Melbourne International Film Festival has announced the nominees for its 2026 awards, with more than $300,000 in prize money to be presented across feature films, Australian directing, First Nations screen creatives, youth programming and short filmmaking.
by Paul Cashmere
The Melbourne International Film Festival has revealed the nominees for its 2026 awards program, with the flagship Bright Horizons Award leading a prize pool exceeding $300,000. The awards recognise emerging international filmmakers, Australian directors, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander screen creatives and youth filmmaking, with winners to be announced during the festival later this month.
The announcement comes as MIFF enters its 2026 edition, which runs from 6 to 23 August in Melbourne before a curated online program streams through ACMI’s Cinema 3 platform from 14 to 30 August. The awards remain a significant part of the festival, recognising emerging talent while providing substantial financial support to filmmakers working across a range of disciplines.
The festival’s richest prize is the Bright Horizons Award, which carries a $140,000 cash prize supported by VicScreen. Now in its fifth year, the competition is dedicated to first and second feature filmmakers, with ten Australian premiere films shortlisted for the 2026 award.
The nominated films are Big Girls Don’t Cry, Blue Heron, Elephants in the Fog, Goodbye, Cruel World, Josephine, La Gradiva, Sweet Milk Lake, The Friend’s House Is Here, Wicker and Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep.
MIFF Artistic Director Al Cossar said the competition had become an important platform for emerging filmmakers.
“In its fifth year, Bright Horizons has become one of MIFF’s most essential programs, continuing to showcase the work of extraordinary breakout filmmakers from all around the world, and bringing them to Melbourne to connect with audiences,” Cossar said.
“The first and second features you’ll find throughout the Bright Horizons Competition are some of the boldest and most brilliant works of new auteur cinema that you’ll see this year, anywhere, and we look forward to introducing audiences to these very special Australian Premiere screenings.”
Several shortlisted filmmakers are expected to attend the festival, including Wicker directors Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer, alongside Abinash Bikram Shah, Beth de Araújo, Hossein Keshavarz, Maryam Ataei, Paloma Schneideman, Rakan Mayasi, Sophy Romvari and Australian director Harvey Zielinski.
The Uncle Jack Charles Award, supported by the MIFF Lumiere Patrons, recognises outstanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander screen creatives. The 2026 nominees are Charles Perrurle Perkins for The Native Police; Keinan William McGillivray Pethybridge and Marcus Raymond for Man Wearing a Helmet; Kieran Satour and Tyson Perkins for Facing the Numbers; Talia Liddle for Protest on the Dancefloor; and Tammy Lee Rock for Queens to the Front. The winner will receive $20,000.
The Blackmagic Design Best Australian Director Award will also be presented during the festival. The award includes $50,000 in prize money and a fully equipped URSA Cine 12K camera valued at $27,500. This year’s nominees are Dario Russo for The Fox, Harvey Zielinski for Sweet Milk Lake, Hyun Lee for French Girls and Maddelin McKenna for Mad Rush.
The MIFF Schools Youth Jury Award, presented by Collarts, will award $10,000 to a film selected by three filmmakers from the 2026 Top Screen class.
Collarts CEO Sam Jacob said the partnership continued to support emerging Australian storytellers.
“We are thrilled that our partnership continues to include mentoring the Youth Jury members and presenting the 2026 MIFF Schools Youth Jury Award, with a prize of $10,000 to the winning film. Together, we amplify new voices and create new worlds,” Jacob said.
Festival audiences will again determine the recipient of the Intrepid Audience Award by rating films throughout the event.
Away from the feature awards, MIFF will also stage the 65th MIFF Shorts Awards and Talent of Tomorrow Party on 16 August at Melbourne Town Hall. Presented by Armani Beauty, the short film awards carry a prize pool of $50,000, with winners in major categories becoming eligible for Academy Awards consideration and BAFTA submission.
The 2026 MIFF Awards will be presented at Rydges Melbourne on Saturday, 22 August.
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. See things first-Subscribe to Noise11 on YouTube
Follow Noise11.com on social media:
Bluesky
Facebook – Comment on the news of the day
