WHAT’S ON WHERE
We’ve got a number of great venue partners who are helping us bring a world of film and special events to you across the region.
BRUNSWICK PICTURE HOUSE
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![Poster for Byron Bay International Film Festival with a sky and ocean background, festival dates October 18th to 27th, and a QR code.]()
THROUGH THE LOCAL LENS
Saturday 26 October
Through The Local Lens, this Saturday afternoon session at the Brunswick Picture House, is a showcase of the imaginative and hardworking talent that we have in our region.
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![Poster for the film 'Agent of Happiness' featuring a collage of mountains, a yellow car, and a man in traditional attire holding papers, set against a painted sky background.]()
AGENT OF HAPPINESS
Northern Rivers Premiere
Saturday 26 October
Bhutan measures its development through Gross National Happiness, quantifying citizens' fulfillment. Happiness Agent Amber Gurung surveys diverse households in the Himalayas, facing his own questions about happiness and fulfillment along the way.
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![Two men with surfboards on a beach, smiling at each other, with trees and the ocean in the background. One man has a hat, tattoos, and glasses; the other is shirtless, with a backpack. The image promotes a documentary film titled 'Impact', featuring awards and credits.]()
IMPACT
NSW Premiere + Q&A
Saturday 26 October
The powerful story of two skydivers, Mark Lucchiari and Ben Lucock, and their journey to recovery after a near-fatal accident.
Screens with Wingsuit Flyers
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![Movie poster for 'WILDING' featuring a natural landscape with a large elk in the foreground, trees, a lake, and birds flying, with film festival laurels at the top.]()
WILDING
Byron Premiere + Q&A
Sunday 27 October
A young couple set a 400 year old estate back to the wild and entrust its recovery to a motley mix of animals both tame and wild. It is the beginning of a grand experiment that will become one of the most significant rewilding experiments in Europe.
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![Poster for the documentary 'The Life & Death of Westerly Winda,' showing a woman walking in shallow water with a pastel-colored sky in the background.]()
THE LIFE & DEATH OF WESTERLEY WINDINA
Sunday 27 October + Q&A
In 2008, years after nearly drowning in a traumatic and life-changing surfing accident, Peter Drouyn suddenly resurfaced by coming out as a trans woman on national television. Her new name, she said, was Westerly Windina. “It was a supernova,” Westerly said of her gender awakening. “It just kicked in one night, and suddenly Peter went; Westerly was there.”
LENNOX HEAD CULTURAL CENTRE
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![Two people with surfboards on a sandy beach near the ocean, with a blue sky and clouds in the background. Overlaid text reads: "You should have been here yesterday."]()
YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE YESTERDAY
Byron Premiere + Q&A with crew
Friday 25 October 7:30pm
This film combines hundreds of hours of lovingly-restored 16mm surf film footage with a salt-infused soundscape and wisdoms from Australia’s Gurus, Outsider Artists and Intuitives to tell the story of a wild community who took off up the coast and discovered a whole new way to live.
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![Group of children and a man sitting on the front and top of a yellow school bus in a lush green forest, with text indicating they are part of a future council, movie director by Damon Gameau, and an award badge visible.]()
FUTURE COUNCIL
Lennox Premiere + Q&A with Damon Gameau
Saturday 26 October 3pm
Damon Gameau (2040, THAT SUGAR FILM) takes eight kids on the ultimate school excursion: a road trip across Europe to challenge powerful leaders and find solutions to our greatest ecological challenges. This is a coming-of-age journey that dares to imagine a brighter future.
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![Black and white poster for documentary film titled 'Washed Away,' showing a woman with long hair holding a dog in a forested area and wearing a white lace top.]()
WASHED AWAY
World Premiere With Q&A
Saturday 26 October 7pm
Washed Away chronicles the community members who stepped up to rescue others in the 2022 floods, highlighting their heroic efforts and the collective triumph over tragedy. This documentary celebrates resilience and calls for improved crisis management to prevent future disasters. -
![A shirtless man with dark hair and tattoos on his chest and arm, standing in front of a graffiti background, looking confidently at the camera.]()
BLAK DOUGLAS VS THE COMMONWEALTH
NSW PREMIERE + Panel with Blak Douglas
Sunday 27 October 3pm
A gripping testament to the spirit and transformative power of Blak Douglas’ iconic art to heal and address the injustices of the past. His reflections are powerful, brutally honest and disarming, establishing him as one of the most vital and authentic voices in the Australian arts landscape.
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![Poster for 'Art and Life: The Story of Jim Phillips' featuring a blue cartoon hand with an open mouth as the palm, set against a dark background with stylized illustrations.]()
ART AND LIFE: The Story of Jim Phillips
Lennox Premiere
Sunday 27 October 6:30pm
Graphic artist Jim Phillips, known for his psychedelic art, profoundly influenced Santa Cruz’s skate and surf scenes as art director for Santa Cruz Skateboards. Despite personal and professional setbacks, his resilience shaped his legacy. This documentary delves into his impactful career and enduring contributions to modern art.
PALACE BYRON BAY
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![A black and white poster for the documentary film 'Aquarius,' featuring a woman with gray hair standing in front of a geodesic dome made of interconnected metal rods, with a crowd seated on the ground in front of her.]()
BBFF2024 OPENING NIGHT: AQUARIUS
Byron Premiere
Friday 18 October - Party 6:30pm Film 8pm SOLD OUT
The story of a radical 10-day Festival in 1973 where the participants face down police interference, internal chaos, drugs and personal drama to create a living blueprint for survival on earth.
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![A poster advertising the documentary film "WILDING" with a natural landscape scene including a large stag, trees, a lake, and a castle in the background. The poster features quotes, accolades, and cast information.]()
WILDING
ALL SESSIONS SOLD OUT
Saturday 19 October 12:30pm
Monday 21 October 4pm
Thursday 24 October 6:10pm
A young couple set a 400 year old estate back to the wild and entrust its recovery to a motley mix of animals both tame and wild. It is the beginning of a grand experiment that will become one of the most significant rewilding experiments in Europe
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![Poster for the Byron Bay International Film Festival featuring a close-up of a young man with curly hair and blue eyes, gazing thoughtfully into the distance, with text highlighting his award as Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year.]()
YOUNG AUSTRALIAN FILMMAKERS
Saturday 19 October 2:40pm
The Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year Competition shines as a highlight of the Byron Bay International Film Festival (BBFF). Since 2007, it has served as a launchpad for emerging filmmakers, drawing an eclectic mix of narratives, genres, and styles. This year, we've curated a showcase of the top 10 finalists for 2024, representing the pinnacle of young Australian talent.
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![Poster for the film 'Black Dog' featuring a man on a dirt bike and a dog in a cart, with mountains and a cloudy sky in the background.]()
BLACK DOG
Byron Premiere
Saturday 19 October 5:15pm
Friday 25 October 7:30pm
An ex-convict finds redemption in the bond he forms with an unwanted mutt in Guan Hu's dynamically shot and darkly comic Un Certain Regard Prize winner.
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![Promotional cover for 'The Life & Death of Westerly Windina' featuring a woman walking in shallow water against a pastel sunset background with text details.]()
THE LIFE & DEATH OF WESTERLY WINDINA
World Premiere
Saturday 19 October 7:30pm + Q&A SOLD OUT + 8:15pm
Australian surfer Peter Drouyn was a dominant force in international competitive surfing, revolutionizing how surf competitions are conducted. Yet, despite his success and acclaim, he felt alienated by the hypermasculine and often sexist culture of the surfing world.
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![Cover of a book titled "Fungi, Web of Life," narrated by Björk, featuring a lush green forest with three colorful mushrooms and a starry sky]()
FUNGI: WEB OF LIFE
Byron Premiere + Q&A with the Filmmakers
Sunday 20 October 12:45pm - SOLD OUT
Emcore Sunday 27 October 4pm
All life on Earth is connected by a great mystery we are only just beginning to unravel. Hidden between the world of plants and animals, another world exists…Fungi are the central players in nature’s story of birth, death, and rebirth to discover that life as we know it simply would not exist without them.
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![Four women standing on a rocky shoreline, three young women dressed like students and one older woman dressed in gray, with a suitcase and a cardboard box. The movie title 'We Are Dangerous' is in large yellow letters across the poster.]()
WE WERE DANGEROUS
Byron Premiere
Sunday 20 October 3pm
Friday 25 October 5:30pm
Executive-produced by Taika Waititi, We Were Dangerous offers a fiercely feminist Māori-led twist on the 'coming-of-age delinquent' genre. Set in 1950s New Zealand, it follows three students from an all-girls school as they attempt a daring escape from their oppressive education, only to end up on a deserted island.
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![Swimmers at Bondi Icebergs Pool during sunset with ocean waves in background and film festival laurels at the top.]()
THE POOL
Byron Premiere + Q&A
Sunday 20 October 5:00pm - SOLD OUT
Tuesday 22 October 4pm (no Q&A)
Bondi Icebergs, the world’s most photographed pool at Bondi Beach, has been a beloved spot for nearly a century. It serves as a place for learning, socializing, and enduring winter swims. This iconic pool reflects the universal desire for community, emphasizing equality among all its visitors.
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![Poster for a film titled 'Walkabout: the songlines of surfing,' featuring a surfer walking along the shore with a surfboard, with awards and credits at the bottom.]()
WALKABOUT: THE SONGLINES OF SURFING
NSW Premiere + Q&A
Sunday 20 October 7:30pm
Saturday 26 October 4pm
Two decades after their original adventure together, Arnaud surprises Robbie at the National Aboriginal Surfing Championships at Bells Beach and together, they embark on a new road trip, in search of waves, community and connection to Country.
Screens with Fragments of a Half-Life
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![Promotional poster for the film "Soundtrack to a Coup d'État" featuring a black and white photo of three people inside a vintage car, with text in bold colors and an acknowledgment of Sundance Film Festival.]()
SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D'ETAT
Byron Premiere
Monday 21 October 7pm
Wednesday 23 October 3:30pm
Tipped for an Oscar - The CIA's involvement in assassinating Congo’s first elected prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, is explored alongside the U.S.'s tactic of sending jazz legends as 'ambassadors' to divert attention during Africa's decolonization. Archival footage and jazz blend into a compelling narrative against colonialism.
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![Group of children and an adult standing and sitting on a yellow school bus in a green forest, promoting a film called 'Future Council' by Damon Gameau. The poster includes awards and festival selections.]()
FUTURE COUNCIL
Byron Premiere + Q&A
Tuesday 22 October 7pm SOLD OUT
Damon Gameau (THAT SUGAR FILM) takes eight kids on the ultimate school excursion: a road trip across Europe to challenge powerful leaders and find solutions to our greatest ecological challenges. This is a coming-of-age journey that dares to imagine a brighter future.
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![Movie poster for 'Sasquatch Sunset' showing four Sasquatch figures holding hands against a sunset background with trees on either side, and text highlighting reviews and awards.]()
SASQUATCH SUNSET
Byron Premiere
Wednesday 23 October 7pm
In the misty forests of North America, a family of Sasquatches find themselves on a collision course with the ever-changing world around them.
Starring Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg
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![Two people with surfboards standing on a grassy beach, facing the ocean with a cloudy sky overhead. Text overlay: "You should have been here yesterday."]()
YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE YESTERDAY
Byron Premiere + Q&A
Thursday 24 October 7pm + 7:30pm SOLD OUT
Hundreds of hours of restored 16mm surf film footage, combined with a salt-infused soundscape and insights from Australia's gurus and outsider artists, capture the story of a vibrant community that journeyed up the coast to discover a new way of living.
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![Close-up of a young woman with a distressed expression, with a knife featuring a woman’s face and blood on the blade. Text on the image includes "HELL HATH NO FURY" and "THE MATRARCH" in red, with additional credits and film information.]()
THE MATRIARCH
World Premiere + Q&A
Friday 25 October 8pm
A thirteen year old girl kills her addict mother's boyfriend in self defense, and is subsequently terrorized by her own mother.
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![Movie poster titled 'Backstage' with a cast of women standing in front of a fiery background, silhouettes of people and animals at the bottom, with text in both English and Arabic.]()
BACKSTAGE
Saturday 26 October 12:30pm
During a performance in a small town in the Middle Atlas, Aida, a member of a Tunisian contemporary dance troupe touring Morocco, provokes her life and stage partner, Hedi. His reaction injures her on stage, setting off a series of events that unfold over a long night. As they journey through a forest to reach a doctor in the next village, the tension escalates.
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![A ceramic owl figurine with intricate patterns and large eyes, sitting behind a broken concrete wall with rusted metal bars, titled 'Porcelain War' on the cover of a magazine or poster, with the Sundance Film Festival 2024 and a 'winner' badge at the top.]()
PORCELAIN WAR
Byron Premiere
Saturday 26 October 5.15 pm
During the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine, artists Slava Leontyev, Anya Stasenko, and Andrey Stefanov remain to defend their homeland with art and arms. Andrey documents their resilience, Slava trains civilians turned soldiers, and Anya finds solace in her art, encapsulating their tumultuous present and hopes for the future amidst the chaos.
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![Stylized poster of a documentary film titled 'The Hottest Australian Band Ever!' with three characters in exaggerated cartoon style. One has long brown hair, another has dark hair and mouth open, and the third has long black hair with a lion's face around their shoulder. Background features bright colors and small figures holding musical instruments.]()
THE MOST AUSTRALIAN BAND IN THE WORLD
Byron Premiere + Q&A
Saturday 26 October 7:30pm
The Secret Origin of the Hard-Ons.Three ethnic school kids from Western Sydney discover punk music and form a band. Together they fight racism and the music industry to become Australia’s biggest indie band larrikins. Before diversity was a buzzword, there was the Hard-Ons!
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![Movie poster for 'The Moon Is Upside Down' featuring three women with their heads above a fuel pump and large bird wings behind them, with a cow's legs and hooves below. The poster includes titles, quotes, and awards in the background.]()
THE MOON IS UPSIDE DOWN
Byron Premiere
Sunday 27 October 12:30pm
Faith, a lonely empty-nester on an uncharacteristic mission of mercy; Natalia, a duped mail-order bride and Briar, a numbed anesthetist on an unromantic weekend each navigate their way through the alpine landscape and the contours of the human heart.
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![A close-up portrait of an older man with disheveled hair, set against a clear blue sky, with overlay text for the Byron Bay International Film Festival 2024 Short Film Session titled 'Heartbeats of Humanity.']()
SHORT FILM SESSION: HEARTBEATS OF HUMANITY
Sunday 27 October 2:45pm
This special short film session at BBFF2024 showcases an array of award-winning films from Australia, Norway, Gambia, and beyond, each deeply rooted in its unique cultural context yet universally resonant.
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![Movie poster for "Unlikely Allies," showing a central man with a serious expression and six other faces in the background, some in red and some in blue, with the Capitol building and a watchtower at the bottom.]()
UNLIKELY ALLIES
Sunday 27 October 5pm
In 2003, Weldon Angelos’ promising music career was halted by a minor cannabis case, sparking a national movement to reform the U.S. criminal justice system. This cause united a diverse group, including conservatives like Charles Koch and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), with liberals such as Senator Corey Booker, Van Jones, and musicians Alicia Keys and Snoop Dogg.
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![Poster for the film 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig' featuring a woman in profile with her eyes covered by a cloth, set against a blue background with the Cannes Film Festival logo at the top.]()
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG
Byron Premiere
Sunday 27 October 7:15pm
Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s daring family drama, set in Tehran, won the Prix Spécial and the FIPRESCI Award at Cannes. The film explores the life of Iman, an investigating judge caught in a moral crisis when his wife and daughters are implicated in a political scandal following a woman’s death in police custody.
PALACE BALLINA FAIR
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![A poster for the film 'WILDING' showing a natural landscape with a deer, trees, and a pond, with a bird flying in the sky and purple flowers in the foreground.]()
WILDING
Sunday 27 October 4:15pm
A young couple set a 400 year old estate back to the wild and entrust its recovery to a motley mix of animals both tame and wild. It is the beginning of a grand experiment that will become one of the most significant rewilding experiments in Europe
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![A group of people swimming in an outdoor pool at sunset with an ocean, waves, rocks, and a colorful sky in the background. The image features multiple film festival laurels at the top and promotional text for the documentary "The Pool" with information about a dive at Bondi Icebergs.]()
THE POOL
Saturday 26 October 5pm
Bondi Icebergs, the world’s most photographed pool at Bondi Beach, has been a beloved spot for nearly a century. It serves as a place for learning, socializing, and enduring winter swims. Featured in the documentary THE POOL, it symbolizes inclusivity and community, showcasing diverse stories against a nostalgic 1960s soundtrack. This iconic pool reflects the universal desire for community, emphasizing equality among all its visitors.
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![Four women standing on a rocky shoreline with trees in the background, holding suitcases and a whiteboard, with yellow text overlay that reads 'WE WERE DANGEROUS,' and film festival laurels in the top right corner.]()
WE WERE DANGEROUS
Saturday 26 October 7:15pm
Set in 1950s New Zealand, it follows three students from an all-girls school as they attempt a daring escape from their oppressive education, only to end up on a deserted island. Directed by Māori filmmaker Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu, the film mixes a stark setting with a wicked sense of humor and vibrant hope.
SPECIAL EVENTS
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![Black and white photograph of a man with curly hair and a headband, eyes closed, with arms outstretched and a passionate expression on his face.]()
NIMBIN PREMIERE OF AQUARIUS
SUNDAY 20 OCTOBER
NIMBIN BUSH THEATRE
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![A colorful, illuminated DJ turntable with neon light patterns and a vinyl record on the platter, set against a vibrant pink and purple background.]()
MUSIC VIDEO SHOWCASE
WEDNESDAY 23 OCTOBER
HOTEL MARVELL ROOFTOP
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![A group of young women at a vibrant neon-lit party, standing closely and smiling, surrounded by colorful, streaked lights on the ceiling.]()
AQUARIUS RISING
FRIDAY 18 OCTOBER
OTHERWORLD
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![Cover image for the interactive space-themed story titled 'Otto's Planet.' Features a small planet with a large tree, astronauts, and a cozy tent on its surface, floating in outer space with stars, planets, and asteroids around.]()
VIRTUAL REALITY
FRIDAY 25 OCTOBER
TAFE CONNECTED LEARNING CENTRE
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![Two people, a young woman and a young man, operating video cameras in a studio setting.]()
UNLOCK THE SECRETS TO SCREEN STORY TELLING
SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER
FILMMAKING WORKSHOP
