Movies about Jimmy Barnes, Jeff Buckley and Butthole Surfers will be featured at the 2025 Melbourne Internation Film Festival.
Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Man
Australian rock royalty heads to MIFF with Andrew Farrell’s comprehensive portrait of the Cold Chisel frontman. Picking up where 2018’s Working Class Boy left off (in which Farrell was a producer on), the doc follows the iconic musician from Glasgow tenements to Aussie stadiums, tracing his journey from troubled youth to national treasure. The intimate portrait features unprecedented access and interviews that reveal the man behind the voice that defined a generation.
Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt
Their irreverent, X-rated and sometimes dangerous live shows were the stuff of legend – but now, the Texas psych-punk jesters finally bare all in Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt. Director Tom J. Stern won SXSW’s Best of Texas award for this affectionate, long-gestating documentary project. Stern summons the weirdo Butthole Surfers spirit through lewd, violent puppetry and zine-style animation, plus a cavalcade of talking heads including Flea, Dave Grohl and Richard Linklater – who, before becoming a celebrated filmmaker, served as the band’s first projectionist.
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley
Mystery and mythology swirl around It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, Amy Berg’s exploration of the singer whose ethereal voice and tragic death at 30 left an indelible mark on music history. This music doc dives deep into Buckley’s artistic process and complicated relationship with his father, featuring rare footage and intimate interviews that illuminate a talent gone too soon.
Pavements
US filmmaker Alex Ross Perry’s Pavements is a meta-documentary on the prolific 90s American indie rockers, combining scripted set-ups, archival documentary footage and musical mise-en-scene composed of songs from their discography. Part concert film, musical, and meta fake biopic starring Joe Keery (Djo frontman, and actor in Stranger Things) as the band’s lead creative, Stephen Malkmus, it deliriously explores Pavement’s legacy and slacker iconography.
*Alex Ross Perry will also be attending MIFF as part of this year’s esteemed festival Jury.
The Extraordinary Miss Flower
After the untimely passing of Zoe Flower’s mother, Geraldine, she discovered a box bulging with florid love letters from mysterious men scattered across the globe. The discovery was puzzling: was her Australian-raised mother a free spirit, a prolific heartbreaker or perhaps even a spy? Zoe handed the letters over to her friend, Icelandic musician Emilíana Torrini, who went on to craft an album dedicated to Geraldine. Now, this part film, part theatre, part fever dream, brings to life the remarkable story the Geraldine Flower to the screen, featuring a series of performances by Emilíana and her band, and also interviews with Richard Ayoade, Siggi Baldursson, Nick Cave, Alice Lowe, Mark Monero, and is narrated by Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
Other music films for MIFF for 2025 are Marlon Williams: Two Worlds, Monk In Pieces and Move Ya Body: The Birth of House.
Of tonight’s 2025 Program Launch event, Artistic Director, Al Cossar, said:
“MIFF returns to illuminate the dark depths of Melbourne winter with a globe-trotting array of exceptional cinema, incredible experiences, and the biggest festival celebration of Australian filmmaking on the planet. With over 275 films across 18 days in cinema, weekend regional expansions across Victoria, and a further week online available at your place, all around Australia, MIFF is an invitation to discover a world of film, and the world on film; to up-res your cinephile credentials, and to binge your way through an epic program brimming with imagination and ideas.”
Minister for Creative Industries ColinBrooks, said: “MIFF is a highlight of our winter cultural calendar, bringing together audiences across Melbourne and regional Victoria to see incredible local and international cinema. The Allan Labor Government is proud to support Australia’s largest film festival and the MIFF Bright Horizons Award, which alongside Victoria’s cutting-edge screen facilities, homegrown talent, world-class crew, and spectacular filming locations, cements Victoria’s status as a global screen powerhouse.”
The Melbourne International Film Festival runs from 7-24 August 2025
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE11.com’s newest interviews and special features on YOUTUBE and updated regularly. See things first SUBSCRIBE here: Noise11 on YouTube SUBSCRIBE
Noise11.com
Follow us at https://bsky.app/profile/noise11.bsky.social
Noise11 on Instagram
Comment on the news of the day, join Noise11 on Facebook
