Flickerfest Marks 35 Years With Phenomenal 2026 Program

There’s something about Flickerfest that feels threaded through the city’s cultural heartbeat. Maybe it’s the salt in the air as you wander up Queen Elizabeth Drive, or the low hum of Bondi Pavilion on a warm January night. 

Whatever it is, Flickerfest isn’t a run-of-the-mill film festival — it’s a Sydney summer ritual. 

Festival director Bronwyn Kidd, who has led the event since 1997, says this year’s milestone is striking. “It’s exciting for Flickerfest to have reached a landmark 35 years of championing short films in Australia,” she reflects. “Becoming Oscar-qualifying in 2002 really saw the profile of Flickerfest grow at home and internationally… shining a spotlight on Flickerfest for the rest of the world.”

More than 3600 submissions arrived this year, with just over 200 selected. Kidd says the 2026 lineup is especially inventive: “I’ve been impressed by the incredible craft and creativity these short films have expressed… I’m sure they’ll delight our audiences.”

The Bondi Pavilion setting remains central to Flickerfest’s identity. After 29 years screening here, the beach has become part of the experience. “Our long history of screening under the stars, beside the beach — both unconventional and vibrant — allows us to celebrate two great Australian passions: beach culture and the arts,” Kidd says.

Flickerfest’s big, beautiful queer showcase

The Rainbow Shorts program, curated by award-winning filmmaker Craig Boreham, continues to be one of Flickerfest’s most beloved nights. For him, the thrill is watching LGBTQIA+ cinema expand. 

“The big thing I have noticed… is really in the evolution of our storytelling itself,” he says. “The stories are really diverse and unexpected, and filmmakers have moved beyond a lot of tropes of the past that have inhabited queer cinema.”

This year’s lineup spans comedy, drama and animation. “Each of the films has a distinct point of view,” Boreham explains. Highlights include Bleat! — the first Tamil-Malaysian short invited to Cannes Critics’ Week — the “hilariously horny” Scottish short Sleazy Tiger starring Alan Cumming, UK animation Two Black Boys in Paradise, and Spain’s Casi Septiembre.

As Boreham puts it, “There’s something special about sitting in a cinema with other LGBTQIA+ folk… sharing our stories together. There is a real sense of community gathering that we don’t often get day to day.”

2026 Flickerfest showcases

Across its ten sun-drenched days, Flickerfest’s 2026 program unfurls into a colourful tangle of premieres, audience favourites and beautifully curated showcases — each one designed to meet audiences where they’re at.

• EU Shorts Showcase — European gems spanning satire, surrealism and political drama. Perfect for art-house lovers and global cinema nerds.
• FlickerKids — family-friendly fun with heart, whimsy and adventure. Bring the little ones, or bring your inner child.
• Love Bites — films about relationships in all their messy, tender, funny forms. 
• Short Laughs — an entire program devoted to big belly laughs. A guaranteed crowd-pleaser for anyone needing a serotonin bump.
• First Nations Showcase (Survival Day) — an essential, powerful program celebrating culture, resilience and community. A must-attend for anyone invested in First Nations storytelling.

Whether you prefer films that make you laugh, cry, question everything or simply sink blissfully into your seat, Flickerfest’s 2026 lineup is stacked with discoveries.

Flickfest looks forward

Kidd hopes the anniversary edition leaves audiences buzzing: “I want audiences to leave feeling uplifted and inspired… with short films that will stay with them for years — or at least til the next Flickerfest rolls around.”

And honestly, that’s the thing about Flickerfest: you come for the films, but you stay for the feeling. No one does summer cinema like this city — and no festival captures Sydney’s creative pulse quite like Flickerfest.