Melbourne film freaks can look forward to a superb slate of cinema this August.
Our first look at the 2025 Melbourne International Film Festival has arrived! Personally, I’m still hip-deep in this year’s Sydney Film Festival, which wraps up this Sunday, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a minute to shine a light on the next big event on the great cinema calendar (I don’t go in for any of that Melbs vs Syd rivalry, either – sort it out among yourselves).
This year’s Melbourne International Film Festival, which runs from August 7 – 24 at venues across Melbourne and throughout regional Victoria, marks the festivals 73rd year. Founded in 1952, it’s one of the world’s oldest extant film festivals, being edged out only by Venice (1932), Cannes (1939) and the Berlin Film Festival (1951).
In an opening salvo of titles, MIFF announced it’ll be screening It Was Just An Accident by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. The revenge thriller just scooped up the Palme d’Or at Cannes and is getting rave reviews on the festival circuit. Panahi has frequently been subjected to government attempts to censor his filmmaking, up to and including imprisoning the guy, and the film’s sheer existence is a testament to resistance against oppression.
Other international big hitters announced include:
Reflections in a Dead Diamond by Belgian team Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani, who previously gave us the arthouse action movie Let the Corpses Tan. This seems to be a kind of psychedelic 60s spy thriller, as an ageing secret agent (Fabio Testi) is plunged back into danger, all the while reminiscing about his exploits as a superspy back in the day (where he’s played by Yannick Renier). People are saying it vibes like James Bond directed by Dario Argento, but it seems clear to me the direct influence is Mario Bava’s Danger: Diabolik, with maybe a bit of Michael Moorcock’s Jerry Cornelius sprinkled in if they’re feeling ambitious.
Cloud, the latest from cult Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, sees Masaki Suda as Yoshii, a ruthless e-commerce hustler whose cutthroat tactics and nose for a deal have made him rich enough to move to the country with his girlfriend. But an army of disgruntled former customers is dead keen to track him down, and what unfolds is a paranoid, genre-bending thriller about unchecked greed in the hellscape that is our current moment.
Locally, we have Nick Clifford’s One More Shot, a time travel comedy produced with support from the MIFF Premiere Fund. It’s New Year’s Eve and Emily Browning’s lovelorn anaesthetist is at a party and keen to win back her ex (Sean Keenan), even though he’s there with his new flame. Discovering that she can reset the clock on the evening with every shot she downs (which feels like a forced metaphor, but whatever), she resolves to keep trying again and again, Groundhog Day style, until she gets the result she wants.
Also announced were Richard Linklater’s Broadway chamber piece, Blue Moon; Melbourne-set buddy comedy Fwends; the moving documentary Journey Home, David Gulpilil; the Sundance hit Sorry, Baby, and many more.
On the special events side of things, the standout is Julia Holter: The Passion of Joan of Arc. For two nights only the LA musician will perform a live score at the Melbourne Recital Centre to accompany, as the title indicates, Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent epic The Passion of Joan of Arc. This is a once in a lifetime chance to see a classic of the silent era in a whole new context. Tickets are on sale via the concert centre now.
For full info and ticketing details on the announced titles, head over to the Melbourne International Film Festival official site.
MORE IN News
