Nominees announced for 2025 MIFF Awards – A celebration of bold storytelling and emerging talent, both local and global, the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has revealed the nominees for this year’s MIFF Awards, presented by Penfolds.
Amassing a stellar prize pool of over $300,000, this year’s major categories include the return of the prestigious Bright Horizons Award; the Blackmagic Design Best Australian Director Award; with The Uncle Jack Charles Award in collaboration with Kearney Group; the Intrepid Audience Award; and the MIFF Schools Jury Award presented by Collarts.
Announced alongside this year’s Jury, the 2025 Bright Horizons Award returns with ten notable first and second-time filmmakers – each an exciting new voice in global cinema. Supported by VicScreen, the $140,000 prize remains one of the richest film awards in the world. This year’s Bright Horizons Competition slate once again showcases a bold array of new, Australian-premiering works from filmmaking talents on the rise, including:
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You — dir. Mary Bronstein
First Light — dir. James J. Robinson
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo — dir. Diego Céspedes
Urchin — dir. Harris Dickinson
A Useful Ghost — dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke
Sound of Falling — dir. Mascha Schilinski
The Rivals of Amziah King – dir. Andrew Patterson
A Poet — dir. Simón Mesa Soto
April — dir. Dea Kulumbegashvili
Renoir — dir. Chie Hayakawa
Of this year’s Bright Horizons Competition, MIFF Artistic Director Al Cossar said:
“The Bright Horizons Competition is MIFF’s dynamic and dedicated space for discovery – celebrating those who are set to define new paths in movie-going, poised to become the major auteurs of tomorrow. Bright Horizons has quickly become MIFF’s most must-see program lineup, and this year will once again light up the screen in celebration of the most exciting breakthrough voices in contemporary cinema, with a lauded lineup of highly anticipated films all screening in Australian Premiere.”
“After presenting attendees such as Oscar winner Gints Zilbalodis in 2024, we’re thrilled Bright Horizons will also once again bring an incredible array of film teams exclusively to Melbourne audiences from all around the globe to compete for one of the globe’s richest film prizes, alongside our esteemed Bright Horizons Jury, featuring major international and Australian creative luminaries from the worlds of cinema and beyond.”
This year’s Jury is led by writer-director-producer Charlotte Wells (Aftersun, MIFF 2022), who will serve as Jury President; along with Australian actress, writer and performer Tamala; American filmmaker and actor AlexRossPerry (Pavements; Videoheaven, MIFF 2025); Greek filmmaker, writer and producer AthinaRachelTsangari (Harvest, MIFF 2025); IMDb founder and Executive Chairman ColNeedham; Vietnamese-Australian author and screenwriter NamLe; and acclaimed Australian composer and musician, CaitlinYeo.
Audiences can dive into the full Bright Horizons Competition lineup with a special pass, offering access to any three Bright Horizons films of their choice at a discounted price.
Penfolds joins the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2025 as a new major partner and proud presenter of the MIFF Awards. This exciting partnership reflects Penfolds’ commitment to innovation and creativity through their generous support for bold, original voices in film.
Presented by Blackmagic Design, the Blackmagic Design Best Australian Director Award acknowledges an outstanding Australian director of a film screened as part of the festival’s 2025 program, with the winner presented a $50,000 cash prize and a fully kitted URSA Cine 12K camera valued at $27,500. The winner of the Blackmagic Design Best Australian Director Award will be selected by the previously announced Bright Horizons Jury—an esteemed panel of industry figures who will attend the festival to deliberate and select this year’s winners before announcing them on stage at the annual MIFF Awards ceremony on Saturday 23 August at Rydges Melbourne.
James J. Robinson — First Light
Zoe Pepper — Birthright
Samuel Van Grinsven — Went Up the Hill
Sophie Somerville — Fwends
CEO of Blackmagic Design, Grant Petty said:
“Everyone here at Blackmagic Design congratulates the nominees for continuing to create these high quality films. It is truly humbling to see the level of innovation from these Australian filmmakers.”
Celebrating excellence and dedication in storytelling, The Uncle Jack Charles Award in collaboration with Kearney Group honours an outstanding Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander screen creative whose work features in the 2025 festival. The award includes a $20,000 cash prize and tailored financial services from Kearney Group valued at $25,000.
In 2024, the award was won by April Phillips, lead artist of the XR work kajoo yannaga (come on let’s walk together). This year’s nominated creatives include:
Mark Coles Smith — Actor, Beast of War, Feature Film
William Jaka — Director (with Fraser Pemberton), Faceless, Short Film
Jack Manning Bancroft and Tyson Yunkaporta — Directors, Imagine, Feature Film
Trisha Morton-Thomas — Director (with Maggie Miles), Journey Home, David Gulpilil, Feature Film
Yarrenyty Arltere Artists — Art Direction, The Fix-It-Man And The Fix-It-Wooman, Short Film
The winner of the award is selected by a film jury of three key industry talents, with this year’s independent panel featuring interdisciplinary artist Reko Rennie; acclaimed filmmaker Jub Clerc (Sweet As, MIFF 2022); and last year’s Uncle Jack Charles Award winner, digital artist and director April Phillips.
Paul Kearney, Founder and CEO of Kearney Group, said:
“Congratulations to all the extraordinary artists nominated for this year’s Uncle Jack Charles Award. Your extraordinary works exemplify the spirit of Uncle Jack—generous, artful and unapologetically honest. We are deeply honoured to recognise each of you as you continue to imagine, create, and share these essential stories with the world.”
Taking on the task of awarding the best title from the MIFF Schools program, three young filmmakers from the 2025 Top Screen cohort (Alex Feehan, Mia Sattler and Tadhg Sheehan) will choose the winner of the MIFF Schools Youth Jury Award, presented by Collarts. The chosen film will receive a $10,000 cash prize.
“At Collarts we celebrate creativity that breaks new ground and amplifies new voices — and the Melbourne International Film Festival does just that. These awards recognise the immense talent and dedication that fuels the film industry’s next wave of storytellers. By shining a spotlight on these achievements, the awards inspire our students and alumni to cherish their unique creative voices and to push boundaries and challenge the status quo. This partnership continues to nurture bold, innovative creators who are ready to make an impact on the global stage,” said CEO of Collarts, Sam Jacob.
Meanwhile, the Intrepid Audience Award gives MIFF audiences the chance to have their voices heard with festival-goers invited to champion their favourite film of the festival. With thanks to Intrepid, all voters will go into the draw to win a trip for two to Japan.
Intrepid Managing Director ANZ, Brett Mitchell said:
“Intrepid is proud to once again partner with MIFF to celebrate the power of storytelling from around the world. We’re excited to present the Intrepid Audience Award for the second year running, an opportunity to champion creativity and spotlight talent. This year, we’re thrilled to offer the MIFF community the chance to win an unforgettable trip to Japan as part of the program. Our continued partnership reflects the strong alignment between our brands, united by a shared commitment to sparking creativity and inspiring positive change through travel and cinema.”
One of the world’s most highly regarded short-film competitions, the much-loved MIFF Shorts Awards returns for its 64th edition to honour the very best in short-form filmmaking with a prize pool of $50,000. As both Academy Awards®–accredited and BAFTA-qualifying, the 2025 winners in key categories will be eligible for submission to the 98th Academy Awards® and considered for entry into the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards. The Shorts Awards Jury members selected for this year include filmmaker Audrey Lam; co-founder and Head of Impact Production at Regen Studios, Anna Kaplan; and Umbrella Entertainment’s Senior Theatrical Manager, Nikita Leigh-Pritchard.
The MIFF Shorts Awards winners will be announced with a dedicated ceremony on Friday 15 August at ACMI.
Media Release – Melbourne International Film Festival
TV Central News content HERE
Link to MIFF HERE
Nominees announced for 2025 MIFF Awards
