriguing foreign cinema, it showcases the best of new Australian cinema - both emerging and established local talent.

The Melbourne Film Festival is a celebration of everything cinematic and one of the most significant Melbourne events. It is where the big and small names of film converge – for film screenings in a number of Melbourne cinemas, workshops, as well as a range of parties and gatherings.

Being founded in 1951, it is one of the oldest film festivals in the world – as well as the largest Australian film festival. Its main events are:

Opening Night

The opening night of the Melbourne film festival is a night of cinema, celebrity and celebration, where you can join into the glitz and glamour of this red carpet event.

There is a special screening of a classic film able to give justice to the opening event at the Melbourne Town Hall. After this you can meet filmmakers and raise a glass of bubbly to help kick off the celebrations.

Closing Night

The closing night is another special film screening that culminates in an exuberant closing night party. So you can really enjoy the night, it takes place the night before the Festival’s close.

Talking Pictures

There are lots of opportunities to meet the festival’s filmmakers and personalities for discussions and questions - opening the box on the issues and ideas behind the program.

The Melbourne film festival has a program of conversations, forums and masterclassses where you can get inspiration in regards to all things cinematic.

Industry & Public Lectures

There are plenty of events for film industry professionals during the Melbourne film festival. There is a film co-financing market where Australia/NZ producers seek international finance for their scripts, publishers pitch their books for screen adaptations to producers, and screenwriters/directors offer their skills.

There are Breakthru Screenings for films seeking international sales representation and Australia’s only screen director development program preparing the hottest short filmmaking talent for a career in feature filmmaking, as well as minority co-financing opportunities for new local films.

There are also daily events open to the general public – attractive to any film student, aspiring screenwriter, editor, director or producer, or anyone into a film and curious to learn more.

Special screenings and events

Apart from a full cinematic program over a large number of Melbourne cinemas, there are fulldome projection screenings at the Melbourne Planetarium - giving you full surround cinematic and sonic experiences, as well as 3D IMAX extravaganzas.

MIFF Shorts Awards

Part of the film festival is the annual MIFF Shorts Awards, where the best shorts of the Festival will be announced and screened - one of the most highly regarded short film competitions in the Southern Hemisphere.

Tickets and Admission

A film festival is a marathon – and like a box of chocolate – a series of screenings where you never know what you are going to get.

For the really committed and as a member of the Melbourne International Film Festival, you can purchase a festival passport that gives you admission to all screenings at all Melbourne film festival venues, except the opening and closing nights that are ticketed separately.

Anyone can buy an eMini Pass that will give you admission to 10 sessions, plus bonus weekday sessions, or you can buy single session tickets to pick out some special film you really want to see.

There are many opportunities to get your feet wet or get swept away in the cinematic wave sweeping over Melbourne in winter.