MIFF Announces 2026 Award Nominees for $300,000+ Prize Pool

The Melbourne International Film Festival has announced the nominees for its 2026 awards, competing across a prize pool exceeding $300,000. The nominations span multiple categories recognizing work in the festival's program.

From ten Australian-premiering films by first- and second-feature directors, all vying for the prestigious Bright Horizons Award, to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander screen creatives shortlisted for the Uncle Jack Charles Award, and the local directing talent vying for the Blackmagic Design Best Australian Director Award, this year's nominees showcase the breadth and ambition of contemporary screen storytelling, both local and global.

Awarding $140,000 to the winning film, the Bright Horizons Award remains one of the richest prizes in the world. Supported by VicScreen, the Competition is dedicated to discovering the next generation of cinematic storytellers and champions ten Australian-premiering titles from home and abroad. This year's cohort is as follows:

Big Girls Don't Cry – dir. Paloma Schneideman
Blue Heron – dir. Sophy Romvari
Elephants in the Fog – dir. Abinash Bikram Shah
Goodbye, Cruel World – dir. Félix de Givry
Josephine – dir. Beth de Araújo
La Gradiva – dir. Marine Atlan
Sweet Milk Lake – dir. Harvey Zielinski
The Friend's House Is Here – dir. Hossein Keshavarz and Maryam Ataei
Wicker – dir. Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer
Yesterday the Eye Didn't Sleep – dir. Rakan Mayasi

Artistic Director Al Cossar, said: “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.

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.”

A number of this year's Bright Horizons creatives will be in attendance at the festival, travelling from across the globe to be part of MIFF. International guests include filmmaking and real-life partners Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer, who will attend the MIFF Opening Night Gala screening of their spiky fable, Wicker; plus their fellow Bright Horizons filmmakers, Abinash Bikram Shah, Beth de Araújo, Hossein Keshavarz and Maryam Ataei, Paloma Schneideman, Rakan Mayasi, Sophy Romvari and local director Harvey Zielinski.

Audiences can catch the Bright Horizons Competition lineup with a dedicated pass, granting access to any three films in the program at a discounted price. Last year's Bright Horizons Award went to A Poet, Colombian director Simón Mesa Soto's Cannes-winning tragicomedy about a washed-up poet who finds unexpected purpose mentoring a gifted teenager from a nearby underprivileged neighbourhood.

The Uncle Jack Charles Award, supported by the MIFF Lumiere Patrons recognises an outstanding Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander screen creative featured in this year's festival program. The winning creative receives a $20,000 cash prize.

The nominations for 2026 are:

Charles Perrurle Perkins – The Native Police
Keinan William McGillivray Pethybridge and Marcus Raymond – Man Wearing a Helmet
Kieran Satour and Tyson Perkins – Facing the Numbers
Talia Liddle – Protest on the Dancefloor
Tammy Lee Rock – Queens to the Front

Image – Blue Heron

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