A program bringing together the best international voices shaping contemporary cinema today.

,

White

Films To Follow at Sydney Film Festival 2026

15 May, 2026

Words by:

Sarah Palmieri

Sydney Film Festival, running from June 3 - 14, returns with another ambitious program spanning international auteurs, emerging Australian filmmakers and some of the year’s most anticipated premieres. From intimate family dramas to politically charged thrillers and fashion-focused retrospectives, these are the films we’ll be watching closely this year.

For more than seven decades, Sydney Film Festival has occupied a defining place in Australian cultural life, shaping the way local audiences encounter international cinema while championing some of the country’s most important filmmakers. The festival has long functioned as both a cultural barometer and a launchpad, bringing emerging directors, established auteurs and future award-winners into conversation before films enter the wider cinematic landscape.

Across its history, Sydney Film Festival has screened landmark works that would go on to shape global cinema culture. Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite won the SF Prize in 2019 before becoming the first non-English-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, while Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall screened at the festival in 2023 following its Palme d’Or victory at Cannes. Australian cinema has equally found an important home here, with filmmakers including Jane Campion, Warwick Thornton and Justin Kurzel all building critical momentum through the festival before broader international recognition. Sydney Film Festival has long functioned as both a cultural barometer and a launchpad: a place where international auteurs, emerging voices and Australian filmmakers intersect before films enter the wider cinematic conversation.

Today, the festival remains one of the most thoughtfully curated programs in the world. Across Sydney’s historic cinemas and harbour-front venues, SFF transforms the city into a temporary capital of contemporary cinema. Premieres unfold at The Ritz in Randwick — the art deco picture palace designed by Austrian-born architect Aaron Bolot and opened in 1937 — while the Sydney Opera House Playhouse hosts some of the festival’s most anticipated screenings, including several major international titles arriving fresh from the European festival circuit.

Sydney occupies a singular position on the international cinema scene. Yes, it is geographically distant, but it doesnt stop it from being entwined with the likes of Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Sundance. Films often arrive in Sydney only weeks after premiering on the Croisette, still carrying the electricity of Cannes press conferences, standing ovations and midnight reviews. For Australian filmmakers, SFF has also become one of the country’s most important proving grounds. Directors including Jane Campion, Warwick Thornton and Justin Kurzel have all found critical support through the festival before wider international recognition.

This year’s program moves fluidly between intimate dramas, experimental documentaries, political thrillers and archival restorations. Alongside fashion-focused retrospectives and major international premieres, the festival continues to foreground films that tackle central themes around identity, labour, grief, migration and community. There’s some fun stuff to.

For our introduction to this year’s festival, we’ve selected five films we’re especially eager to follow.

Sheep in the Box (Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda)

Since winning the Palme d’Or for Shoplifters in 2018, Hirokazu Kore-eda has remained one of contemporary cinema’s most quietly devastating chroniclers of family life. His latest feature, Sheep in the Box, marks a turn toward speculative fiction while retaining the emotional intimacy that defines his work.

Set in the near future, the film stars Haruka Ayase alongside comedian and actor Daigo Yamamoto as parents grieving the loss of their son, who adopt a humanoid child designed to resemble him. Kore-eda has described the project as emerging from his fascination with so-called “resurrection businesses” in China — companies using technology and AI to recreate the presence of the dead. Rather than approaching the concept as dystopian science fiction, Sheep in the Box appears to examine grief through a deeply domestic lens: what it means to continue loving someone after loss, and whether technology can ever replicate emotional memory.

Premiering as part of the official competition circuit this year, the film already feels poised to become one of the festival’s most discussed screenings.

French Girls (Dir. Hyun Lee)

One of the most anticipated Australian debuts in this year’s lineup, French Girls marks the feature directorial debut of Korean Australian filmmaker Hyun Lee. Working with a micro-budget and a cast that includes Mia Kidis, Luca Blasónato and Nash Edgerton, Lee explores the politics of femininity, labour and image-making through the story of a Sydney woman who leaves construction work behind to pursue modelling.

The film sits within SFF’s “Fashion on Film” programming strand, which this year includes screenings of Wim Wenders’ Notebook on Cities and Clothes, Robert Altman’s Prêt-à-Porter and Sofia Coppola’s documentary short Marc by Sofia, which premiered at Venice last year.

What makes French Girls particularly compelling is the way it interrogates aspiration within Australian culture. Lee’s perspective is built around the intersections of class, beauty and performance, tracing the emotional and economic realities behind industries built on visibility.

The Man I Love (Dir. Ira Sachs)

Set in 1980s New York during the AIDS crisis, Ira Sachs’ The Man I Love continues the director’s longstanding interest in intimacy, memory and emotional fragility. The musical drama follows Jimmy George, an actor confronting mortality while preparing for what may become his final performance.

Led by Rami Malek, Rebecca Hall and Tom Sturridge, the film arrives after Sachs’ acclaimed recent works Passages and Peter Hujar’s Day. It’s also a notable piece for the work of acclaimed French Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies, whose recent collaborations include Harris Dickinson’s Urchin.

Levictus (Dir. Adrian Chiarella)

Adrian Chiarella returns to Sydney Film Festival following Dwarf Planet, which screened as part of the SFF Dendy Awards in 2021. His new feature, Levictus, arrives with great momentum after breaking out at Sundance.

Set in regional Victoria, the LGBTQIA+ horror film follows two teenagers, played by Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen, whose relationship becomes the target of their deeply religious community. When the pair are discovered together, they are forced into the care of a so-called healer, transforming the film into a far darker and more psychologically unsettling piece.

Rather than relying on conventional genre mechanics alone, Levictus appears interested in the violence of social conformity, looking at how shame, repression and religious control can distort young identity.

Fjord (Dir. Cristian Mungiu)

Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu returns with Fjord, his first feature since R.M.N. and another morally complex study of social fracture. Mungiu, who won the Palme d’Or for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days in 2007, has long been one of Europe’s most incisive filmmakers, consistently examining systems of power, nationalism and ethical ambiguity.

Starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, Fjord follows a Christian Romanian family who relocate with their five children to a remote Norwegian village in search of stability and a new beginning. What begins as a migration story gradually evolves into something more volatile, as tensions within the town escalate into a broader investigation concerning human rights, secularism and communal responsibility.

The premise is especially resonant within contemporary Europe, where debates around migration, faith and cultural belonging continue to shape political life. As with Mungiu’s earlier work, Fjord appears less interested in simple moral conclusions than in exposing the contradictions embedded within supposedly progressive societies.

Your next Read

Navigating Memory And Identity: Linda Sok’s Artistic Journey

A Journey of Discovery Sok’s path to becoming an artist was not straightforward. “Before pursuing …

Alfa Romeo Junior Juggles Blood And Fire

There’s a little stretch of mountain road north of Brisbane, littered with undulating dippers, sharp …

, ,

Cannes 2026: The Films Defining This Year’s Line-Up

From past Palme d’Or winners to first-time Cannes debuts, we’ve curated a list of films …

,

Patryk Koca: Redefining Design with Poetic Pragmatism

From Childhood Fascination to Design Mastery Patryk Koca’s journey into design began long before his …

,