Your First Look at AFF 2026

Dear AFF Community,

Adelaide Film Festival 2026 is drawing closer, and this week, we get to share two things with you that I’ve been looking forward to for a while. Today, our new campaign for 2026, followed by the first 10 films in the program on Wednesday, July 22. 

There’s a moment that happens every October that I think eclipses the feeling of Christmas eve as a kid: when the lights go down on festival screenings, and in the darkness a room full of strangers quietly turns into an audience, hundreds of people experiencing the same story at the same time. This is our community and the heart of the Festival, radiating a palpable and joyous feeling.  

This year we’re putting that feeling at the centre of what we do, with our 2026 campaign :

AFF. All For Film. 

All because everyone is genuinely welcome here, whether you’ve been coming for twenty years or you’ve never set foot in one of our cinemas; and For Film, because we’ve always been all in on great cinema and that’s what brings us together in the first place.

AFF has never just been a festival for film people, it’s a festival for everyone who loves film, whatever that means for them. If you already know what it feels like to love cinema with the AFF community, tell someone who hasn’t been before what that experience is like. And if you haven’t been yet, come along and try something new - pick a film and see where it takes you. Some of my own favourite festival moments came from films I almost missed. 

Going to the cinema has always been better when it’s shared, so bring someone along and be part of something you’ll only find at the cinema. 

See you in October.

Mat Kesting 

CEO & Creative Director 

Adelaide Film Festival