The Fox
Opening Night Gala + Q&A
An affable foxhunter encounters a talking fox who offers him an opportunity to transform his fiancée into the perfect woman.
Audience Award Best Australian Feature | SFF
Best Australian Director Award | MIFF
Followed by a Q&A with director Dario Russo
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Wednesday Oct 21 | 7:00pm
Minotaur
When Gleb, a successful company director, finds himself under siege from mounting corporate pressures, an increasingly unstable world, and the discovery of his wife’s affair, the collapse of his carefully ordered life accelerates toward violence.
Grand Prix Prize | Cannes Film Festival
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Thursday Oct 22 | 6:00pm
Encore: Saturday Oct 24 | 3:30pm
Nuisance Bear
A polar bear is forced to navigate the human world of tourists, wildlife officers, and hunters as its ancient migration collides with modern life. When a sacred predator is branded a nuisance, it becomes unclear who truly belongs in this shared landscape.
U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize | Sundance
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Thursday Oct 22 | 6:15pm
Encore: Saturday Oct 24 | 4:00pm
Josephine
After eight-year-old Josephine accidentally witnesses a crime in Golden Gate Park, she begins to act out violently to protect herself. This emotional trauma leads to conflicts between her parents as they search for justice, and a way to feel safe again.
Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award | Sundance
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Thursday Oct 22 | 8:30pm
Encore: Friday Oct 23 | 6:30pm
Erupcja
While on vacation in Poland, Bethany breaks away from a romantic itinerary planned by her doting boyfriend, Rob, fearing that a marriage proposal is imminent. Reuniting instead with an old friend, Nel, the two women rekindle their uniquely combustible chemistry, predicated on sapphic synchronicity and a mutual penchant for poetry.
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Thursday Oct 22 | 8:50pm
Wild Horse Nine
Shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup, CIA agents Chris and Lee are dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island by their bureau chief, MJ. Amongst the Island’s iconic statues, and as the longtime partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies, Chris’s newfound bond with a pair of rebellious students threatens to send everyone’s trip to this remote paradise sideways.
Best Actor | Venice Film Festival
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Friday Oct 23 | 6:00pm
Encore: Sunday Oct 25 | 2:45pm
Bitter Christmas
In 2025 Spain, a celebrated film director struggles to write the screenplay for an autofictional film set in 2004 about an unsuccessful movie director who suffers a panic attack that forces her to take a break by visiting the Canary Islands, where she begins work on a new film.
Official Selection | Cannes Film Festival
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Friday Oct 23 | 6:15pm
Poster Boy + Panel Discussion
Explores the rise, impact, and enduring mythology of Aziz Shavershian – “Zyzz” – the unlikely internet icon whose transformation from anonymous teenager to global symbol of fitness culture reshaped how a generation defines influencers, identity, and self-invention.
Followed by Storytelling for Change, a panel discussion with Tom Blackwell, Lucy Barrat, and more
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Saturday Oct 24 | 1:00pm
Whispers in the Woods
In the heart of the tranquil Vosges forests, where lynxes, bears and deer roam freely, Vincent Munier accompanies his environmentalist father on his expeditions. He not only seeks to capture the visual wonders of this forest kingdom, but also aims to make its sounds audible.
César Award for Best Documentary Film
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Saturday Oct 24 | 1:15pm
No Good Men
2021, Afghanistan right before the Taliban’s return. Naru, the only camerawoman at Kabul’s main TV station, struggles to keep custody of her three-year-old son after leaving her serial cheater husband. Convinced no good men exist in her country, Naru is caught off guard when Qodrat, Kabul TV’s most important journalist, gives her an unexpected career opportunity.
Screening at NFSA Canberra
Saturday Oct 24 | 2:00pm
To Hold a Mountain
In the remote highlands of Montenegro, a shepherd mother and daughter proudly defend their ancestral mountain from the threat of becoming a NATO military training ground, stirring memories of the violence that shattered their family.
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary | Sundance
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Saturday Oct 24 | 3:15pm
Fjord
After the deaths of Mihai’s parents, Mihai and Lisbeth Gheorghiu leave everything behind in Romania and move with their children to a remote village in Norway, hoping to rebuild their lives near Lisbeth’s family. There, they grow close to their neighbors, the Halbergs, whose warmth offers the promise of a fresh start. But the fragile peace begins to unravel when the Gheorghius’ young daughter, Elia, arrives at school covered in bruises.
Palme d'Or | Cannes Film Festival
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Saturday Oct 24 | 5:45pm
Whistle + Q&A
At the Masters of Musical Whistling competition, where virtuoso whistlers compete for global supremacy and bragging rights, we follow an array of quirky personalities and dazzling talents in a film sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
Followed by a Q&A with director Christopher Nelius
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Saturday Oct 24 | 6:00pm
Encore: Sunday Oct 25 | 4:45pm
Coward
Pierre, a young Belgian soldier, wants to prove himself on the battlefield during the First World War. Behind the frontlines, he meets Francis, who is asked to find a way to boost morale, and the two begin form an intimate relationship.
Best Actor | Cannes Film Festival
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Saturday Oct 24 | 6:15pm
Yellow Letters
The marriage of Derya and Aziz is under pressure after losing their jobs because of state authoritarianism and moving to Istanbul to live with Aziz’s parents. They and their 13-year-old daughter Ezgi have to redefine their way of life, and challenges to their personal politics.
Golden Bear | Berlin Film Festival
Screening at NFSA Canberra
Saturday Oct 24 | 7:00pm
Jim Queen
When Heterosis – a mysterious virus that turns gay men straight – sweeps through the Parisian gay scene, Jim, the six packed sovereign of the Gym Queens, goes from Pride royalty to social outcast. With only Lucien, a freshly-out twink with more heart than abs, still by his side, Jim must race to find a cure before the disease erases the community that once worshipped him.
Official Selection | Cannes Film Festival
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Saturday Oct 24 | 8:45pm
American Doctor
When three heroic American doctors – Palestinian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian – enter Gaza to save lives in the middle of a genocide, they find themselves caught between medicine and politics, risking everything to expose the truth.
Best International Documentary | SFF
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Sunday Oct 25 | 12:30pm
Boss Cat + Q&A
When her mother suddenly dies, Sonja is thrown into tumult. Suddenly under the care of her controlling grandma and—as a young woman living with Down syndrome—constantly faced with a society that judges what she’s capable of, Sonja is desperate to be herself and take charge of her own life. When a chance encounter with the charismatic Hakim leads her to a krump class, Sonja discovers a life-changing outlet for expression.
Followed by a Q&A with director Genevieve Clay-Smith
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Sunday Oct 25 | 12:45pm
The Story of Documentary Film + My Survival as an Aboriginal
The Story of Documentary Film, traces the evolution of documentary film across time, examining landmark works and hidden treasures, while revealing how the form has helped us see and make sense of our world.
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In My Survival as an Aboriginal, the first documentary directed by a First Nations woman, Essie Coffey gives the local children lessons on Aboriginal culture. She speaks of the importance of teaching these kids about their traditions.
Screening at NFSA Canberra
Sunday Oct 25 | 2:00pm
The Tale of Silyan
Inspired by the folktale of the boy Siljan, who, after a quarrel with his father, turns into a stork and leaves home, the film is a story about the relationship between a farmer, his family, and a white stork.
Best Film, Cinema and Arts Award | Venice Film Festival
Screening at Dendy Cinemas
Sunday Oct 25 | 5:15pm
Closing Night Celebration
We are working hard to secure a special selection for
our Closing Night event, to be announced soon.
Be sure to stay in touch via the Dendy Cinemas newsletter and the Capital Film Festival socials for an announcement...
It’ll be worth the wait!