Film festivals across the nation are prepping their programs for 2025. So which exciting new films will make the cut this year? If you’ve been keeping an eye on Sundance, Berlin and SXSW, you’ll probably already have a hefty list of must-sees.

In the case of Capricorn Film Festival, Flickerfest and Peninsula Film Festival, they’ve already come and gone in January, starting off the festival calendar with a bang. Now you can look ahead to the coming months and start marking your diaries!

In terms of major Australian film festivals that represent the world stage, we kick things off in Sydney with its main film festival (SFF) in June, before heading to Canberra (CIFF) and Melbourne (MIFF) in August, Darwin International Film Festival (DIFF) in September, before the Adelaide (AFF) and Brisbane (BIFF) film festivals in October.

Aside from those big six, there’s a festival on almost every fortnight in any given corner of the continent. Films from Japan, Finland, Palestine, Italy, France, Germany and Taiwan; Queer films, trashy films, very-short shorts, films shot exclusively on iPhones, animated films, films projected in a dome-shape… you name it, we’ve got it. Films made by babies shot on iPads? Not yet, but who knows!

As is the case every year, not every bit of festival info below will be 100% accurate. Film festivals tend to confirm their dates only a few weeks out from opening night, so most of the info for the latter half of 2025 is based on historical records (i.e. what happened in 2024). We will aim to update the listings as the year goes on, and please do get in touch if you’d like your festival included!

Use the content menu below to look for film festivals listed by quarter.

: Most anticipated Australian films 2025

16–19 January

 17–26 January

See the winners of Flickerfest 2025 here.

17–19 January

31 January–2 Feb

31 January–2 February

: 8 February

5–9 February

6–16 February

: 13–27 Feb 2025
: 28 Feb–10 Mar 2025

12 February–12 March

: 13 February–2 March

Melbourne: 21–23 February

: 21 February–2 March

: 27 Feb–1 March

Langwarrin, Victoria: 1 March

: 2–7 March

 4 March–9 April
 5 March–9 April
 6 March–9 April
 13 March–16 April
 6 March–8 April
 19 March–23 April
 7 March–2 April
25 March–15 April
 3 April–13 April
: 24 April–27 April

: 5–12 March

Celebrating Australian LGBTQIA+ films.

6 March

6–17 March

: 13–18 March

20–24March

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3–13 April

9–17 April

12–28 April

: 17 April

: 1–11 May

1–11 May

1–31 May

: May

: Unconfirmed, usually May.

Unconfirmed, usually May

: Unconfirmed, usually May.

Locally made short films.

: Unconfirmed dates, usually May/June

Unconfirmed dates, usually June

June

June

4–15 June

Unconfirmed, was June-July in 2024

: Unconfirmed dates, usually June/July

27 June–5 July

: Most anticipated film releases of 2025

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: Three best films to stream this week – and where to find them

, : Unconfirmed, usually June/July

: 1–31 July

 2–13 July

 Usually July/August

 24 July–6 September

 7–24 August

: 16–26 August

: Usually August/September

: Usually August/September

: 16 August

: 1–29 August

30 August–7 September

: 1–30 September

Usually August/September/October

Usually September

Usually September

: September

: September/October

Unconfirmed date, usually October/November

18–19 October

Usually October/November

: 14-20 October

October

Usually October/November

October

: October

The best of trashy B, C and D-films.

: 18 October

15–26 October

24 October–3 November

, Brisbane, Canberra, Byron Bay: 6 November–8 December

Melbourne, Sydney and Perth: November

Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Hobart, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Perth: Usually November

SmartFone Flick Fest (SF3)

Sydney and online: 8–9 November

Understory Film Festival

Cairns: Usually November

Made in the West

Western Sydney (NSW): November

• Dedicated to screening Western Sydney films on the big screen.

The Other Film Festival

Victoria: October

A disability-led festival that puts Deaf and Disabled people at the centre of the Australian screen industry. 

ScreenHub: The hottest films that (we hope) will release in Australia in 2025

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