Friday 16 October 6:00 - 11:55pm

Visually striking and gloriously unpredictable, THE FOX is a twisted Australian fable about what happens when getting exactly what you wished for turns out to be the beginning of the problem.

Starring Jai Courtney, Emily Browning, and Academy Award winner Olivia Coleman

Saturday 17 October 12:40 - 2:48pm

THE OLIGARCH AND THE ART DEALER is a thrilling exploration of one of the most sensational and mysterious events to ever hit the art world: the bitter fight between Yves Bouvier and Dmitry Rybolovlev that followed accusations of a billion-dollar swindle.

Saturday 17 October 1:00 - 3:00pm

BROKEN ENGLISH is a fittingly eccentric tribute to one of music's most enduring and complicated icons, blurring the line between documentary and reverie.

With Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton & BAFTA nominee George MacKay

Premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival

Saturday 17 October 3:00 - 5:00pm

“With great power comes great responsibility” - but what if the hero is just a hen?

HEN is a strange, striking piece of cinema - funny, unsettling and deeply humane all at once. Her droll yet touching quest for motherhood mirrors the messy compromises and silent struggles of human lives.

Saturday 17 October 3:45 - 5:45pm

A love story like no other, THE CYCLE OF LOVE is an inspiring, heart-warming, epic true-life adventure about the search for self-belief and risking everything for what your heart tells you.

After winning multiple audience awards on the international festival circuit, The Cycle of Love was also runner-up for Best International Documentary in the Sydney Film Festival Audience Awards.

Saturday 17 October 5:00 - 7:30pm

Catch the Rising Wave of Australian Talent

The next generation of storytellers is here - bold, brilliant, and ready to be seen.

Scores of Young Australian Filmmakers entered BBFF’s coveted Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year Competition this year. This session features the top finalists for 2026.

Saturday 17 October 5:15 - 7:15pm

Written, directed by, and starring Harvey Zielinski in the dual roles of Jake and Sam, SWEET MILK LAKE is a bold, funny, deeply lived-in Australian debut about identity, masculinity and the long road to self-acceptance

A Critics' Pick at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival

Saturday 17 October 6:00 - 9:30pm

An immersive journey through three distant cultures in search of the origin of the breath of life. A spatial and spiritual exploration that moves through singing, sound, and voice, leading to the deepest connection with oneself. A path that evolves on the wave of sounds and the bodies that generate them, unveiling the essence of humanity.

Saturday 17 October 7:30 - 9:30pm

Directed by Kent Jones and written by Samy Burch, from Arthur Schnitzler’s novella, Late Fame is a witty, warm-hearted New York story about art, ego, aging and second chances.

With Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe & Emmy nominee Greta Lee

Saturday 17 October 8:00 - 10:00pm

THE BEST SUMMER is a loving scrapbook of youth, rock and friendship - a joyous, revealing time capsule of alternative music's golden era, standing as a testament to trusting your instincts and making the film only you can tell.

The idyllic English countryside. An intensive dairy farmer called Derek. One day his neighbour, also a Derek, forsakes tradition and starts to turn his land over to wild nature, sparking a long-running feud. This film charts the two Derek's turbulent, often funny, relationship as tempers fray, wild animals escape, and the land is transformed.

Sunday 18 October 12:30 - 2:38pm

A poignant meditation on humanity's relationship with nature. The Tale Of Silyan beautifully weaves reality and magical realism.

Sunday 18 October 1:00 - 3:00pm

THE BEST SUMMER is a loving scrapbook of youth, rock and friendship - a joyous, revealing time capsule of alternative music's golden era, standing as a testament to trusting your instincts and making the film only you can tell.

Sunday 18 October 2:30 - 4:45

Includes Q&A

Directed by Genevieve Clay-Smith, BOSS CAT is a vibrant, big-hearted Australian dramedy about independence, family and self-determination, anchored by a fearless lead performance.

Sunday 18 October 5:00 - 7:00pm

A love story like no other, THE CYCLE OF LOVE is an inspiring, heart-warming, epic true-life adventure about the search for self-belief and risking everything for what your heart tells you.

After winning multiple audience awards on the international festival circuit, The Cycle of Love was also runner-up for Best International Documentary in the Sydney Film Festival Audience Awards.

A collection of short films about women taking their place in the lineup, on their own terms.

Across different coastlines, cultures and generations, these stories explore the challenges, friendships and personal journeys that come with making space for yourself in the surf world.

Sunday 18 October 5:00 - 7:00pm

INCLUDES Q&A

Beautifully photographed, deeply human and ultimately uplifting, Guided by Horses is a story about trust, belonging and the quiet moments that can change the direction of a life - and a reminder that sometimes the way forward begins with learning how to listen.

Sunday 18 October 7:30 - 9:30pm

Sexy, funny, melancholic and unmistakably Almodóvar, Bitter Christmas is a richly layered story about desire, creativity and what happens when the people you love become the raw material for your art.

Monday 19 October 7:00 - 9:00pm

INCLUDES Q&A

Beautifully photographed, deeply human and ultimately uplifting, Guided by Horses is a story about trust, belonging and the quiet moments that can change the direction of a life - and a reminder that sometimes the way forward begins with learning how to listen.

Tuesday 20 October 7:00 - 9:00pm

Includes Q&A

TIBER is the debut narrative feature of Irish-Australian writer-director Dominic Allen, an Italian-language arthouse drama shot in Rome, Cortona and Florence.

Wednesday 21 October 6:00 - 9:00pm

BBFF2026’s Music Video Party returns to the Arts Factory Garden Bar.

Wednesday 21 October 7:00 - 9:00pm

From Emmy Award winner and Academy Award nominee Poh Si Teng, AMERICAN DOCTOR is an urgent, unflinching documentary that refuses easy answers, asking audiences to sit with the human cost of conflict through the eyes of those trying, against all odds, to heal it.

An Official Selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival

Thursday 22 October 12:00 - 2:00pm

Includes Q&A

Directed by Genevieve Clay-Smith, BOSS CAT is a vibrant, big-hearted Australian dramedy about independence, family and self-determination, anchored by a fearless lead performance.

Thursday 22 October 6:00 - 9:25pm

From Uluwatu and beyond, Magic Island is paired with surf shorts that look at the many ways surfing connects us to place, culture and ourselves. Moving through different coastlines and perspectives, the films explore belonging, creativity, tradition, change and the personal relationships we form with the ocean and the places around it.

Sunday 18 October 5:00 - 7:00pm

A love story like no other, THE CYCLE OF LOVE is an inspiring, heart-warming, epic true-life adventure about the search for self-belief and risking everything for what your heart tells you.

After winning multiple audience awards on the international festival circuit, The Cycle of Love was also runner-up for Best International Documentary in the Sydney Film Festival Audience Awards.

Thursday 22 October 7:00 - 9:00pm

BROKEN ENGLISH is a fittingly eccentric tribute to one of music's most enduring and complicated icons, blurring the line between documentary and reverie.

With Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton & BAFTA nominee George MacKay

Premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival

Friday 23 October 5:00 - 7:00pm

Showcasing films from a diverse range of countries, this session epitomizes the power of cinema. While each story is deeply anchored in its unique cultural context, they collectively resonate, stirring emotions and empathy. Significantly, among this global lineup are several nominees for BBFF2026's Best Short Film Award.

Indigenous short films exploring culture, language, story and connection to Country, and the ways these are being carried forward into the future. Through ancestral memory, personal journeys and cultural revival, the films honour what has endured, what is being reclaimed, and what has always belonged here.

Friday 23 October 6:30 - 8:30pm

Includes Q&A

A spiritual epic road movie for the love of music and country.

Directed by Stephen Dupont whose film KAUGERE: A Place Where Nobody Enters - won BBFF2023’s Best Documentary Award.

Friday 23 October 6:30 - 9:25pm

A collection of South American surf films travelling through coastlines, communities and very different ways of living with the ocean. From Brazil and beyond, the films capture the energy, characters and cultures surrounding surfing across the continent, from everyday life on the beach to adventure, ambition and the pull of the next wave.

Saturday 17 October 7:30 - 9:30pm

Directed by Kent Jones and written by Samy Burch, from Arthur Schnitzler’s novella, Late Fame is a witty, warm-hearted New York story about art, ego, aging and second chances.

With Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe & Emmy nominee Greta Lee

Friday 23 October 7:30 - 9:30pm

A love story like no other, THE CYCLE OF LOVE is an inspiring, heart-warming, epic true-life adventure about the search for self-belief and risking everything for what your heart tells you.

After winning multiple audience awards on the international festival circuit, The Cycle of Love was also runner-up for Best International Documentary in the Sydney Film Festival Audience Awards.

Friday 23 October 8:00 - 10:00pm

A sharp, funny and gloriously offbeat collection of shorts for anyone who prefers cinema a little left of centre.

Saturday 24 October 11:30am - 2:50pm

From Academy Award nominee Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, the acclaimed director of Drive My Car, All of a Sudden is an expansive, emotionally rich story of friendship, dignity and two remarkable women refusing to accept that the world simply has to be the way it is.

With Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, joint winners of the Best Actress Award at Cannes for their performances in the film

A celebration of Northern Rivers filmmaking, bringing together locally made short films and short documentaries - and the filmmakers behind them - to showcase the depth, creativity and distinctive voices of our region.

Saturday 24 October 1:00 - 3:00pm

INCLUDES Q&A

Beautifully photographed, deeply human and ultimately uplifting, Guided by Horses is a story about trust, belonging and the quiet moments that can change the direction of a life - and a reminder that sometimes the way forward begins with learning how to listen.

Saturday 24 October 3:00 - 5:00pm

Directed by Vic Sarin, THE LIGHTKEEPER is a haunting, atmospheric Irish-Canadian drama about grief, penance and the possibility of being seen again.

Premiered at the 2026 Dublin International Film Festival

Includes Q&A with Shannon Harvey

When award-winning journalist and mother Shannon Harvey (My Year of Living Mindfully) set out to understand why anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide are rising among young people, she found herself asking a bigger question. Is mental illness preventable?

Saturday 24 October 5:00 - 7:08pm

THE OLIGARCH AND THE ART DEALER is a thrilling exploration of one of the most sensational and mysterious events to ever hit the art world: the bitter fight between Yves Bouvier and Dmitry Rybolovlev that followed accusations of a billion-dollar swindle.

Saturday 24 October 5:15 - 7:15pm

BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY is a tender, unflinching portrait of queer adolescence, class shame, and identity, told through the intimate, unvarnished lens of New Zealand girlhood at a moment when the wider world was beginning to seep in.

Includes Q&A

A spiritual epic road movie for the love of music and country.

Directed by Stephen Dupont whose film KAUGERE: A Place Where Nobody Enters - won BBFF2023’s Best Documentary Award.

Saturday 24 October 6:30 - 8:30pm

Visually striking and gloriously unpredictable, THE FOX is a twisted Australian fable about what happens when getting exactly what you wished for turns out to be the beginning of the problem.

Starring Jai Courtney, Emily Browning, and Academy Award winner Olivia Coleman

Saturday 24 October 7:20 - 9:20pm

Visually striking and gloriously unpredictable, THE FOX is a twisted Australian fable about what happens when getting exactly what you wished for turns out to be the beginning of the problem.

Starring Jai Courtney, Emily Browning, and Academy Award winner Olivia Coleman

Saturday 24 October 7:30 - 9:30pm

Sexy, funny, melancholic and unmistakably Almodóvar, Bitter Christmas is a richly layered story about desire, creativity and what happens when the people you love become the raw material for your art.

Saturday 17 October 8:00 - 10:00pm

THE BEST SUMMER is a loving scrapbook of youth, rock and friendship - a joyous, revealing time capsule of alternative music's golden era, standing as a testament to trusting your instincts and making the film only you can tell.

Monday 19 October 12:30 - 2:30 pm

Beautifully photographed, deeply human and ultimately uplifting, Guided by Horses is a story about trust, belonging and the quiet moments that can change the direction of a life - and a reminder that sometimes the way forward begins with learning how to listen.

Sunday 25 October 1:00 - 3:00pm

Directed by Kent Jones and written by Samy Burch, from Arthur Schnitzler’s novella, Late Fame is a witty, warm-hearted New York story about art, ego, aging and second chances.

With Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe & Emmy nominee Greta Lee

Sunday 25 October 2:00 - 4:00pm

A poignant meditation on humanity's relationship with nature. The Tale Of Silyan beautifully weaves reality and magical realism.

Sunday 25 October 3:00 - 5:00pm

Includes Q&A

World Premiere with Endre Kvia.

The first instalment in a planned documentary series, CRACK ME OPEN is a raw, searching act of self-discovery - as much an investigation of the human psyche as it is a personal confession.

Sunday 18 October 7:30 - 9:30pm

Sexy, funny, melancholic and unmistakably Almodóvar, Bitter Christmas is a richly layered story about desire, creativity and what happens when the people you love become the raw material for your art.

Sunday 24 October 7:30 - 9:30pm

Directed by Kent Jones and written by Samy Burch, from Arthur Schnitzler’s novella, Late Fame is a witty, warm-hearted New York story about art, ego, aging and second chances.

With Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe & Emmy nominee Greta Lee

Sunday 25 October 8:00 - 10:00pm

Includes Q&A

A spiritual epic road movie for the love of music and country.

Directed by Stephen Dupont whose film KAUGERE: A Place Where Nobody Enters - won BBFF2023’s Best Documentary Award.