Five of the first six films announced for this year’s Adelaide Film Festival are directed by Australian women.
The must-see first selection of features include the documentaries ‘Journey Home, David Gulpill’, by directors Maggie Miles and Trisha Morton-Thomas, and, celebrating a world premiere in Adelaide, ‘The Colleano Heart’ from director Pauline Clague, and visionary filmmaker Lynette Wallworth’s ‘Edge Of Life’.
The revival of our horror genre continues thanks to Mia Kate Russell’s ‘Penny Lane Is Dead’, and also announced is ‘Fwends’, the charming first-time feature which has become an indie darling at film festivals around the world, including in Berlin where it won the Caligari Film Prize.
Joining these titles is the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner, ‘It Was Just An Accident’, from Iranian director Jafar Panahi.
Starring in ‘Penny Lane Is Dead’ is Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn, Bailey Spalding, Alex Jensen, Tahlee Fereday and Ben O’Toole alongside Steve Le Marquand and Fletcher Humphrys. It features a rocking ‘80s soundtrack, set in 1986 where three best friends’ celebration at a beach house goes horribly wrong.
‘The Colleano Heart’, from First Nations director Pauline Clague and producer Kate Pappas, tells the story of the famous Colleano circus family Through the wisdom of their Aboriginal matriarch, the family outmanoeuvred 1900’s oppression and racism to rise to the highest echelons of international circus stardom.
‘Edge Of Life’ from Lynette Wallworth is filmed in Australia and the Brazilian Amazon – a remarkable exploration of the last great frontier in human life: the doorway to death.
‘Journey Home, David Gulpill’ is directed by Maggie Miles and Trisha Morton-Thomas, and produced by Rachel Clements, Jida Gulpilil, Lloyd Garrawurra, Trisha Morton-Thomas and Maggie Miles. When renowned Indigenous actor David Dhalatnghu Gulpilil passes away far from his Homeland, his family struggle against huge logistical challenges to fulfil his final wish of being buried on his Homeland.
‘It Was Just An Accident’, the latest film from celebrated Iranian director Jafar Panahi, begins with a minor accident which sets in motion a series of escalating consequences.
Then, in ‘Fwends’ from Sophie Somerville, old friends Em and Jessie reconnect for a weekend, as their conversations flow naturally, covering light topics and deep emotions.
“2025 is shaping up to be a stellar year for the festival and we are immensely proud to be showcasing the work of so many fine Australian women directors,” Adelaide Film Festival CEO Mat Kesting says. “The programme will be entertaining, thought provoking and audacious. Cinema is where we can commune and contemplate the world and we can’t wait to welcome audiences at AFF in October.”
Check out more info on the first films.
Adelaide Film Festival 2025 is on from 15-26 October.
