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Sydney Film Festival

Sydney Film Festival

The Sydney Film Festival is one of the most popular events in Sydney and is held over two weeks in June every year.

As the name suggests, the Sydney Film Festival celebrates local and international films with 12 days of premieres, talks, and events.

Sydney Film Festival 2025 Dates, Tickets, Program & Movie Highlights

The Sydney Film Festival’s list of events includes showcasing feature films, arthouse films, documentaries and short films. Families will be excited to know that some have several children’s and family films.

This festival is celebrated throughout the city, with films shown in various venues throughout the CBD. Some more popular venues include the State Theatre and cinemas in the CBD, Newtown, Cremorne, and Western Sydney.

The Sydney Film Festival Hub at Sydney Town Hall is the heart of the Festival. Drop by between films to enjoy a bite to eat and a drink at the Bar from one of SFF’s beverage partners.

Celebrate your love of cinema and extend your movie moment with filmmaker talks, panels and themed parties.

In addition to presenting the best filmmaking from around the world, the Sydney Film Festival celebrates the remarkable talents of emerging and esteemed filmmakers by presenting nine illustrious awards and a record-breaking prize pool of more than $160,000.

The Sydney Film Prize is awarded to the most “audacious, cutting-edge and courageous” film in the Official Competition line-up. FIAPF, the regulating body for international film festivals, endorses the competition. It is judged by a jury of filmmakers and industry professionals, who award the winning filmmaker a $60,000 cash prize.

The GIO Audience Awards for Best International Narrative Feature, Best International Documentary, Best Australian Narrative Feature and Best Australian Documentary are announced after the Festival.

Rate the feature-length films you see, and you could win the chance to host your private screening of an Audience Award-winning film, courtesy of GIO, or other fantastic prizes from Crumpler, SFF cinema venues and restaurant partners.

Tickets can be purchased for individual events/shows, or you can buy a Flexi Pass, which gives you access to 10, 20, or 30 shows. The State Theatre also has an Opening Night Film and Gala and a Closing Night Gala.

About the author

Michael Jones

Michael created and runs the Sydney Point website, as well as the Holiday Point travel brand that incorporates a network of 16 location based travel information and attraction websites around Australia, Asia, and around the world.

With 25+ years of online experience and a passion for travel (having visited Sydney many times and seeing a lot of the city in the process), Michael not only researches and writes content for the website, he also tinkers behind the scenes with the website functionality & design.

Please reach out if you have any questions or suggestions.

2 Comments

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  • Good afternoon.
    Has the Australian movie RUBY’s CHOICE, with Director Michael Budd been entered into Sydney Film Festival.

    kind regards,
    Sylvana Vandertouw

    • Hi Sylvana,

      I have reviewed the movie list at https://www.sff.org.au/program/a-z/?type=Film&type=Event, but I can’t see any reference to “Ruby’s Choice”.

      Be that submissions for the festival closed back at the end of March, I don’t think it will be part of the festival – that’s unless the organisers are staggering out the release of the movie titles (as i don’t believe there was this many movies when I looked a week ago).

      All I can suggest is to keep checking back on that link above to see if it has been added in the coming weeks.

      Thanks
      Michael

What time is the Sydney Film Festival?
Please note, all films start at the advertised time, with less than 5 minutes of advertisements. Please arrive early to guarantee your seat. Latecomers will be asked to wait before entering the cinema when a short film plays before a feature

Please visit our website for more information on the Sydney Film Festival.
Where is the Sydney Film Festival located?
What is the Sydney Film Festival address?
State Theatre Event Cinemas George Street Dendy Newtown Ritz Cinemas Randwick Hayden Orpheum Cremorne Palace Central Cinemas Art Gallery of New South Wales Palace Norton Street Casula Powerhouse Australian Museum Sydney Town Hall Korean Cultural Centre (KCC), Sydney, NSW

Please visit our website for more information on the Sydney Film Festival.
What are the Sydney Film Festival entry prices?
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