MIFF 2026 industry programs wrap after record 37South Market – Melbourne International Film Festival has closed its 2026 industry programs, with MIFF Industry reporting a record year for its 37South Market and naming the inaugural Accelerator Lab Pitch Prize winner.
The industry program wrapped around the world premiere of Mad Rush, directed by MIFF Accelerator Lab alumna Maddelin McKenna, following a busy stretch for 37South Market and Accelerator Lab across the 2026 festival.
For Australian screen practitioners, the MIFF industry program is one of the festival’s most important behind-the-scenes platforms. It connects local and New Zealand producers, directors and projects with financiers, sales agents, distributors, studios, streamers and mentors, helping move festival conversation into future production and distribution opportunities.
37South Market Sets New Records
Now in its 19th year, 37South Market ran from 6 to 9 August and brought together Australian and New Zealand producers with local and international financing and marketplace guests.
MIFF Industry said the 2026 market hosted more than 3,300 scheduled meetings, 458 delegates and a record 174 producers from Australia and New Zealand. The event also brought together 61 local and international financing guest companies in person.
Companies represented across the market included AGC Studios, Amazon MGM Studios, Anonymous Content, Architect, Beta Cinema, Blue Fox, Concourse Media, Disney+, Federation Studios, Goodfellas, HanWay, Kismet, Rocket Science, Madman, Mister Smith, MUBI, Netflix, Pinky Promise Films, Roadshow, Stan, StudioCanal, Umbrella and Upgrade Productions.
Australian production companies taking part included ArenaMedia, Brouhaha, Carver, Causeway, Curio, Fremantle, Goalpost, Easy Tiger, Good Thing, Jungle, Ludo and Princess Pictures.
The State of Play talks program covered screen financing, production, distribution, audience-led development, private investment, co-production and international distribution trends. Books at MIFF also presented a case study on Wicker with co-writers and co-directors Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer.
Prize Winners And New Pathways
The 2026 37South Market included several prize announcements, including recognition for projects and emerging producing teams through its Production Finance Market and New Talent Prize programs.
PFM Prize winners included Djali House, from Huna Amweero and Hunter Page-Lochard, along with Angie Fielder and Velvet Riot Films producers Rachel Forbes and Celyren Leckie. The New Talent Prize went to Lucie McMahon, Pat Mooney, Emma Mortimer and Lani-rain Feltham.
MIFF also highlighted new Westgarth Foundation-supported initiatives, including Producer Accelerator and 37South: Pathways, which are designed to create additional development routes for screen practitioners.
Accelerator Lab Names Pitch Prize Winner
Accelerator Lab ran from 12 to 16 August, bringing 25 emerging directors into five days of workshops, screenings, panels and networking sessions.
Victoria Boult’s The Sisterhood won the inaugural Accelerator Lab Pitch Prize, supported by the Westgarth Foundation, receiving $4,000.
Guest speakers across the program included Sophy Romvari, Robert Connolly, Dario Russo, Paloma Schneideman, Bonnie Moir, Josef Gatti, Corrin Evans, Sean Wallace and Jordan Dodson, Chouwa Liang, Hyun Lee, James J. Robinson and Pietra Brettkelly.
International guests included John Nein, Gabor Greiner, David Kwok, Joe Yanick, Juliette Louchart, Ulrich Ziemons and Dana Cox.
The 2026 program also reflected the longer-term pathway from MIFF’s emerging filmmaker initiatives to festival screenings, with alumni titles including Mad Rush, The Latcher, Big Girls Don’t Cry and Time and Tide appearing in the wider festival conversation.
MIFF 2026 Continues
MIFF 2026 runs in cinemas until 23 August, with MIFF Online available nationally from 14 to 30 August.
MIFF 37South Market is majority-funded by the Victorian Government through VicScreen and organised by MIFF Industry. 37South is also the exclusive South Pacific partner of London’s Production Finance Market.
For more film festival coverage, visit TV Central’s Cinema Releases section. Read more on TV Central about the MIFF 2026 Shorts Awards and the MIFF 2026 award nominees.
