Melbourne Documentary Film Festival is an indie festival providing support and encouragement and helping propel filmmakers onto Netflix, SBS, and ABC or getting their own limited theatrical run at the cinema through their talents, hard work and determination!
Melbourne Documentary Film Festival is the in-house documentary film festival for Cinema Nova, the largest independent cinema in the Southern Hemisphere.
Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2026 Dates, Movies, Times
Join the Purple carpet at the Purple Palace or on the jumbo screen in Federation Square! They give filmmakers great opportunities; what you do with them is up to you!Each year, a stellar lineup of documentaries is available, and you can celebrate with a fun party atmosphere at the cinema, complete with popcorn, chocolate tops, and curated cocktails.
The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival respects differing viewpoints, personal beliefs, faiths, perspectives, and political opinions, but is critical of the issues. It encourages the audience to draw their own conclusions and be independent and critical thinkers.
The festival feels like a community and genuinely cares about the filmmakers and their documentaries. Alumni help with judging and masterclasses.
The overriding message of our festival is one of peace for our interconnected world! They will never ban indie docos or independent journalism from any country, as courageous filmmakers are trying to expose the truth of what is happening in their respective countries and parts of the world.
Each year, they leverage the power of Documentary to give back to our community and have raised thousands of dollars for organisations like Wildlife Victoria, Sea Shepherd, The Glen McGrath Cancer Foundation, Extinction Rebellion, Lost Dogs of Melbourne, Cool Earth, Horse Aid, 3CR, Victorian Firefighters, Foodbank Victoria, and the Ed Asner Centre!
They donate all their interviews to filmmakers and support emerging filmmakers, as well as emerging Australian writers and critics.
The documentary competition will take place at Cinema Nova, one of Australia’s premier cinemas. All features, shorts, video essays and documentary web series in competition will be played in DCP on a 4k projector at 24 FPS in Dolby surround sound.
The cinemas they will utilise for the competition will have a capacity of 147 to 240 seats. A member of the Film Critics Circle of Australia or the Australian Film Critics Association will conduct all Q&As. They even have curated cocktails at the cinema bar, as well as unmissable parties and networking events.
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