Melbourne Women in Film Festival will mark its tenth anniversary this month with a five day program of screenings, panel discussions and industry events focused on women and gender diverse filmmakers.
The festival runs from 19 to 23 March in Melbourne and will feature feature films, short film sessions, retrospectives, filmmaker Q&A events and industry workshops.
Organisers say the anniversary edition reflects a decade of supporting filmmakers from Melbourne and across Australia, alongside voices from Aotearoa and Pasifika communities.
The program also looks back at the first nine years of the festival and the filmmakers, guests and audiences who have taken part since it began.
“MWFF 2026 will celebrate the festival’s decade of supporting women and gender diverse people’s filmmaking in Melbourne, Australia, Aotearoa and Pasifika communities.”
Opening night will feature the Australian film Lesbian Space Princess, directed by Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese. The film is rated MA15+ and will screen as the festival’s opening event.
The story follows Princess Saira, the daughter of the flamboyant lesbian Queens of Planet Clitopolis. After her bounty hunter girlfriend Kiki ends their relationship, events take a turn when Kiki is kidnapped by a group described as the Straight White Maliens.
Saira then sets out to deliver a ransom involving her royal labrys, described in the film as the most powerful weapon known to lesbian kind. With a 24 hour deadline, the character travels beyond her home planet in an attempt to recover the weapon and rescue Kiki.
The journey includes encounters with a difficult spacecraft and a new friendship with a character named Willow, a runaway pop performer.
Tickets for the opening night screening include access to an afterparty at Cameo following the film.
The Melbourne Women in Film Festival has developed over the past decade into a platform for emerging and established filmmakers to present their work and connect with audiences.
The anniversary program will run across several days of screenings and public events as the festival marks ten years of activity in Melbourne’s film community.
Melbourne Women in Film Festival runs from Thursday 19 March to Monday 23 March.
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