SXSW selections One More Shot and Spreadsheet Champions, along with documentary portraits of comedy legend John Clarke and screen icon David Gulpilil, are among more than 20 titles announced for this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF).
The first glance line-up for the 73rd edition of the festival, held August 7–24, includes seven MIFF Premiere Fund titles, a mix of 17 international and local films, and two special events.
Of the Premiere Fund titles, four are feature directorial debuts, with Nicholas Clifford throwing it back to an end-of-millennium house party with One More Shot; Kalu Oji presenting a quintessentially Melbourne tale of life in a migrant community in Pasa Faho; Filipino-Australian photographer James J. Robinson offering a thought-provoking interrogation of faith with First Light, and Lorin Clarke turning the lens on the defining comedic voice of her late dad for Not Only Fred Dagg But Also John Clarke.
Documentaries include Sue Thomson’s Careless, which follows elderly people’s fight to grow old their way; Kasimir Burgess’ Iron Winter, about two young Mongolian horse herders who battle extreme winter cold to protect an ancient tradition that risks being lost forever; and Kristina Kraskov’s aforementioned Spreadsheet Champions, a film about students from around the world giving it their all in ‘the greatest competition you’ve never heard of’.
Other Antipodean highlights include Sophie Somerville’s debut feature Fwends, a buddy comedy that follows old friends, Jessie (Melissa Gan) and Em (Emmanuelle Mattana), as they reconnect over a weekend in Melbourne; Trisha Morton-Thomas and Maggie Miles’ Journey Home, David Gulpilil, narrated by Hugh Jackman and hip-hop artist Baker Boy, which offers a portrait of an Australian screen legend through the eyes of his community; and Ursula Grace Williams’ Marlon Williams: Two Worlds – Ngā Ao E Rua, an examination of the artistic process across four years of one of Aotearoa’s most beloved artists.
Leading the early international contingent is Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or-winning action crime thriller It Was Just An Accident, in which the Iranian director combines gallows humour and plot twists with elements of real stories he heard from fellow prison inmates in a rallying cry against state-sanctioned censorship and violent oppression.
It is joined by Eva Victor’s A24-backed dramedy Sorry, Baby, Richard Linklater’s musical drama Blue Moon, Greek auteur Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Jim Crace adaptation Harvest, Jay Duplass’ directorial debut The Baltimorons, Straight Up director James Sweeney’s sophomore effort Twinless, Alex Russell’s thriller Lurker, James Griffiths’ UK comedy The Ballad of Wallis Island and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s psychological thriller Cloud.
MIFF has also selected Michel Gondry’s animated adventure Maya, Give Me a Title, Michel Franco’s immigration drama Dreams, Ryan White’s documentary Come See Me in the Good Light, Julia Loktev’s predominantly iPhone-shot My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow, and Belgian-based French filmmaking couple Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s homage to 60s-Bond-style sexy spy thrillers, Reflections in a Dead Diamond.
Presented by MUBI, the Australian premiere of Julia Holter: The Passion of Joan of Arc will be presented with an live score at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
The festival will also partner with Now or Never for the world premiere of When the World Came Flooding In – an immersive installation and VR documentary centered on the intimate stories of life during a natural disaster.
MIFF artistic director Al Cossar said there was “so much to see, and so much more to come”.
“It all starts here – the full MIFF 2025 program is soon to arrive; set to be a world-ranging, celebratory and all-out extraordinary collection of films,” he said.
“I’m excited to share some of our first announcement of titles, and incredible highlights, of this year’s MIFF: beloved auteurs, festival blockbusters, the best of new Australian filmmaking, alongside the incredibly special and absolutely unmissable live-score cinema event, Julia Holter: The Passion of Joan of Arc.”
The full MIFF 2025 program will be made public July 10. MIFF Members’ exclusive pre-sale window runs from 8pm AEST July 10 to 10am AEST July 15, while tickets are on sale to the general public from 10am AEST on Tuesday, July 15.