Multicultural Film Festival 2026
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE VICTORIAN MULTICULTURAL COMMISSION AND SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
Fed Square will screen this year’s Multicultural Film Festival (MFF) program.
The films selected for the 2026 Multicultural Film Festival celebrates the cultural diversity of filmmaking and refugee stories.
The films to be screened at Fed Square have been officially selected for prizes such as Best Victorian Short Fiction Film, Best Victorian Short Non-Fiction Film, Best National Short Film, Chairperson’s Refugee Stories Award and People’s Choice Award for Best Short Film.
About the Multicultural Film Festival
The Multicultural Film Festival celebrates multiculturalism through the lens of short films that explore stories of cultural diversity and living in multicultural Australia, home to the world’s oldest continuous cultures and people who identify with more than 300 ancestries around the world.
Classifications TBC
This exuberant slice-of-life dramedy follows a young girl who loses her job, prompting a day of mundane and surprisingly deep conversations. She learns to celebrate her heritage, appreciate her family’s quirks, and finds solace in the familiar amid life’s unpredictable twists and turns. An ode to Latino resilience, growth and the importance of familial love and support.
Directed and written by: Andrea Mudbidri
Produced by: Andrea Mudbidri and Juliet Lochrin
Key cast: Andrea Mudbidri, Julianna Caballero, Juan Bianchi, Mason Phoumirath and Rosanna Spiers
State: New South Wales
Country: Australia
This powerful film follows Deborah, a young Sudanese woman who has escaped the fate of more than 50 percent of Sudanese girls sold into prearranged marriages. The film traces her journey as she carves out her own destiny as a criminal lawyer and proud mother. Juxtaposed against the story of the Hon Ayor Makur Chuot MLC, the first South Sudanese woman admitted into the Australian Parliament.
Directed and written by: Deng Achieu
Produced by: Jesse Matthew
Key cast: Debra (Yar Majok) John and The Hon. Ayor Makur Chuot
State: Victoria
Country: Australia
An aging restaurant owner reflects on an old letter she once sent to her father in her homeland. This film explores fractured memories of home, identity and migration, highlighting the weight of what has been lost and what remains.
Directed by: Alex Nesic
Produced by: Alex Nesic and Madison Murphy
Written by: Alex Nesic, Renge Chen and Dennis Li
Key cast: Lili Bai
State: Victoria
Country: Australia
A poetic documentary based on the Arabic poem of Sargon Boulus. This film explores alienation and reconciliation. A dedication to exiles both inside and outside their homelands.
Directed by: Abhishek Singh
Written by: Sargon Boulus
Produced by: Masar Smari
Key cast: Masar Smari and El Sarafandi
Country: Iraq
Told through the eyes of children, this charming narrative tells the story of Maksym, a 10-year-old Ukrainian boy, who flees the war arrives in Valencia and meets a Russian girl named Milana.
Directed and written by: Students from C.E.I.P. Serrería School
Produced by: C.E.I.P. Serrería School
Key cast: Students from C.E.I.P. Serrería School
State: Valencia
Country: Spain
This confronting film explores the timely issue of secondary homelessness that affects young women. Tali, a student, secretly lives out of her car. She encounters a recently divorced security guard – and both their lives are changed forever.
Directed by: Jeremiah Puni
Written by: Annidette Puni
Produced by: Chhayly Moek
Key cast: Lucy Dunning and Paul Talbot
State: New South Wales
Country: Australia
A narrative exploring memory and friendship, as best friends catch up over two cups of chai to play a round of Tabbeh. Pushing the limits of Arabic storytelling, the film celebrates childhood, innocence the power of play.
Directed and written by: Sarah Ghassali
Produced by: Grace Hird
Key cast: Mira Fares and Cedra Barrini
State: Victoria
Country: Australia
Set in a prolonged COVID lockdown, this poetic film explores motherhood and isolation through the journey of Caitlin, a single mother who struggles to find hope amid the isolation
Directed, written and produced by: Suzhen Williams
Key cast: Shona Tan
State: Victoria
Country: Australia
After four decades of food, culture and support, Dr Nouria Salehi reflects on the closing of the Afghan Gallery Restaurant and the community it will leave behind. This documentary reveals the legacy of Australia’s first Afghan restaurant and the powerful significance it has had on the Afghan community in Australia.
Directed by: Mona Uehara
Produced by: Lucy Gallen
Key cast: Nouria Salehi
State: Victoria
Country: Australia
An innovative short film that follows Matsu’s journey from his anxious arrival at Melbourne’s Spencer Street Station to the life he builds in Australia 20 years later. The film reflects on the rite of passage within a multicultural society through episodic memories and puppetry, exploring the intersections of time, memory, place and language.
Directed and written by: Youbi Lee and Taka Takiguchi
Produced by: Youbi Lee, Taka Takiguchi, Ben Noonan, Richard Greenhalgh and Rena Singh
Key cast: Youbi Lee, Taka Takiguchi and Ben Noonan
State: Victoria
Country: Australia