Melbourne Women in Film Festival
2025: A Celebration of Rebellious and
Radical Filmmaking
The Melbourne Women in Film Festival (MWFF), a vital home for the
championing of female filmmakers, has today unveiled its electrifying 2025
program, featuring an impressive lineup of over 40 world-class features,
shorts, and special events.
The ninth edition of the festival is set to disrupt, challenge, and inspire filmmaking in
a showcase of the radical and rebellious work of female and gender-diverse filmmakers from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Pasifika. With a focus on fresh perspectives, the festival delivers dynamic screenings, talks, and masterclasses that push the boundaries of storytelling, all while celebrating the visionary women at the forefront of the film industry. Transforming ACMI and Fed Square into a vibrant hub of creativity, MWFF will captivate audiences from Thursday 20 – Monday 24 March.
MWFF Festival Director, Sian Mitchel says “I am thrilled to invite audiences to immerse themselves in a celebration of both emerging and established women and gender-diverse filmmakers from across the
region.“ Come and discover groundbreaking new voices, hidden cinematic gems, and the powerful legacies of
women’s filmmaking. This is where the future of film is being written, and we can’t wait to share it with you.
One of the dynamite filmmakers we spoke to is Lou Sanz wrtier of Audrey and she be on panel for her film check out our interview she is awesome.
“
In a special Opening Night screening, Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu
’s We Were Dangerous (Aotearoa NZ, 2024), a powerful story about hope, girlhood and the celebration of female friendships, will set the tone for the festival. Set in 1954 New Zealand, the indomitable film follows rebellious teens at a remote reform school.
Banding together, the girls push back against the oppressive rules and system
designed to shape them into subservient women. Starring the incredible Rima Te
Wiata (Hunt of the Wilderpeople), Nathalie Morris (Bump), Erana James (The
Changeover) and newcomer Manaia Hall, this is a rallying cry for girls to unite across
the divisions that are used to disempower them. Bursting with joyful rebellion We
Were Dangerous is the perfect feature to kick off this year’s disruptive program.
The wickedly funny Audrey (Australia, 2024) follows, featuring a captivating panel
discussion. This razor sharp comedy follows a washed-up soap star who adopts her
comatose daughter’s identity in a bid to reclaim her life. With a stellar cast including
the inimitable Jackie van Beek (The Breaker Uppers), Hannah Diviney (Latecomers),
Josephine Blazier (True History of the Kelly Gang), and Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (The
Dry), Audrey is black comedy at its best.
Audrey will be presented in a special screening event and panel conversation—
Reframing Audrey. Having received the prestigious ReFrame Stamp—alongside the
likes of Shiva Baby and Barbie—which recognises commitment to gender-balanced
hiring, including women, non-binary, and trans people, the MWFF screening will
include a panel with filmmakers and ReFrame founders for a discussion on the
certification’s impact on the global screen industry.
In a night of schlock, horror, gore, and goo, MWFF, in collaboration with the TILDE
Film Festival, will present The Almost Midnight Movie Marathon. First up is
Alice Maio Mackay ’s T Blockers (Australia, 2024), a high-octane tribute to queer and
genre cinema. When ancient parasites emerge to feed on hatred and infest the fearful,
a struggling young trans filmmaker becomes the only one who can sense the
possessed and lead the charge to stop the horror from spreading. Stick around (if you
dare) for Sasha Rainbow ’s debut feature, Grafted (Aotearoa NZ, 2024), where Mean
Girls meets Face/Off. A disfigured Chinese scholarship student at a prestigious New
Zealand university turns to terrifying science to gain the popularity she craves in this
twisted tale of transformation. The Almost Midnight Movie Marathon is a blood-
curdling ride not for the faint hearted.
MWFF’s exceptional short film program complements these bold features, offering
five dynamic selections that spotlight fresh talent and new ideas. Freshly Squeezed
Shorts 1 offers everything from lively tales of wedding jitters and blossoming familial
bonds to evocative true stories of embracing culture and identity. Next Gen Shorts
highlights the emerging generation of filmmakers, with explorations of womanhood,
suburban Melbourne life, complex mother/daughter relationships, and the all-too-
relatable impulse to
” spill the tea” with friends.
