Fantastic Film Festival Australia (FFFA) is back for its 2025 programming, and cinephiles with a taste for the experimental, esoteric, and independent, brace yourselves!

The conflicting adaptation of Tom Michell’s memoir, The Penguin Lessons, swerves between a lighthearted comedy and political drama.

The Correspondent actually offers a rather insightful narration of Australian journalist Peter Greste’s experience during his incarceration in Cairo back in 2014. 

At a brisk 95 minutes, Drop is the kind of taut, grown-up genre film that feels increasingly rare.

Small Things Like These is a poignant title for an arresting film, as it’s the little uncomfortable things director Tim Mielants wants you to become familiar with.

It’s a post-Bluey world and children deserve better from animated dog properties, let alone adults who might be drawn in by Dog Man’s appealing art.

The Count of Monte Cristo, directed and written by french duo Alexandre de La Patelliere and Matthieu Delaporte, is a three hour epic worthy of the source material.

Nijinsky is a breathtaking tribute to one of ballet’s most enigmatic figures. […] A truly indelible experience.

Five stars out of five for this outstanding and deeply affecting performance.

Escape from Heck Island is a raucous time and shows just how assured Coutis is in his wheelhouse of deadpan absurdism, doped up with self-aware cheese and bizarro references to Aussie pop culture.

Lovers of musical comedy will be well rewarded but those less into that genre might want to give this a miss.

All in all, I would recommend that anyone who has a chance to see this show should do so for an absolutely unique and hilarious experience.

James Ashcroft’s The Rule of Jenny Pen is a slow-burn psychological horror that trades in gore for something far more insidious - helplessness.

I only wish that That’s The Way The Mop Flaps had a longer run at MICF this year so I could recommend it to everyone for a longer time!

Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up is a delightful, high-energy adventure that stays true to the heart of what makes the franchise so beloved.

Oh, Canada tries to be profound and contemplative, but disappointingly, is not as deep or compelling as it thinks it is. 

In an era of ever-increasing shake-ups in the animation world, it’s no wonder the best animated feature film of the past year was made by a small team of Latvian filmmakers in Blender.

For all of the hysteria that has surrounded this adaptation, when I watched this in a preview screening surrounded by cheering girls in Snow White costumes, it was hard to remember why people were convinced of the insidiousness of this film in the first place. 

If you’re looking for a bit of lighthearted fun, One of Them Days is one release you won’t want to miss!

Steven Soderbergh continues his prolific ‘post-retirement’ run with Black Bag, a tightly-wound spy thriller that is as cleverly composed as it is devilishly paranoid.