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The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has announced the nominees for its 2026 MIFF Awards, with more than $300,000 in prize money set to be awarded across several categories during this year’s festival.

Leading the awards is the ‘Bright Horizons Award,’ which will come with a $140,000 prize and recognises outstanding first- and second-feature filmmakers. The 2026 nominees are:

  • Big Girls Don’t Cry – Paloma Schneideman
  • Blue Heron – Sophy Romvari
  • Elephants in the Fog – Abinash Bikram Shah
  • Goodbye, Cruel World – Félix de Givry
  • Josephine – Beth de Araújo
  • La Gradiva – Marine Atlan
  • Sweet Milk Lake – Harvey Zielinski
  • The Friend’s House Is Here – Hossein Keshavarz and Maryam Ataei
  • Wicker – Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer
  • Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep – Rakan Mayasi

MIFF Artistic Director Al Cossar said the competition “continues to highlight emerging filmmakers from around the world,” with many of this year’s nominees travelling to Melbourne for the festival.

The festival has also announced the nominees for the ‘Uncle Jack Charles’ Award, which recognises outstanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander screen creatives and includes a $20,000 cash prize:

  • Charles Perrurle Perkins – The Native Police
  • Keinan William McGillivray Pethybridge and Marcus Raymond – Man Wearing a Helmet
  • Kieran Satour and Tyson Perkins – Facing the Numbers
  • Talia Liddle – Protest on the Dancefloor
  • Tammy Lee Rock – Queens to the Front

Meanwhile, the Blackmagic Design Best Australian Director Award will see one Australian filmmaker receive $50,000 and a fully equipped URSA Cine 12K camera. This year’s nominees are:

  • Dario Russo – The Fox
  • Harvey Zielinski – Sweet Milk Lake
  • Hyun Lee – French Girls
  • Maddelin McKenna – Mad Rush

The winners will be announced during the 2026 MIFF Awards on August 22 at Rydges Melbourne.

The Melbourne International Film Festival runs from August 6 to August 23, with MIFF Online following from August 14 to August 30.