Adelaide Film Festival unveils huge 122

Feature Image: Still from Flesh Fruit, directed by Madison Hislop-Stoessel.

Adelaide Film Festival has unveiled its full 2026 program, bringing 122 films from 52 countries to cinemas across Adelaide this October.

Running from October 14 to 25, this year’s festival will feature 27 Australian premieres and 10 world premieres, alongside major international award winners, Australian filmmaking talent and a packed program of special events.

Among the most anticipated titles is Opening Night Gala film Wild Horse Nine, arriving directly from Venice. It is the latest film from Academy Award-winning writer and director Martin McDonagh, known for In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin.

The Saturday Night Party will feature Jim Queen, which was nominated for the Queer Palm and Caméra d’Or for best first feature at Cannes.

Other major festival award winners heading to Adelaide include Cannes Best Actor winner Coward, Cannes Best Director winner Fatherland, Sundance Best Director winner Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Josephine, Sydney Film Prize winner Minotaur and Berlin Silver Bear-winning Rose, starring Sandra Hüller.

The Special Presentations program will also bring a mix of Hollywood stars and Australian filmmaking talent to Adelaide.

Still from Wild Horse Nine, the latest film from Academy Award-winning writer and director Martin McDonagh (provided).

Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller star in Paper Tiger, while Adelaide director Anthony Maras returns with Pressure, his follow-up to Hotel Mumbai.

Audiences can also catch Wicker, starring Olivia Colman as an unnamed fisherwoman, and a new 4K restoration of Scott Hicks’ Academy Award-winning Shine.

Simon Tedeschi AM will perform a piano recital alongside the Shine screening, while Hicks will launch his book Shine: Persistence of Version.

The Adelaide Film Festival Competition returns with five feature films competing for the festival’s prestigious prize.

This year’s line-up includes Chilean fantasy Donkey Princess, Myanmar-set forbidden romance Fruit Gathering, Mumbai drama Lovers in the Blue Night, apartheid-era coming-of-age story The Smell of Apples and Australian film Tiber, following an art historian who leaves Rome to reconnect with his daughter in Tuscany.

The Feature Documentary Competition will also feature five films: The Balkan Cowboy, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Tehran, Under the Skin, The Way You See Me and Wolf.

Films exploring environmental and social change will compete for the $5000 AFF Change Award.

Contenders include All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea, following a fisherman investigating poisoned crabs washing ashore in England; Humboldt USA, exploring the interconnectedness of nature; glacier meditation Time and Water; Steal This Story, Please!, following veteran journalist Amy Goodman; and The Way We Move, exploring accessibility and American Sign Language performance.

South Australian filmmaking will also take centre stage, with the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund continuing its support for local filmmakers.

Closing Night Gala film Hell Has No Fire Escape follows 63-year-old widow Pastor Ina Dry as she inherits her late husband’s evangelical rehabilitation centre and begins pursuing a new life.

Other AFFIF premieres include Agata The Writer, starring Mia Wasikowska, Kumarangk: Sacred Women’s Business, The Forbidden Aunt, Aftermath and newly announced folk horror film Lucrum, starring Sophie Lowe, Tahlia Sturzaker and Adelaide local Nathan Page.

Independent Australian titles including Boss Cat, River, The Piano Tuner, Sweet Milk Lake and Wilderness will also screen.

Olivia Coleman starring in Wicker, directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson.

Beyond the major competitions, audiences can explore world cinema, documentaries, music films, late-night screenings and short films.

The Music on Film series includes The Best Summer, revisiting Australia’s 1995 Summersault tour featuring Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Bikini Kill, Pavement, Beck and a fledgling Foo Fighters.

Meanwhile, the Late Night program will feature South Australian horror film Ruby, Ruby, alongside Future Tense, Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant and Victorian Psycho.

One of this year’s special events will be the world premiere of Bukul Bukal, directed by the late Rhoda Roberts AO with Pauline Clague.

The event will be held on the banks of the Port River in collaboration with Yitpi Yartapuultiku, with campfire yarns, food trucks and fires adding to the experience.

Still from South Australian horror film Ruby Ruby, directed by Ursula Dabrowsky (provided).

AFF will also administer the $50,000 Bettison & James Award, with this year’s recipient Yankunytjatjara Anangu woman Karina Lester, an Aboriginal language expert and activist from the APY Lands.

“This year Adelaide Film Festival brings together highly anticipated international cinema alongside a stellar array of Australian films, in a program that celebrates master filmmakers and bold new voices,” AFF CEO and Creative Director Mat Kesting said.

“Support our courageous filmmakers who take our stories to the world, come party at a gala, see the filmmakers on the pink carpet or just come be part of one of our many free events – AFF is All For Film and invite everyone to join in.”

Deputy Premier and Minister for Arts Kyam Maher said the festival had become one of Australia’s most respected screen events since launching in 2003.

“In 2022, the Labor Government made the Adelaide Film Festival an annual event, allowing our screen sector the opportunity to shine on the international stage,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to another successful Adelaide Film Festival in October and I congratulate the Adelaide Film Festival team on their incredible work.”

2026 Adelaide Film FestivalWhen: October 14 to 25Where: Cinemas across Adelaide