Melbourne International Film Festival reveals full program for 2015

Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has announced what is their biggest program to date, and possibly the biggest any film festival in Australia has seen. The forthcoming event will feature an almost overwhelming 370 films in total, spread across it’s duration from July 30th to August 16th. This total includes 28 world premieres and 163 Australian premieres, luring in over 29 international guests and over 100 local guests. Those heading along can expect to choose from a dizzying variety of challenging, entertaining, heartwarming, heartbreaking, terrifying, and possibly even life-changing screenings.

Previously announced Aussie film Force of Destiny will serve as the official opening night film, bookending the festival opposite Closing Night Film Mistress America, which has been described as an “all-out screwball farce”.

Other highlights of the program include the Australian premiere of Let’s Dance: Bowie Down Under, a feature about David Bowie and his relationship with Australia, through which he was able to make various comments powerful comments on racism in the form of his music video for “Let’s Dance”. Additionally, there’s Ethan Hawke’s music doco Seymour: An Introduction, James Ponsoldt’s The End of the Tour, thought-provoking doco The Wolfpack, dark comedy The Lobster, and coming-of-age drama The Dairy of a Teenage Girl.

Many well-received screenings at the recent Sydney Film Festival will find their way down to Melbourne for MIFF, including confronting doco The Hunting Ground about rapes on US college campuses; heartwarming and heartbreaking feature Holding the Man, which was SFF’s Closing Night Film and was met with a standing, tearful ovation; playful horror Deathgasm; the much talked about Me and Earl and the Dying Girl; shocking doco Cartel Land; one-shot wonder Victoria; and Sydney Film Festival official Competition Winner Arabian Nights – screened in three separate stages.

The full program can be viewed at the official MIFF website HERE. General tickets will be on sale from July 10th, but MIFF passes are available from HERE right now. Stay tuned for our top picks of the festival and be sure to check our Sydney Film Festival coverage from earlier this year for 30+ reviews of screenings, many of which will be screened at MIFF

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Chris Singh

Chris Singh is an Editor-At-Large at the AU review, loves writing about travel and hospitality, and is partial to a perfectly textured octopus. You can reach him on Instagram: @chrisdsingh.