Sydney Film Festival: Official Competition 2026

You’ll see audacious, cutting-edge, and courageous films in the 2026 Official Competition as we celebrate 18 years of the prestigious Sydney Film Prize – with $60,000 to be awarded to the winning filmmaker.

From Australia, Leviticusis a bold, breakout Sundance hit from Australian Adrian Chiarella, where two teenage boys contend with an evil force that takes on the form of the person they desire most: each other.

Films direct from the Cannes Competition include Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur, a taut thriller that melds the personal and political in 2022 Russia; Asghar Farhadi's Parallel Tales, in which a writer uses surveillance for inspiration, with an all-star French cast including Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Deneuve; Kore-eda Hirokazu's (Shoplifters, SFF 2018; Monster, SFF 2023) Sheep in the Box, a moving near-future drama about grieving parents who turn to AI to rebuild their family; and Paweł Pawlikowski's (Ida; Cold War, SFF 2018) Fatherland, a sensational snapshot of writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika navigating post-war Germany, starring Sandra Hüller and Hanns Zischler.

Also straight from the Cannes Competition are; Marie Kreutzer's Gentle Monster, starring Léa Seydoux; Valeska Grisebach's The Dreamed Adventurefollowing a woman on a perilous mission through the Bulgarian borderlands; and Cristian Mungiu's (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) English-language debut Fjord, a thought-provoking family drama starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve.

Also from Cannes Un Certain Regard, Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo's Ben'Imana is an emotionally powerful exploration of reconciliation following the Rwandan genocide, set to be one of the year's most acclaimed debuts.

Major international prize winners and much anticipated film also compete. Visar Morina's Shame and Money, winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, is a deeply humane drama following a Kosovar family in dire financial circumstances; Alain Gomis' (Félicité, SFF 2017) Dao, presented in the Berlinale Competition, is a swirling, life-affirming epic across Guinea-Bissau and France. Shahrbanoo Sadat's No Good Men, a sparkling political romantic comedy from Afghanistan, opened the Berlinale. Olivia Wilde's (Booksmart, SFF 2019) The Invite, a Sundance hit starring Seth Rogen, Wilde herself, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton, dissects modern relationships over one combustible dinner party.

Sydney Film Prize winners to date: It Was Just an Accident (2025), There’s Still Tomorrow (2024), The Mother of All Lies (2023), Close (2022), There Is No Evil (2021), Parasite (2019), The Heiresses (2018), On Body and Soul (2017), Aquarius (2016), Arabian Nights (2015), Two Days, One Night (2014), Only God Forgives (2013), Alps (2012), A Separation (2011), Heartbeats (2010), Bronson (2009), and Hunger (2008). 

The competition is the only film competition in Australia endorsed by FIAPF, the regulating body for international film festivals, and is judged by a jury of international and Australian filmmakers and industry professionals.

The 2026 Official Competition Jury is: Kleber Mendonça Filho (Jury President), Ildikó Enyedi, Boo Junfeng, Ari Wegner and Sally Riley.

Explore the full program via sff.org.au