MIFF’s Opening Weekend
This winter, MIFF is taking over Pivot with one of our most exciting programs yet. We’ve got the hottest picks from the worldwide festival circuit, new Aussie films and future award contenders. See our first weekend now.
First Light
Special Q&A screening with James J Robinson (director) and Gabrielle Pearson (producer). Set in the remote mountains of the Philippines, the death of a young construction worker forces an elderly nun to confront the muddied ethics of an institution she dedicated her life to. The script is a deeply personal story exploring the intersection of duty, faith, and institutional power.
First Light
Special Q&A screening with James J Robinson (director) and Gabrielle Pearson (producer). Set in the remote mountains of the Philippines, the death of a young construction worker forces an elderly nun to confront the muddied ethics of an institution she dedicated her life to. The script is a deeply personal story exploring the intersection of duty, faith, and institutional power.
Footy Shorts
We have encouraged filmmakers to create authentic, emotionally resonant stories that capture the deep love, traditions, myths and connections people share through Australian Rules Football – whether as players, fans, families or communities – showcasing how the game, across its many different forms, unites and shapes Australian life.
Footy Shorts
We have encouraged filmmakers to create authentic, emotionally resonant stories that capture the deep love, traditions, myths and connections people share through Australian Rules Football – whether as players, fans, families or communities – showcasing how the game, across its many different forms, unites and shapes Australian life.
Marlon Williams: Two Worlds
Marlon Williams: Two Worlds – Ngā Ao E Rua One of Aotearoa’s most beloved artists, Marlon Williams, sets out on his most ambitious musical project yet: creating an album sung entirely in te reo Māori. Feeling burnt out from the touring cycle, acclaimed New Zealand musician and actor Marlon Williams (Bad Behaviour, MIFF 2023) returns to his quiet coastal hometown of Ōhinehou/Lyttelton to work on a life- and career-changing undertaking: recording an album, Te Whare Tīwekaweka, in his ancestral language of te reo Māori. Using song to explore his split cultural identity – part pakeha, part Māori, from both Ngāi Tahu and Ngāi Tai iwi – the project finds Williams reconnecting with his heritage, deepening his community and reclaiming his reo, as he puts something “flawed and searching and naive and brave” out into the world.
Marlon Williams: Two Worlds
Marlon Williams: Two Worlds – Ngā Ao E Rua One of Aotearoa’s most beloved artists, Marlon Williams, sets out on his most ambitious musical project yet: creating an album sung entirely in te reo Māori. Feeling burnt out from the touring cycle, acclaimed New Zealand musician and actor Marlon Williams (Bad Behaviour, MIFF 2023) returns to his quiet coastal hometown of Ōhinehou/Lyttelton to work on a life- and career-changing undertaking: recording an album, Te Whare Tīwekaweka, in his ancestral language of te reo Māori. Using song to explore his split cultural identity – part pakeha, part Māori, from both Ngāi Tahu and Ngāi Tai iwi – the project finds Williams reconnecting with his heritage, deepening his community and reclaiming his reo, as he puts something “flawed and searching and naive and brave” out into the world.
Mistress Dispeller
This Venice award-winning and startling doc introduces us to Teacher Wang, a Chinese “mistress dispeller” – that is, a professional for-hire whose job it is to end marital affairs. In China, a unique industry has emerged in the past decade: mistress dispellers are specialists in breaking up marital affairs – and their services come with a hefty price tag. When Teacher Wang, one such professional, is enlisted by a heartbroken wife, she proceeds to work her way into the lives of the husband and his lover, as well as the client herself. All three become entangled through her intricate and at times extreme methods. Director Elizabeth Lo, known for her beloved 2020 doc Stray, gains intimate access to her subjects, capturing deeply private moments and conversations rarely seen on screen. The result is a captivating and thought-provoking portrait of the limits of modern-day marriage.
Mistress Dispeller
This Venice award-winning and startling doc introduces us to Teacher Wang, a Chinese “mistress dispeller” – that is, a professional for-hire whose job it is to end marital affairs. In China, a unique industry has emerged in the past decade: mistress dispellers are specialists in breaking up marital affairs – and their services come with a hefty price tag. When Teacher Wang, one such professional, is enlisted by a heartbroken wife, she proceeds to work her way into the lives of the husband and his lover, as well as the client herself. All three become entangled through her intricate and at times extreme methods. Director Elizabeth Lo, known for her beloved 2020 doc Stray, gains intimate access to her subjects, capturing deeply private moments and conversations rarely seen on screen. The result is a captivating and thought-provoking portrait of the limits of modern-day marriage.
One More Shot
An end-of-millennium house party becomes an endless, tequila-fuelled time loop in this ingenious comedy starring Emily Browning. On New Year’s Eve, 1999, with Y2K anxieties in the air and ‘Coco Jamboo’ on the radio, glum anaesthetist Minnie jumps at the chance to attend a party with her ex, Joe, whom she still hasn’t gotten over. But everything goes wrong when she realises that Joe is there with a new girlfriend and plans to propose. One swig from a bottle of tequila after midnight and, in the blink of an eye, Minnie has travelled back in time to the beginning of the party – a process that, she discovers, repeats with every drink she takes. Each do-over presents a new opportunity to fix her mistakes or compound them further. But will any of them allow her to win back Joe’s heart, or understand what it means to live with the consequences of her actions?
One More Shot
An end-of-millennium house party becomes an endless, tequila-fuelled time loop in this ingenious comedy starring Emily Browning. On New Year’s Eve, 1999, with Y2K anxieties in the air and ‘Coco Jamboo’ on the radio, glum anaesthetist Minnie jumps at the chance to attend a party with her ex, Joe, whom she still hasn’t gotten over. But everything goes wrong when she realises that Joe is there with a new girlfriend and plans to propose. One swig from a bottle of tequila after midnight and, in the blink of an eye, Minnie has travelled back in time to the beginning of the party – a process that, she discovers, repeats with every drink she takes. Each do-over presents a new opportunity to fix her mistakes or compound them further. But will any of them allow her to win back Joe’s heart, or understand what it means to live with the consequences of her actions?
Pasa Faho
A shoe salesman struggles to save his small business and pass on his values to his son in this quintessentially Melbourne tale of life in a migrant community. Running a shoe store for 20 years in suburban Melbourne, Azubuike has a financially constrained but fulfilling life. When his 12-year-old son, Obinna, arrives from interstate – where he has been living with his white mum and doing his best to suppress the things that mark him out as different at school – Azubuike is keen to teach him business, Igbo cultural traditions and what it means, in his view, to be a man. But disaster strikes when Azubuike receives an eviction notice at his shop; and his despair turns to fury when the buyer turns out to be a respected member of his own community. Desperate to retain his livelihood and not lose his son’s respect, Azubuike must find a way to keep all the pieces of his life together.
Pasa Faho
A shoe salesman struggles to save his small business and pass on his values to his son in this quintessentially Melbourne tale of life in a migrant community. Running a shoe store for 20 years in suburban Melbourne, Azubuike has a financially constrained but fulfilling life. When his 12-year-old son, Obinna, arrives from interstate – where he has been living with his white mum and doing his best to suppress the things that mark him out as different at school – Azubuike is keen to teach him business, Igbo cultural traditions and what it means, in his view, to be a man. But disaster strikes when Azubuike receives an eviction notice at his shop; and his despair turns to fury when the buyer turns out to be a respected member of his own community. Desperate to retain his livelihood and not lose his son’s respect, Azubuike must find a way to keep all the pieces of his life together.
Pavements
With idiosyncratic indie-hero director Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Phillip, Her Smell, Queen of Earth) at the helm, and one of the most unconventional bands of the 1990s as its subject, Pavements had no chance of being a standard music documentary. But even through that gloriously perverse prism of expectation, this is a deliriously unhinged strut into exciting new territory. As “meta” as it gets, Pavements is a kaleidoscopic cinematic swirl that mixes narrative storytelling and the documentary form, while detouring through the musical and concert genres. Playfully goofy, Pavements is built around footage of lo-fi godheads Pavement preparing for their sold-out 2022 reunion tour, but takes a variety of arresting twists and turns, including into a film-within-a-film where Stranger Things’ Joe Keery gets into character to play Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus in a Hollywood biopic.
Pavements
With idiosyncratic indie-hero director Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Phillip, Her Smell, Queen of Earth) at the helm, and one of the most unconventional bands of the 1990s as its subject, Pavements had no chance of being a standard music documentary. But even through that gloriously perverse prism of expectation, this is a deliriously unhinged strut into exciting new territory. As “meta” as it gets, Pavements is a kaleidoscopic cinematic swirl that mixes narrative storytelling and the documentary form, while detouring through the musical and concert genres. Playfully goofy, Pavements is built around footage of lo-fi godheads Pavement preparing for their sold-out 2022 reunion tour, but takes a variety of arresting twists and turns, including into a film-within-a-film where Stranger Things’ Joe Keery gets into character to play Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus in a Hollywood biopic.
Sorry, Baby
One of Sundance’s buzziest debuts, this A24-backed dramedy about a young woman’s recovery from trauma announces writer/director/star Eva Victor as a formidable new talent. Agnes feels stuck. Unlike her best friend, Lydie, who’s moved to New York and is now expecting a baby, Agnes still lives in the New England house they once shared as graduate students, now working as a professor at her alma mater. A ‘bad thing’ happened to Agnes a few years ago and, since then, despite her best efforts, life hasn’t gotten back on track. Writer/director Eva Victor’s performance as Agnes is a breathtaking tonal balancing act between heartbreaking and hilarious. Rather than focusing on the traumatic event, the non-chronological story illuminates the smaller moments in Agnes’s life, such as attending jury duty, adopting a kitten and eating a sandwich – patchwork details punctuating her uneven road to recovery.
Sorry, Baby
One of Sundance’s buzziest debuts, this A24-backed dramedy about a young woman’s recovery from trauma announces writer/director/star Eva Victor as a formidable new talent. Agnes feels stuck. Unlike her best friend, Lydie, who’s moved to New York and is now expecting a baby, Agnes still lives in the New England house they once shared as graduate students, now working as a professor at her alma mater. A ‘bad thing’ happened to Agnes a few years ago and, since then, despite her best efforts, life hasn’t gotten back on track. Writer/director Eva Victor’s performance as Agnes is a breathtaking tonal balancing act between heartbreaking and hilarious. Rather than focusing on the traumatic event, the non-chronological story illuminates the smaller moments in Agnes’s life, such as attending jury duty, adopting a kitten and eating a sandwich – patchwork details punctuating her uneven road to recovery.