Sydney Film Festival 2026 Dates Announced As The 73rd Festival Returns This June

The 73rd Sydney Film Festival (SFF) is officially locked in for 2026, returning to Sydney from Wednesday 3 June to Sunday 14 June for 12 days and nights of world premieres, red carpets and big-screen moments across the city.

Following a record-breaking box office year in 2025, the Festival is gearing up to once again transform Sydney into a global cinema capital—bringing filmmakers and audiences together for one of the country’s most anticipated cultural events.

Festival Director Nashen Moodley says the 2026 program will continue SFF’s commitment to bold storytelling and urgent, distinctive voices—films that feel made for the cinema experience.

Beyond screenings, the program will include filmmaker Q&As, industry talks, public forums, themed parties and special events that spill out across Greater Sydney.

The first titles for the 2026 Festival will be announced in April, with the full program unveiled on 6 May 2026.

Santorial: Fashion On Film

This year, Sydney Film Festival is introducing Santorial: Fashion on Film—a program strand featuring seven films that explore the relationship between fashion and cinema. These films will cover decades of cinema, incorporating global perspectives and influential figures while exploring how clothing has the power to shape society.

Highlights from the segment include the Australian premier of Marc by Sofia—Sofia Coppola's first documentary which dives into the life of acclaimed designer Marc Jacobs. There'll also be insights into the global modelling industry: French Girls by Hyun Lee follows a young woman drawn into Sydney's modelling industry, while Model by Frederick Wiseman deep dives into the same industry in New York. There'll also be features on influential fashion influences such as Jane Birkin and Yohji Yamamoto, as well as satirical takes on the industry that move the genre beyond the expected. 

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When Is The Sydney Film Festival 2026?

The 73rd Sydney Film Festival runs from Wednesday 3 June to Sunday 14 June 2026.

Across nearly two weeks, audiences can catch premieres, Australian exclusives and headline gala screenings at venues throughout the city.

What Is The Sydney Film Festival?

Founded in 1954, the Sydney Film Festival is one of Australia’s longest-running and most prestigious film events.

Each year, SFF curates a program of international and local cinema—spotlighting emerging filmmakers, established auteurs and groundbreaking documentaries. It’s known for championing films with strong creative vision and cultural relevance, and for hosting red carpet premieres that draw global talent to Sydney.

What To See At The Sydney Film Festival

Expect a mix of prize-winning international cinema, buzzy festival circuit hits, and bold Australian storytelling. The first announcement includes Berlinale and Sundance winners, star-led features (think Bill Skarsgård and Al Pacino in Dead Man’s Wire), and visually striking auteur works like The Blood Countess starring Isabelle Huppert.

On the local front, Australian documentaries and features are leading with urgent, intimate perspectives—from Silenced, which examines defamation law in the wake of #MeToo, to The Valley, a quietly immersive portrait of life in regional NSW.

Across the slate, you’ll also find genre-bending indies, music-led documentaries, and speculative storytelling exploring everything from AI futures to memory and migration—alongside the Festival’s usual lineup of premieres, in-competition films, retrospectives, and filmmaker Q&As.

The full program is available on their website, with tickets to individual showings now live. 

Sydney Film Festival 2026 Venues

Screenings and events will take place across Greater Sydney, including:

• State Theatre
• Sydney Opera House
• Event Cinemas George Street
• State Library of NSW
• Dendy Cinemas Newtown
• The Ritz Randwick
• Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace Cremorne
• Palace Cinemas Central and Norton Street
• Art Gallery of NSW
• Sydney Town Hall
• Martin Place (SFFTV)

For 12 winter nights, Sydney’s most iconic venues will double as cinema hubs—turning the city into a meeting point for film lovers, creatives and industry insiders alike.

If 2025 was anything to go by, tickets for major premieres and gala screenings are likely to move quickly now the program has dropped—so consider this your early reminder to mark the calendar.

Image credit: Sydney Film Festival | Supplied