Documentaries about porridge championships, underground house music and refugee-built schools are heading to Castlemaine this winter for the Castlemaine Documentary Festival 2026.
Running across 26, 27 and 28 June at the Theatre Royal, the festival brings together a mix of Australian and international nonfiction films united by the theme Love — the antidote. We’re talking real human stories, hard truths and the occasional DJ afterparty.
The Castlemaine Documentary Festival has been building into one of regional Victoria’s most interesting cultural weekends, and the 2026 edition doubles down on that reputation with a lineup that swings between the deeply personal and the politically charged.
Films arrive from the US, UK, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Scotland and beyond, sitting alongside work from Australian filmmakers and a brand-new community project that puts locals front and centre.
That community project is The Love Compilations, one of the freshest ideas the festival has introduced.
Inspired by Wendy Clarke’s Love Tapes, a video project that has been running since the 1970s, the concept is simple: community members step into a recording booth and speak for three unedited minutes about love.
The recordings screen across multiple locations throughout the weekend, building into a collective portrait of the Castlemaine community. As a bonus milestone, the Castlemaine contributions will be archived at the University of Wisconsin alongside the original international collection, making this the first Australian material to enter that archive.
Also returning for its fifth year is LOCALS, the short documentary competition dedicated to regional filmmakers. This year’s jury includes Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Katie Mitchell and Sundance-recognised director Noora Niasari. Entries run up to six minutes and draw from stories emerging across central Victoria.
Here’s what’s screening across the full weekend!
Castlemaine Documentary Festival 2026
- When: 26–28 June
- Where: Theatre Royal, Castlemaine
- Tickets here
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
Friday 26 June
Rod Quantock: Comedy Warrior (2:00pm)
An Australian documentary tracing five decades in the career of comedian Rod Quantock, from university revues and theatre restaurants through to the founding of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, exploring how he’s used humour as a tool for social commentary throughout. 98 minutes.
Agridulce (Bittersweet) (2:00pm) — Australian premiere
Set in Cabarete on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, this film follows young bachata musicians as they come of age within their musical tradition, weaving in themes of migration, cultural heritage and identity along the way. Screens with Spanish dialogue and English subtitles. 98 minutes.
LOCALS (8:00pm)
The short documentary competition celebrating regional filmmakers from across central Victoria, with entries of up to six minutes each. This year’s jury includes Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Katie Mitchell and Sundance-recognised director Noora Niasari.
Saturday 27 June
The Golden Spurtle (11:00am)
An Australian documentary following the World Porridge Making Championship in Carrbridge, a small Scottish Highlands village, where contestants from around the world compete using just oats, water and salt. At its centre is longtime organiser Charlie Miller, who is preparing to step back from the event he has helped define. 75 minutes.
How Deep Is Your Love (2:00pm)
A UK film taking audiences into the deep ocean, where scientists are encountering species never previously seen by human eyes. Cutting-edge technology reveals ecosystems full of strange life while the looming threat of deep-sea mining adds urgency to what they are discovering and potentially stands to erase it. 100 minutes.
The Bend in the River (5:00pm) — Australian premiere
American filmmaker Robb Moss returns to a group of friends he first filmed on a rafting trip in the late 1970s, revisiting them in middle age and again in their seventies in a documentary that spans decades of friendship, change and reflection. 82 minutes.
Move Ya Body: The Birth of House (8:00pm) + DJ afterparty
Tracing the emergence of house music in late-1970s Chicago, rooted in Black and queer communities, this film blends archival footage with firsthand accounts to capture a cultural movement that transformed dance floors into spaces of resistance and belonging. A DJ afterparty follows the screening. 92 minutes.
Sunday 28 June
We Are Not Powerless (11:00am) — live Q&A with directors
An Australian documentary filmed over several years, following refugees in Indonesia who build a school starting with a $200 donation and a two-room classroom, eventually growing it to serve more than 1,300 students and 130 teachers. Directors Jolyon Hoff and Muzafar Ali will be in conversation after the film. 90 minutes.
Coexistence, My Ass! (2:00pm) — Victorian premiere
An Israeli activist and former UN peace diplomat turns to stand-up comedy to make her case for equality, navigating rising political tensions across several turbulent years including the aftermath of October 7. Screens in English, Farsi, Hebrew and Arabic. 95 minutes.
Bucks Harbor (5:00pm) — Australian premiere
A portrait of fishing communities on the remote coastline of Downeast Maine, following multiple generations of clammers and lobstermen across long hours and harsh conditions through an observational lens. 98 minutes.
Secret Mall Apartment (8:00pm)
The closing night film. The true story of eight Rhode Island artists who secretly built and lived inside a hidden apartment in the Providence Place shopping mall for four years starting in 2003, using the project to explore ideas around gentrification, consumer culture and public space. Executive produced by Jesse Eisenberg. 92 minutes.
Whatever your winter plans look like, three days of world-class documentary cinema in one of Victoria’s most creative regional towns is a pretty solid way to spend a June weekend.
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival.
