The highly anticipated new feature from Melbourne-born Oscar-winning filmmaker Adam Elliot will officially open the 2024 Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) when the beloved cultural event returns this August.

Proudly screening in Naarm and surrounds from 8-25 August, MIFF brings together some of the most talked about films of the year, hotly anticipated hits from the worldwide festival circuit and future award contenders – many of which will be shown for the first time in Australia – for 18 days of sheer cinematic revelry. Sharing an early First Glance look at some of this year’s program, the festival has revealed details of its Gala events, the 2024 Premiere Fund Film slate, a suite of international highlights and a bevy of unmissable big screen and off screen experiences.

Hometown hero Adam Elliot will unveil Memoir of a Snail – arriving 20 years on from his remarkable 2004 Academy Award win for Harvie Krumpet – at this year’s Opening Night Gala on Thursday 8 August. Supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund, the exquisitely hand-crafted stop-motion wonder assembles a star powered collective of voices, including Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Magda Szubanski, Eric Bana, Tony Armstrong, Nick Cave and Jacki Weaver to enliven the latest gaggle of Elliot’s unique claymation creations.

Looking ahead to Opening Night, filmmaker Adam Elliot, said: “After eight long years, producer Liz Kearney and I are a bit exhausted but thrilled to be asked to be the Opening Night film for MIFF 2024. It is truly a Melbourne film and MIFF is the perfect place for its Australian premiere. About Melbourne, made by Melburnians and voiced by Melburnians, Memoir of a Snail is a handmade stop-motion film lovingly crafted by a team of local artists. Opening night at MIFF will be a celebration of their artistry and a celebration of this wonderful city in which we live.”

Sharing a first look at the festival’s 2024 program, MIFF Artistic Director Al Cossar, said: “Time to ready yourselves for another extraordinary voyage through cinema! MIFF is pleased to share our First Glance for 2024, a sneak peek of the program arriving this August – the marvelous visions, diversions, and cinematic surprises coming your way as over 250 films illuminate the screens this Winter across 18 days of unbridled binge-viewing.”

“First Glance already sees us lifting the lid on some of the most anticipated films of the year, alongside films you won’t find anywhere else – bold, thrilling, thoughtful, hilarious, terrifying, and essential new cinema, from Australia and all around the world.”

“Remember – now’s the time to sort passes, subscribe, mark your calendars, clear your diaries, and generally lay in wait for the return of Melbourne’s biggest cinematic event – the 2024 Melbourne International Film Festival!”

Melbourne’s wintry streets will be set abuzz with the energy of MIFF with round-the-clock screenings held across seven CBD and inner city theatres and plus talks, exhibitions and events taking place in the city’s restaurants, performance halls, museums, bars and special festival pop-ups.

Outside of metro Melbourne, the MIFF Regional showcase expands its far-reaching tour with venues in Bendigo, Ballarat, Castlemaine, Echuca, Geelong, Rosebud and Shepparton set to screen some of the festival’s biggest titles. And MIFF’s digital offering will be back from 9-25 August, with a limited selection of festival highlights, including new films, retrospectives, and free short films available on demand with MIFF Online – streaming via ACMI.

The annual MIFF Awards will return to once again share in one of the richest filmmaking prize pools in the world, including the landmark $140,000 Bright Horizons Award supported by the Victorian Government through VicScreen, in a celebration of cinematic excellence, technical innovation and filmmakers on the rise.

The full MIFF 2024 program, including the Bright Horizons competition line-up, will be unveiled Thursday 11 July. Nominees for the various MIFF Awards categories will be announced in late July.

MIFF PREMIERE FUND

Led by the highly anticipated Opening Night feature, Memoir of a Snail, the 2024 MIFF Premiere Fund line-up is again brimming with top-tier creatives, fresh local ideas and remarkable Australian storytelling.

MIFF’s film commissioning fund provides co-financing to assist the production of new Australian feature films which then go on to premiere at MIFF. The Premiere Fund deepens the festival’s relationship with homegrown filmmaking talent and helps to realise a diverse array of incredible new filmmaking to discover each year at MIFF. Now in its second decade, the Premiere Fund continues to proudly support a diverse crop of local talent and voices in telling their stories.

Screening as the 2024 MIFF Family Gala feature, Magic Beach brings to life the much loved Aussie children’s book classic by Alison Lester as reimagined by ten Australian animators each with their own unique style. And for this year’s Music on Film Gala, rock ‘n’ roll legend Warren Ellis of The Bad Seeds and Dirty Three shares his personal passion project to establish an animal sanctuary in Sumatra in Ellis Park, directed by Justin Kurzel (Nitram).

Natalie Bailey’s Audrey follows soap opera hasbeen and self-proclaimed Mother of the Year, Ronnie Lipsick (Jackie van Beek, The Breaker Upperers) as she tries to take another stab at stardom by stealing the identity of her comatose teenage daughter. Also starring Hannah Diviney (Latecomers), Josephine Blazier (The Gloaming) and Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (The Dry), this nutty black comedy takes a mother’s love to the extreme.

Presented by DECJUBA, Left Write Hook will screen as MIFF’s inaugural Premiere with Purpose feature, a world premiere black-carpet event at ACMI. This powerful local documentary takes audience the inside a transformative recovery program attended by seven female survivors of childhood sexual assault. Under the guidance of boxing instructor and trauma survivor Donna Lyons – who also serves as producer on the film – the women band together as they break their silence for the very first time. Directed by Shannon Owen, the documentary explores how the physicality of boxing combined with the emotional power of creative writing gives space to survivors to release their memories, reclaim their bodies, and imagine new lives for themselves.

Directed by Eliza Cox, Queens of Concrete is a coming-of-age documentary that follows three young skateboarders – Hayley, Ava, and Charlotte – as they strive to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics, all the while juggling the familiar obstacles of teenage girlhood. Competing for a few select spots on the Australian team and against the expectations of a male-dominated sport, the trio are on a mission to make their Olympic dreams come true.

You can find full details about MIFF’s first glance films here.

Audrey

Premiere Film Fund
Directed by Natalie Bailey
Written by Lou Sanz
Produced by Diya Eid, Dan Lake, Shannon Wilson-McClinton and Michael Wrenn
Starring Jackie van Beek, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Josephine Blazier and Hannah Diviney
When her daughter selfishly falls into a coma, Ronnie has no choice but to keep their stardom dreams alive by assuming her identity. From director Natalie Bailey, and producers Dan Lake (Early Winter, MIFF 2015) and Michael Wrenn (6 Festivals, MIFF 2022).

Ellis Park

Premiere Film Fund
Written and directed by Justin Kurzel
Produced by Nick Batzias and Charlotte Wheaton

A feature documentary concerning famed musician Warren Ellis, who takes stock of his life during the COVID years and sets up an animal sanctuary in Sumatra. Directed and written by Justin Kurzel (Nitram, MIFF 2021), produced by Nick Batzias (The Australian Dream, MIFF 2019) and Charlotte Wheaton (Off Country, MIFF 2021), with executive producer Virginia Whitwell (Greenhouse by Joost, MIFF 2022).

Flathead

Directed by Jaydon Martin
Written by Jaydon Martin and Patrick McCabe
Produced by Patrick McCabe
Starring Cass Cumerford and Andrew Wong

Two men in rural Queensland search for solace in spirituality in this cinematic blend of documentary and fiction.

Now in his 70s, country bloke Cass Cumerford returns to his hometown of Bundaberg seeking enlightenment. Having weathered a life of drugs, tragedy and, now, an illness, he follows his intrigue to evangelical Christians. Meanwhile, when Andrew Wong isn’t fronting his late father’s iconic fish-and-chip shop – the same one that allowed his family to send him and his sisters to school – he’s working out and musing on Buddhism in his own pursuit of meaning.

Executive-produced by Amiel Courtin-Wilson (Hail, MIFF 2012; Bastardy, MIFF 2008), Jaydon Martin’s directorial feature debut scooped a Special Jury Award as part of Rotterdam’s Tiger Competition. Shot in an alluringly cinematic black-and-white, this intimate portrait blurs narrative and nonfiction to memorialise a working-class community and their dealings with loss, masculinity and faith. With its spirited insights into humanity and solidarity, Flathead is at once contemplative and compassionate.

Fungi: Web of Life

Directed by Gisela Hoffman and Joseph Nizeti
Written by Catherine Marciniak and Joseph Nizeti
Produced by David Gross, Jo-Anne McGowan and Sarah Noonan

Lose yourself in this immersive trip into the fascinating world of fungi, as narrated by Björk.

It’s difficult to summarise the far-reaching properties of fungi, despite under 10 per cent of the millions of species that exist being described. For one, life on Earth would not be possible without them. They help plants and trees survive, and their great potential is being harnessed to help break down plastic and produce medicine. As UK biologist Dr Merlin Sheldrake traverses Tasmania’s Tarkine rainforest, he guides us through the usually unseen network that keeps more than just this forest alive in a world facing climate threat and unsustainable destruction.

With mesmerising time-lapse footage by Stephen Axford, Patrick Hickey and Wim van Egmond, Fungi: Web of Life follows Sheldrake on a mission to educate the population about fungi’s possibilities, advocate for their preservation and, in his own words, give this kingdom of life “a kingdom’s worth of attention”. Lulled by the soothing narration of Björk – a fellow fungi lover – the 3D documentary comes courtesy of Australian production house Stranger Than Fiction Films, including executive producer Jennifer Peedom (River, MIFF 2021; Sherpa, MIFF 2015). Prepare for a journey that’s both meditative and awe-inspiring.

Left Write Hook

Premiere Film Fund
Directed by Shannon Owen
Produced by Donna Lyon, Shannon Owen, Alice Burgin and Gal Greenspan

For eight survivors of childhood sexual abuse, a groundbreaking program turns into a journey of recovery, transformation and friendship in this documentary from director Shannon Owen and producers Alice Burgin and Gal Greenspan (Moja Vesna, MIFF 2022).

Magic Beach

Premiere Film Fund
Directed by Robert Connolly
Written by Robert Connolly, Susan Danta, Pierce Davison, Guy Howett, Jake Duczynski, Emma Kelly, Anthony Lucas, Simon Rippingale, Kathy Sarpi, Kate Harris, Marieka Walsh, Eddie White and Lee Whitmore
Produced by Liz Kearney, Robert Connolly, Kate Laurie and Chloé Brugalé
Starring Rylee Chuck, Luka Sero, Azania Molefi, Flynn Wandin, Frankie Pollard, Summer Jeon, Elliott Hayes, Monty Newton Welsh and Spencer Ellis-Anderson

A hybrid live action-animation anthology adaptation of Alison Lester’s iconic children’s book, from producer Liz Kearney (Sweet As, MIFF 2022) and producer/director Robert Connolly (Paper Planes, MIFF 2014).

Memoir of a Snail

Premiere Film Fund
Written and directed by Adam Elliot
Produced by Liz Kearney and Adam Elliot
Starring Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Eric Bana, Magda Szubanski, Tony Armstrong, Paul Capsis, Bernie Clifford, Davey Thompson, Charlotte Belsey, Mason Litsos, Nick Cave and Jacki Weaver

Sarah Snook lends her voice alongside Kodi Smit-McPhee, Magda Szubanski, Eric Bana and Jacki Weaver in the stunning second Claymation feature from Oscar winner Adam Elliot.

Her life may be a mess, but Grace Pudel (Snook, Succession; Predestination, MIFF 2014) does derive pleasure from three things: her snail collection, romance novels and her guinea pigs. As children, she and twin brother Gilbert (Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog; Slow West) eked out a modest existence with their paraplegic father, a has-been performer gripped by alcoholism and grief after their mother’s death. When he, too, passes away, the siblings are split up by child services: Grace is sent to Canberra, and Gilbert, to Perth. Isolated and depressed, Grace retreats behind a carapace – much like her snails – and fills her emotional void through compulsive hoarding. That is, until she finds a fourth source of joy: a friendship with outrageous octogenarian Pinky (Weaver, Animal Kingdom; Silver Linings Playbook).

This exquisitely hand-crafted stop-motion wonder from the auteur behind the multi-awarded feature Mary and Max, Oscar-winning short Harvie Krumpet (MIFF 2003) and AFI-lauded short Ernie Biscuit (MIFF 2015) is an affecting coming-of-age tale like no other. As it traces one downtrodden young woman’s journey to overcome loss and embrace herself, this bittersweet yet uplifting film also unfolds as a family saga across 1970s Australia on an intimate scale. Supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund, Memoir of a Snail is an indelible reminder that while the turmoil of life may force us into our shells, all it takes is a little bravery to break free.

Queens of Concrete

Premiere Film Fund
Directed by Eliza Cox
Produced by Gena Lida Riess and CJ Welsh

This feature documentary follows three young female skateboarders in their quest to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. From director Eliza Cox and producers CJ Welsh and Gena Lida Riess.