St Kilda Film Festival announces its most expansive program to date, celebrating its 41st year as Australia's longest-running short film festival.
The 2025 festival will screen over 150 films across 34 curated sessions, marking an exciting return to St Kilda Town Hall for the first time since 2019, alongside other iconic Melbourne venues.
This year’s program features the festival’s largest First Nations line-up to date, with a dedicated strand curated by Fred Gesha focusing on stories of motherhood and birthing by First Nations female filmmakers.
St Kilda Film Festival
- Thursday 5 June – Sunday 15 June 2025
- The Palais Theatre, St Kilda Town Hall, South Melbourne Market, and the Astor Theatre
Standout films include:
- Unspoken (dir. Damian Walshe-Howling) – A politically charged love story set against 1979 Sydney protests
- See Me: A Film About Redro Redriguez (dir. Nathan Woods) – Documentary on the late Melbourne music scene legend
- Born to Hustle (dir. Grace Anna Cardona) – Following Emma Addams, the ADHD-driven jeweller behind Heart of Bone
- RAGE (dir. Renee Kyprioti) – A snapshot of Melbourne’s 1970s Sharpie subculture
- Unstoppable (dir. Jack Byrnes and Marcus Porcaro) – Action thriller about a paraplegic ex-defence contractor
Check out our gig guide, our stage guide, our festival guide, our live music venue guide and our nightclub guide. Follow us on Instagram here.
The reimagined St Kilda Town Hall will serve as the festival’s hub, transformed into a cabaret-style cinema complete with bar, DJs, live music on Friday nights, and an open-access Filmmaker Lounge.
“What an absolutely ripping year for Australian short-form films,” festival director Richard Sowada says. “We had a record number of films entered so we’re busting out the festival’s biggest program to date with more than 150 of them across all genres. The strength and confidence across them all is astonishing and I’m proud to have the opportunity to be associated with such creative power by bringing them to audiences over the 10 days of the fest.”
Analogue formats make a strong comeback, with 12 titles shot on Super 8 and 16mm film, showing how emerging filmmakers are embracing traditional mediums. Special sessions include First Nations Women in Film (8 June), The Edge of Seventeen (9 June), Festival Mixtape at the Market (12 June), Analogue Experience (14 June), and Made in VIC Parts 1 & 2 (15 June).
The Opening Night Gala kicks off the festival with a star-studded evening at the Palais Theatre on 5 June. For more information, head here.
