Mia Kidis in French Girls.

Sydney Film Festival will present Sartorial: Fashion On Film, a program featuring new premieres alongside restored classics that explore the relationship between fashion and cinema, screening as part of the 73rd Sydney Film Festival from 3–14 June 2026.

The program strand features seven films spanning decades of cinema, bringing together a striking body of work in which some of the world’s most distinctive filmmakers turn fashion into a lens on identity, culture and power.

From the ateliers of Paris to the factory floors of China, these films trace how clothing reflects and shapes the societies that produce it, moving between documentary and fiction, and between candid portraits and global perspectives.

A centrepiece will be the world premiere of Australian film French Girls, directed by Hyun Lee.

The film follows Mia (Mia Kidis) who is happily drifting through her twenties working on construction sites when she’s scouted by a Sydney model agent. Suddenly, she’s making more money than ever while working less – something her boyfriend loves to point out. Mia quietly observes this strange new world of modelling with deep uncertainty. Is this really the life she wants? With one curious turn after another, she finds herself in trouble with the law.

Lee (Asian Girls, SFF 2018) is an emerging Korean-Australian director, whose recent TV writing credits include an episode of Paramount+ series Fake starring Asher Keddie and David Wenham, which won the Australian Writers’ Guild Award for Limited Series.

“The relationship between fashion and film extends far beyond the traditional fashion documentaries we know and love. In this special series, we wanted to highlight instances where some of cinema’s most distinctive directors have brought their singular perspective to the fashion world,” said Sydney Film Festival Senior Programmer, Jessica Moraza.

Tickets to Sartorial: Fashion On Film, as well as Flexipasses and subscriptions to Sydney Film Festival 2026 are on sale now. Full details via sff.org.au. The full Sydney Film Festival program is announced on Wednesday 6 May 2026. 

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