2018 films Filter by program streamAllAustralian CinemaCall of the SurfSpecial EventsWorld CinemaSurprise ScreeningFilter by dateAllSort By First screeningTitleFirst screening SWIFF'21 Preview Gala - Another Round 5th March 6:30pm for 7pm JMT The SWIFF'21 Preview Gala offers a limited number of film lovers an opportunity to get the first glimpse of the full SWIFF'21 festival line-up, includ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS First Release Film Passes Are Now On Sale! The best way to get the most out of your festival experience is with a SWIFF Film Pass! Film Passes offer you great savings and flexibility, so you c... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SWIFF ’20 OPENING NIGHT – JOJO RABBIT THU 9 JAN 6.30PM FOR 7PM JMT SAT 18 JAN 4PM JMT Winner, 2019 People’s Choice Award, Toronto International Film Festival. Launching the most ambitious program to date, SWIFF 2020’s Opening N... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS IN MY BLOOD IT RUNS FRI 10 JAN 12PM JMT SAT 11 JAN 12PM BELLO Nominee · Documentary Foundation Australia Award. Four years after controversial, temporarily-banned film, Gayby Baby (SWIFF’16), Maya Newell craft... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS DIRTY GOD FRI 10 JAN 2PM JMT SAT 18 JAN 2PM BELLO In her English-language debut, Dutch writer-director Sacha Polak (Hemel, Zurich) takes a hard look at the gross discrepancy that underlies society’s p... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE FRI 10 JAN 6.15PM JMT WED 15 JAN 6.30PM JMT FRI 17 JAN 6.15PM JMT Topping both best of the year and best of the decade lists, Céline Sciamma's (Girlhood, SWIFF ’16) latest is a devastatingly beautiful period drama ab... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS ANGEL OF MINE FRI 10 JAN 5PM BELLO MON 13 JAN 4.15PM JMT “Maternal longing is a key theme in director Kim Farrant’s psychological thriller...which takes what could have been a simple stalker movie premise an... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE BEACH BUM FRI 10 JAN 7PM BELLO “You just have to kind of accept that he’s from another dimension.” Moondog was once a lauded poet, now lost in a cloud of pot smoke, sun-glazed Fl... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS PACIFICO SAT 11 JAN 2PM JMT SUN 12 JAN 5PM BELLO A story of personal discovery through the Latin American wilds. Two friends quit their jobs in Australia, booked flights to America, bought an old ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON SAT 11 JAN 6.15PM JMT SUN 12 JAN 6.45PM BELLO SAT 18 JAN 4.15PM BELLO TUE 21 JAN 4.30PM JMT “Shia LaBeouf shines in this funny, heartwarming adventure … Gottsagen, an actor with Down syndrome, is a real find, and is the heart and soul o... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SLAM SAT 11 JAN 4PM BELLO SUN 12 JAN 4PM JMT “A powerful punch to the solar plexus … notices things that others would rather just skim over, like the kind of racism that blends right in with ever... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS AQUARELA SUN 12 JAN 12PM JMT A ravishing visual feast from film artist, Victor Kossakovsky, Aquarela takes a deep dive into watery realms around the world, offering up an experien... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS PAIN AND GLORY SUN 12 JAN 6.45PM JMT THU 16 JAN 6.45PM JMT Antonio Banderas in a career high, earned himself the Best Actor Award at Cannes for this reflection of life, love and pain from legendary Spanish dir... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS NON-FICTION MON 13 JAN 2PM JMT With the backdrop of Paris, Non-Fiction muses on technology and literature. Can the two reconcile, or must the tweet destroy the novel? On the side of... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS HEARTS AND BONES MON 13 JAN 6.30PM JMT WED 22 JAN 6.45PM JMT In 2018 director Ben Lawrence delivered the multi-award winning documentary, Ghosthunter (SWIFF’19), where long hidden family secrets convergered with... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SUPA MODO MON 13 JAN 5.30PM BELLO SAT 18 JAN 12PM JMT The most important super hero movie you’ll see this summer. Nine year old Kenyan, Jo, is obsessed with superheroes. Despite receiving a cancer diag... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SWIFF LIVE: BENDING LIGHT MON 13 JAN 7PM BELLO TUE 14 JAN 7.00PM JMT SWIFF LIVE doubles down in 2020 – two live performance events expanding big screen conventions. Man, body, music and light as one. A cutting-edge f... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS BELLBIRD TUE 14 JAN 11.00AM JMT Actions speak louder than words in Bellbird, a heart-warming dramedy about loss and community spirit that just goes to show that sometimes it really d... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS NEVER LOOK AWAY TUE 14 JAN 1.00PM JMT Winner · Best Film In Competition · Venice Film Festival. Sweeping across three eras of German history, lauded director Florian Henckel von Donners... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE NIGHTINGALE TUE 14 JAN 8.45PM JMT Winner · Special Jury Prize · Venice Film Festival. Following her massively successful directorial debut The Babadook, Australian powerhouse Jennif... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS QUEEN OF HEARTS WED 15 JAN 11.30AM JMT THU 23 JAN 1.30PM JMT Winner · Audience Award · World Cinema Dramatic · Sundance Film Festival. Denmark’s entry for the Best International Feature for the 2020 Academy A... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SMOKE BETWEEN TREES WED 15 JAN 2PM JMT Some life events are so powerful they are defined by “then” and “now”. For Mathew (Tyriel Mora, The Castle, Book Week SWIFF'19), a sensitive near-r... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SORRY WE MISSED YOU WED 15 JAN 4.15PM JMT THU 23 JAN 6.30PM JMT Nominee · 2019 Palme d’Or · Cannes Film Festival. From socially conscious director Ken Loach and longtime collaborator Paul Laverty comes the under... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS DARK WHISPERS VOL. 1 WED 15 JAN 8.45PM JMT “Our motivation for making the film was to release more wicked and wonderful stories by women into the world, much as our protagonist unleashes powerf... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS A HIDDEN LIFE THU 16 JAN 11.15AM JMT "A Hidden Life feels stunningly relevant"- Variety. Terrence Malick, director of the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winning Tree of Life, makes a ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE TRUTH THU 16 JAN 4.30PM JMT SUN 19 JAN 6.15PM JMT Acclaimed director Hirokazu Kore-eda's (Shoplifters, SWIFF’19) first feature film made outside of Japan is an exquisite dramedy, pairing beloved Frenc... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS LIFE AFTER THE OASIS FRI 17 JAN 12.15PM JMT In 2008, raw, observational documentary The Oasis spotlighted the lives of a group of vulnerable teens living in a Sydney youth refuge – starting a na... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS CHAINED FOR LIFE FRI 17 JAN 4PM JMT An inventive, pitch-black satire that challenges on screen depictions of beauty in a film about filmmaking. Mabel (Jess Weixler, Teeth, The Death o... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS NEXTWAVE YOUTH FILM AWARDS FRI 17 JAN 6PM FOR 6.30PM C. EX The Nextwave Youth Film Awards has become one of SWIFF’s major events, selling out C.ex Coffs’ auditorium every year, rolling out the red carpet in a... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SWIFF LIVE: SURFING THE ARCTIC SAT 18 JAN 6.30PM JMT Icebergs. Blizzards. Hypothermia. Just another day surfing the Arctic. See the adrenaline-chasers paddling out to be in the world’s coldest line-up. ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS VAI SAT 18 JAN 12PM BELLO FRI 24 JAN 12PM JMT Nine female filmmakers come together to produce eight short films, forming together to tell the life story of Pacific Islander woman, Vai. Although th... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS AIRPLANE! SAT 18 JAN 6.30PM BELLO AIRPLANE 40TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING. “The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a red zone.... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS ALICE SAT 18 JAN 8.30PM BELLO TUE 21 JAN 6.30PM JMT Winner · Grand Jury Prize · SXSW Film Festival. “The opening minutes of Alice make the case for Emilie Piponnier to be a movie star, and the rest o... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS NT LIVE: FLEABAG SUN 19 JAN 4PM JMT “Filthy, funny, snarky, and touching.” – Daily Telegraph “Witty, filthy, supreme.” – The Guardian. Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve) has... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS MONKS OF THE SACRED VALLEY SUN 19 JAN 4.30PM BELLO WORLD PREMIERE. SWIFF provides audiences a rare opportunity to see inside the filmmaking process, presenting a WIP (work-in-progress) screening of ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS BUOYANCY SUN 19 JAN 6.30 PM BELLO MON 20 JAN 6.30PM JMT Winner · Panorama Jury Award · Berlinale Film Festival. Tired of toiling in the rice fields, 14-year-old Chakra (a magnetic Sarm Heng) leaves Cambo... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS BAIT MON 20 JAN 4.30PM JMT “One of the defining British films of the decade” – The Guardian. Stunningly shot on vintage 16mm and processed by hand, Mark Jenkin’s Bait is a ti... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS BY THE GRACE OF GOD WED 22 JAN 11.45AM JMT Veteran French master, François Ozon (Franz, Swimming Pool), turns from his run of twisted thrillers and suspenseful comedies to shine a spotlight on ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS WHITE LIGHT THU 23 JAN 4.15PM JMT Artist and activist, internationally acclaimed Australian icon George Gittoes has embedded himself in almost all conflict zone hotspots since Vietnam,... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS MONOS THU 23 JAN 8.30PM JMT Winner · World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award · Sundance Film Festival. “We work for The Organisation! The Organisation is our family!” On a... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS INDUSTRY CONNECT MON 20 JAN 3:30PM ELEMENT BAR Arts Mid North Coast presents SWIFF Industry Connect ’20 – the Mid North Coast’s annual film industry networking event. Industry Connect provides a... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SWIFF’20 CLOSING NIGHT – TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG FRI 24 JAN 6.30PM FOR 7PM JMT Following on from his brutal and uncompromising feature debut Snowtown, Justin Kurzel has cemented himself as an auteur director, bringing Peter Carey... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SCARY MOTHER FRI 11 JAN 12:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE TUE 15 JAN 3:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Best First Feature – Locarno Film Festival In 1929, author Virginia Woolf famously declared “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she i... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE FRI 11 JAN 9:00PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE SAT 19 JAN 9:00PM BELLO Winner · Best Screenplay, Best Actor · Cannes Film Festival Joe, (Joaquin Phoenix) has returned home from war, plagued by personal demons, now a gu... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS MOMENTUM GENERATION SAT 12 JAN 4:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE The untold story behind Taylor Steele's 1992 pivotal surf epic, executive produced by Robert Redford. Steel's 1992 home movie, Momentum has played ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS CLIMAX SAT 12 JAN 8:45PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Legendary provocateur Gaspar Noé returns to screen with a liberal dose of sex, drugs and music in this audacious and viscerally-affecting Cannes award... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE TALE SAT 12 JAN 8:45PM BELLO TUE 22 JAN 8:00PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Documentarian Jennifer Fox makes her feature debut with a bold blend of fact and fiction, investigating her own adolescent trauma, as portrayed by an ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SHARKWATER EXTINCTION SUN 13 JAN 3:30PM BELLO TUE 15 JAN 5:45PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Canadian filmmaker Rob Stewart sets the illegal fishing industry in his sights for his final film. Sharkwater Extinction is the product of a a life... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS AGA MON 14 JAN 1:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE An affecting take of love and isolation, Milko Lazarov crafts a handsome ode to a dying culture, set against the vast beauty of the tundra. Each da... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER MON 14 JAN 7:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE FRI 18 JAN 8:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Winner · US Dramatic Directing · Sundance Film Festival He's just a little boy, but his teacher's convinced he's a prodigy - and she'll do whatever... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS ARCTIC TUE 15 JAN 7:45PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE SAT 19 JAN 6:45PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE The ever intense Mads Mikkelsen (Men & Chicken, SWIFF 2017) turns in one of his career bests, as a man trying to escape the harsh arctic circle in... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SPOOR WED 16 JAN 1:00PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE WED 23 JAN 1:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Winner – Silver Bear – Berlinale Adapted from the best-selling novel by Olga Tokarczuk by Oscar-nominated director, Agnieszka Holland (Europa, Euro... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS LEAN ON PETE WED 16 JAN 3:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE A poignant and hypnotic journey through Midwest America, writer/director Andrew Haigh (45 Years), tells the story of the bond between a neglected boy ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS 3 FACES THU 17 JAN 1:00PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Winner · Best Screenplay · Cannes Film Festival Defying his filmmaking ban for the fourth time, Jafar Panahi (Tehran Taxi) has subversively created... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS RAFIKI FRI 18 JAN 2:15PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE SAT 19 JAN 5:00PM BELLO Banned in its home country for ‘promoting lesbianism’, this delicate romance made history as the first Kenyan film selected for the prestigious Cannes... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SHOPLIFTERS FRI 18 JAN 6:00PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE THU 24 JAN 8:15PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Winner · Palme d'Or · Cannes Film Festival The deserving winner of the biggest prize in world cinema, Cannes' Palme d'Or, Shoplifters harnesses pow... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS EMOCEAN (+ SALT OF THE EARTH + SURF ANYWHERE) SAT 19 JAN 1:30PM BELLO SUN 20 JAN 1:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Tony Harrington has made a life chasing barrels on film - but now switches gears to something more soulful. Originating from the Central Coast, and... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SALT OF THE EARTH (+ EMOCEAN + SURF ANYWHERE) SAT 19 JAN 1:30PM BELLO SUN 20 JAN 1:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Salt of the Earth follows the journey of making the ancient traditional Alaia finless surfboards to cruising the perfect points of Noosa. READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SURF ANYWHERE (+ EMOCEAN + SALT OF THE EARTH) SAT 19 JAN 1:30PM BELLO SUN 20 JAN 1:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE A group of river surfing pioneers who are not only building a world-class wave on the Kananaskis River (forty-five minutes outside of landlocked Calga... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT SAT 19 JAN 8:45PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Recipient of both furious walkouts and a boisterous standing ovation at its Cannes premiere, The House That Jack Built is the controversial new work f... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS ANCHOR AND HOPE MON 21 JAN 5:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE A lesbian couple contemplate parenthood, family and love in this heartfelt, free-wheeling comic drama, set aboard a dreamy houseboat on a London canal... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS CAPHARNAUM TUE 22 JAN 5:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Receiving a 15-minute standing ovation, the Cannes Jury Prize as well as creating a lot of Oscar buzz, this heartfelt drama centres on a runaway boy w... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS BUTTERFLIES WED 23 JAN 4:00PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Winner · Grand Jury Prize · Sundance Film Festival Feathers fly in this hilarious, offbeat Sundance award-winning crowdpleaser. Three dysfunctio... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS GIRL THU 24 JAN 3:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Winner · Camera d’Or, Queer Palm, Un Certain Regard Best Actor, FIPRESCI · Cannes Film Festival Lara has two dreams: to become a professional balle... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS
Filter by program streamAllAustralian CinemaCall of the SurfSpecial EventsWorld CinemaSurprise ScreeningFilter by dateAllSort By First screeningTitleFirst screening SWIFF'21 Preview Gala - Another Round 5th March 6:30pm for 7pm JMT The SWIFF'21 Preview Gala offers a limited number of film lovers an opportunity to get the first glimpse of the full SWIFF'21 festival line-up, includ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS First Release Film Passes Are Now On Sale! The best way to get the most out of your festival experience is with a SWIFF Film Pass! Film Passes offer you great savings and flexibility, so you c... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SWIFF ’20 OPENING NIGHT – JOJO RABBIT THU 9 JAN 6.30PM FOR 7PM JMT SAT 18 JAN 4PM JMT Winner, 2019 People’s Choice Award, Toronto International Film Festival. Launching the most ambitious program to date, SWIFF 2020’s Opening N... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS IN MY BLOOD IT RUNS FRI 10 JAN 12PM JMT SAT 11 JAN 12PM BELLO Nominee · Documentary Foundation Australia Award. Four years after controversial, temporarily-banned film, Gayby Baby (SWIFF’16), Maya Newell craft... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS DIRTY GOD FRI 10 JAN 2PM JMT SAT 18 JAN 2PM BELLO In her English-language debut, Dutch writer-director Sacha Polak (Hemel, Zurich) takes a hard look at the gross discrepancy that underlies society’s p... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE FRI 10 JAN 6.15PM JMT WED 15 JAN 6.30PM JMT FRI 17 JAN 6.15PM JMT Topping both best of the year and best of the decade lists, Céline Sciamma's (Girlhood, SWIFF ’16) latest is a devastatingly beautiful period drama ab... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS ANGEL OF MINE FRI 10 JAN 5PM BELLO MON 13 JAN 4.15PM JMT “Maternal longing is a key theme in director Kim Farrant’s psychological thriller...which takes what could have been a simple stalker movie premise an... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE BEACH BUM FRI 10 JAN 7PM BELLO “You just have to kind of accept that he’s from another dimension.” Moondog was once a lauded poet, now lost in a cloud of pot smoke, sun-glazed Fl... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS PACIFICO SAT 11 JAN 2PM JMT SUN 12 JAN 5PM BELLO A story of personal discovery through the Latin American wilds. Two friends quit their jobs in Australia, booked flights to America, bought an old ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON SAT 11 JAN 6.15PM JMT SUN 12 JAN 6.45PM BELLO SAT 18 JAN 4.15PM BELLO TUE 21 JAN 4.30PM JMT “Shia LaBeouf shines in this funny, heartwarming adventure … Gottsagen, an actor with Down syndrome, is a real find, and is the heart and soul o... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SLAM SAT 11 JAN 4PM BELLO SUN 12 JAN 4PM JMT “A powerful punch to the solar plexus … notices things that others would rather just skim over, like the kind of racism that blends right in with ever... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS AQUARELA SUN 12 JAN 12PM JMT A ravishing visual feast from film artist, Victor Kossakovsky, Aquarela takes a deep dive into watery realms around the world, offering up an experien... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS PAIN AND GLORY SUN 12 JAN 6.45PM JMT THU 16 JAN 6.45PM JMT Antonio Banderas in a career high, earned himself the Best Actor Award at Cannes for this reflection of life, love and pain from legendary Spanish dir... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS NON-FICTION MON 13 JAN 2PM JMT With the backdrop of Paris, Non-Fiction muses on technology and literature. Can the two reconcile, or must the tweet destroy the novel? On the side of... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS HEARTS AND BONES MON 13 JAN 6.30PM JMT WED 22 JAN 6.45PM JMT In 2018 director Ben Lawrence delivered the multi-award winning documentary, Ghosthunter (SWIFF’19), where long hidden family secrets convergered with... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SUPA MODO MON 13 JAN 5.30PM BELLO SAT 18 JAN 12PM JMT The most important super hero movie you’ll see this summer. Nine year old Kenyan, Jo, is obsessed with superheroes. Despite receiving a cancer diag... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SWIFF LIVE: BENDING LIGHT MON 13 JAN 7PM BELLO TUE 14 JAN 7.00PM JMT SWIFF LIVE doubles down in 2020 – two live performance events expanding big screen conventions. Man, body, music and light as one. A cutting-edge f... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS BELLBIRD TUE 14 JAN 11.00AM JMT Actions speak louder than words in Bellbird, a heart-warming dramedy about loss and community spirit that just goes to show that sometimes it really d... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS NEVER LOOK AWAY TUE 14 JAN 1.00PM JMT Winner · Best Film In Competition · Venice Film Festival. Sweeping across three eras of German history, lauded director Florian Henckel von Donners... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE NIGHTINGALE TUE 14 JAN 8.45PM JMT Winner · Special Jury Prize · Venice Film Festival. Following her massively successful directorial debut The Babadook, Australian powerhouse Jennif... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS QUEEN OF HEARTS WED 15 JAN 11.30AM JMT THU 23 JAN 1.30PM JMT Winner · Audience Award · World Cinema Dramatic · Sundance Film Festival. Denmark’s entry for the Best International Feature for the 2020 Academy A... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SMOKE BETWEEN TREES WED 15 JAN 2PM JMT Some life events are so powerful they are defined by “then” and “now”. For Mathew (Tyriel Mora, The Castle, Book Week SWIFF'19), a sensitive near-r... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SORRY WE MISSED YOU WED 15 JAN 4.15PM JMT THU 23 JAN 6.30PM JMT Nominee · 2019 Palme d’Or · Cannes Film Festival. From socially conscious director Ken Loach and longtime collaborator Paul Laverty comes the under... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS DARK WHISPERS VOL. 1 WED 15 JAN 8.45PM JMT “Our motivation for making the film was to release more wicked and wonderful stories by women into the world, much as our protagonist unleashes powerf... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS A HIDDEN LIFE THU 16 JAN 11.15AM JMT "A Hidden Life feels stunningly relevant"- Variety. Terrence Malick, director of the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winning Tree of Life, makes a ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE TRUTH THU 16 JAN 4.30PM JMT SUN 19 JAN 6.15PM JMT Acclaimed director Hirokazu Kore-eda's (Shoplifters, SWIFF’19) first feature film made outside of Japan is an exquisite dramedy, pairing beloved Frenc... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS LIFE AFTER THE OASIS FRI 17 JAN 12.15PM JMT In 2008, raw, observational documentary The Oasis spotlighted the lives of a group of vulnerable teens living in a Sydney youth refuge – starting a na... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS CHAINED FOR LIFE FRI 17 JAN 4PM JMT An inventive, pitch-black satire that challenges on screen depictions of beauty in a film about filmmaking. Mabel (Jess Weixler, Teeth, The Death o... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS NEXTWAVE YOUTH FILM AWARDS FRI 17 JAN 6PM FOR 6.30PM C. EX The Nextwave Youth Film Awards has become one of SWIFF’s major events, selling out C.ex Coffs’ auditorium every year, rolling out the red carpet in a... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SWIFF LIVE: SURFING THE ARCTIC SAT 18 JAN 6.30PM JMT Icebergs. Blizzards. Hypothermia. Just another day surfing the Arctic. See the adrenaline-chasers paddling out to be in the world’s coldest line-up. ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS VAI SAT 18 JAN 12PM BELLO FRI 24 JAN 12PM JMT Nine female filmmakers come together to produce eight short films, forming together to tell the life story of Pacific Islander woman, Vai. Although th... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS AIRPLANE! SAT 18 JAN 6.30PM BELLO AIRPLANE 40TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING. “The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a red zone.... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS ALICE SAT 18 JAN 8.30PM BELLO TUE 21 JAN 6.30PM JMT Winner · Grand Jury Prize · SXSW Film Festival. “The opening minutes of Alice make the case for Emilie Piponnier to be a movie star, and the rest o... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS NT LIVE: FLEABAG SUN 19 JAN 4PM JMT “Filthy, funny, snarky, and touching.” – Daily Telegraph “Witty, filthy, supreme.” – The Guardian. Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve) has... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS MONKS OF THE SACRED VALLEY SUN 19 JAN 4.30PM BELLO WORLD PREMIERE. SWIFF provides audiences a rare opportunity to see inside the filmmaking process, presenting a WIP (work-in-progress) screening of ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS BUOYANCY SUN 19 JAN 6.30 PM BELLO MON 20 JAN 6.30PM JMT Winner · Panorama Jury Award · Berlinale Film Festival. Tired of toiling in the rice fields, 14-year-old Chakra (a magnetic Sarm Heng) leaves Cambo... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS BAIT MON 20 JAN 4.30PM JMT “One of the defining British films of the decade” – The Guardian. Stunningly shot on vintage 16mm and processed by hand, Mark Jenkin’s Bait is a ti... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS BY THE GRACE OF GOD WED 22 JAN 11.45AM JMT Veteran French master, François Ozon (Franz, Swimming Pool), turns from his run of twisted thrillers and suspenseful comedies to shine a spotlight on ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS WHITE LIGHT THU 23 JAN 4.15PM JMT Artist and activist, internationally acclaimed Australian icon George Gittoes has embedded himself in almost all conflict zone hotspots since Vietnam,... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS MONOS THU 23 JAN 8.30PM JMT Winner · World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award · Sundance Film Festival. “We work for The Organisation! The Organisation is our family!” On a... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS INDUSTRY CONNECT MON 20 JAN 3:30PM ELEMENT BAR Arts Mid North Coast presents SWIFF Industry Connect ’20 – the Mid North Coast’s annual film industry networking event. Industry Connect provides a... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SWIFF’20 CLOSING NIGHT – TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG FRI 24 JAN 6.30PM FOR 7PM JMT Following on from his brutal and uncompromising feature debut Snowtown, Justin Kurzel has cemented himself as an auteur director, bringing Peter Carey... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SCARY MOTHER FRI 11 JAN 12:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE TUE 15 JAN 3:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Best First Feature – Locarno Film Festival In 1929, author Virginia Woolf famously declared “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she i... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE FRI 11 JAN 9:00PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE SAT 19 JAN 9:00PM BELLO Winner · Best Screenplay, Best Actor · Cannes Film Festival Joe, (Joaquin Phoenix) has returned home from war, plagued by personal demons, now a gu... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS MOMENTUM GENERATION SAT 12 JAN 4:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE The untold story behind Taylor Steele's 1992 pivotal surf epic, executive produced by Robert Redford. Steel's 1992 home movie, Momentum has played ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS CLIMAX SAT 12 JAN 8:45PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Legendary provocateur Gaspar Noé returns to screen with a liberal dose of sex, drugs and music in this audacious and viscerally-affecting Cannes award... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE TALE SAT 12 JAN 8:45PM BELLO TUE 22 JAN 8:00PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Documentarian Jennifer Fox makes her feature debut with a bold blend of fact and fiction, investigating her own adolescent trauma, as portrayed by an ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SHARKWATER EXTINCTION SUN 13 JAN 3:30PM BELLO TUE 15 JAN 5:45PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Canadian filmmaker Rob Stewart sets the illegal fishing industry in his sights for his final film. Sharkwater Extinction is the product of a a life... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS AGA MON 14 JAN 1:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE An affecting take of love and isolation, Milko Lazarov crafts a handsome ode to a dying culture, set against the vast beauty of the tundra. Each da... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER MON 14 JAN 7:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE FRI 18 JAN 8:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Winner · US Dramatic Directing · Sundance Film Festival He's just a little boy, but his teacher's convinced he's a prodigy - and she'll do whatever... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS ARCTIC TUE 15 JAN 7:45PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE SAT 19 JAN 6:45PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE The ever intense Mads Mikkelsen (Men & Chicken, SWIFF 2017) turns in one of his career bests, as a man trying to escape the harsh arctic circle in... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SPOOR WED 16 JAN 1:00PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE WED 23 JAN 1:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Winner – Silver Bear – Berlinale Adapted from the best-selling novel by Olga Tokarczuk by Oscar-nominated director, Agnieszka Holland (Europa, Euro... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS LEAN ON PETE WED 16 JAN 3:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE A poignant and hypnotic journey through Midwest America, writer/director Andrew Haigh (45 Years), tells the story of the bond between a neglected boy ... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS 3 FACES THU 17 JAN 1:00PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Winner · Best Screenplay · Cannes Film Festival Defying his filmmaking ban for the fourth time, Jafar Panahi (Tehran Taxi) has subversively created... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS RAFIKI FRI 18 JAN 2:15PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE SAT 19 JAN 5:00PM BELLO Banned in its home country for ‘promoting lesbianism’, this delicate romance made history as the first Kenyan film selected for the prestigious Cannes... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SHOPLIFTERS FRI 18 JAN 6:00PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE THU 24 JAN 8:15PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Winner · Palme d'Or · Cannes Film Festival The deserving winner of the biggest prize in world cinema, Cannes' Palme d'Or, Shoplifters harnesses pow... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS EMOCEAN (+ SALT OF THE EARTH + SURF ANYWHERE) SAT 19 JAN 1:30PM BELLO SUN 20 JAN 1:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Tony Harrington has made a life chasing barrels on film - but now switches gears to something more soulful. Originating from the Central Coast, and... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SALT OF THE EARTH (+ EMOCEAN + SURF ANYWHERE) SAT 19 JAN 1:30PM BELLO SUN 20 JAN 1:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Salt of the Earth follows the journey of making the ancient traditional Alaia finless surfboards to cruising the perfect points of Noosa. READ MORE/BUY TICKETS SURF ANYWHERE (+ EMOCEAN + SALT OF THE EARTH) SAT 19 JAN 1:30PM BELLO SUN 20 JAN 1:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE A group of river surfing pioneers who are not only building a world-class wave on the Kananaskis River (forty-five minutes outside of landlocked Calga... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT SAT 19 JAN 8:45PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Recipient of both furious walkouts and a boisterous standing ovation at its Cannes premiere, The House That Jack Built is the controversial new work f... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS ANCHOR AND HOPE MON 21 JAN 5:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE A lesbian couple contemplate parenthood, family and love in this heartfelt, free-wheeling comic drama, set aboard a dreamy houseboat on a London canal... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS CAPHARNAUM TUE 22 JAN 5:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Receiving a 15-minute standing ovation, the Cannes Jury Prize as well as creating a lot of Oscar buzz, this heartfelt drama centres on a runaway boy w... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS BUTTERFLIES WED 23 JAN 4:00PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Winner · Grand Jury Prize · Sundance Film Festival Feathers fly in this hilarious, offbeat Sundance award-winning crowdpleaser. Three dysfunctio... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS GIRL THU 24 JAN 3:30PM JETTY MEMORIAL THEATRE Winner · Camera d’Or, Queer Palm, Un Certain Regard Best Actor, FIPRESCI · Cannes Film Festival Lara has two dreams: to become a professional balle... READ MORE/BUY TICKETS
Filter by program streamAllAustralian CinemaCall of the SurfSpecial EventsWorld CinemaSurprise ScreeningFilter by dateAllSort By First screeningTitleFirst screening