The Adelaide Film Festival opened the 2025 season in style with a pink carpet outside the Capri Cinema in Goodwood.
Gilbert Street was closed off between the Capri and the Good Gilbert bar, giving a sophisticated European chic. There was an expectant buzz about the Australian debut of Jimpa, a film about an Adelaide filmmaker (Olivia Coleman) , their non-binary teenager (Aud Mason-Hyde) and gay grandfather (John Lithgow) reuniting in Amsterdam.
CEO and Creative Director Mat Kesting was there to welcome dignitaries, including Minister for Arts Andrea Michaels, Adelaide Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith and celebrated film director Scott Hicks.
This is just the start of a packed schedule at the festival. Many of the upcoming screenings include a Q&A with the creative teams. Director Lynette Wallworth and shaman Muka Yawanawa will be in conversation with The Guardian Australia’s Tory Shepherd after the screening of Edge of Life. This is a film about death and living after the Emmy award winning director died and was revived when she was 11 years old.
German filmmaker Julian Wittmann spent six months with an octogenarian sailor who has spent four decades living “off-grid.” Following the screening of the movie Cast Off he will be answering audience questions.
The festival presets a wide range of cinema, from films about music, including It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley and Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds to youth and animation galas. There are films on filmmaking, including Mad Max and the Genius of George Miller and First Nations Premier Shorts.
Several filmmakers are presenting free screen conversation sessions including Abraham Joffe talking about “The Demands of Documentary” and director Pauline Clague (The Colleano Heart) discussing the process of transforming personal journeys into screen stories.
The opening night event took place on 15th October 2025. The Adelaide Film Festival runs from 15th to 26th October 2025. For details of the films and events, check the website here.
Check out the photos from the Pink Carpet:
