by FilmInk Staff
150+ Short Films and New Festival Hub: St Kilda Film Festival returns for a 10-day celebration of Australian Cinema, June 5-15, 2025
St Kilda Film Festival (SKFF) proudly announces its 2025 program, marking the 41st year of Australia’s longest running short-film festival with its most expansive program to date.
Proudly presented by City of Port Phillip, this year’s festival will screen over 150 films across 34 curated sessions, taking place at iconic venues including South Melbourne Market, the Astor Theatre, and for the first time since 2019, the much-loved St Kilda Town Hall. The Palais Theatre will roll out the red carpet for the Opening Night Gala for a star-studded evening on June 5.
In 2025, SKFF continues its commitment to platforming diverse voices and perspectives. The program features the festival’s largest First Nations line-up to date, including a dedicated strand curated by Fred Gesha, with a particular focus on stories of motherhood and birthing by First Nations female filmmakers.
This year also sees a strong embrace of analogue formats, with a resurgence in Super 8 and 16mm filmmaking evident by the 12 titles in the program shot on film, illustrating how the next generation of filmmakers are embracing the medium.
A reimagined St Kilda Town Hall will serve as the festival’s hub, transformed into a cabaret-style cinema with a bar, DJs, live music on Friday nights, and an open-access Filmmaker Lounge, bringing a new feel to the festival experience.
Short film highlights include:
Unspoken, directed by Damian Walshe-Howling. As volatile protests erupt across Sydney in 1979, Croatian-born Marina is forced to expose a secret love affair with her Australian boyfriend when an escalating political storm spills into her childhood home. The consequences are devastating as the personal and political collide, revealing the complex and fraught nature of identity and belonging.
Damian is one of Australia’s most accomplished actors, known for standout roles in Underbelly, Mystery Road, Jack Irish, and Last King of the Cross.
See Me: A Film About Redro Redriguez, directed by Nathan Woods. A heartfelt documentary capturing the life and legacy of David “Redro Redriguez” Whip, a musician, sound engineer, and beloved figure of Melbourne’s rock scene. From touring with iconic bands to shaping the sound of Cherry Bar and founding the Moonah Arts Collective, Redro’s influence ran deep. In October 2023, filmmaker and friend Nathan Woods sat down with Redro at his home studio to tell his life story, 6 months before his untimely passing.
Fence, directed by Samantha Alexis Laughton. A young woman slaves to maintain the boundary fence of a remote cattle station for a brutal Boss Man. When a mysterious captive is brought in, he awakens an ancient inner strength passed down from the Foremothers of her homelands, giving her the courage to escape the fence that has entrapped her womanhood and spirit since birth.
Re-Imagining Our Futures: Birthing, directed by Kimberley Benjamin. Nyikina and Jabbir Jabbir woman Kalinda Palmer reckons with the Western medical healthcare system and learns about traditional birthing practices from her Elders so she can re-imagine a future for herself, her family and her community.
Born to Hustle, directed by Grace Anna Cardona. This award winning short documentary cracks open the chaotic mind of Emma Addams, jeweller, artist, entrepreneur, and born hustler. At the helm of Melbourne’s Heart of Bone, her macabre designs have built a cult following, worn by Billie Eilish, Billy Idol, and Jean Paul Gaultier. Driven by ADHD, sleepless nights, and Coke Zero, Emma blurs the line between art and survival in a world where building a brand runs bone deep.
RAGE, directed by Renee Kyprioti. Inspired by the book RAGE: A Sharpie’s Journal by Julie Mac, RAGE is a snapshot of the Sharpie subculture in 1970s Melbourne, a time when running from the cops, avoiding the ticket inspectors, drinking, spewing and rooting were all in a night’s work.
Unstoppable, directed by Jack Byrnes and Marcus Porcaro. A paraplegic ex-defence contractor, grieving the loss of his brother, must fight for his life when masked intruders storm his workplace, hunting for classified information. Forced to adapt his paramilitary skills, he weaponises his surroundings to reclaim strength, belief, and the will to survive.
Other standout sessions in 2025 include:
First Nations Women in Film (June 8) proudly presents films created, produced and directed by female First Nations filmmakers with a screening of four compelling short films: Fence, Re-Imagining Our Futures: Birthing, Speaking Up, and Motherhood in the Colony. These works explore themes of matriarchy, identity, resilience, and the reclamation of traditional knowledge. Despite ongoing underrepresentation in the screen industry, First Nations women continue to shape vital conversations through film. A panel discussion, facilitated by ABC Indigenous Archives Manager Tasha James, will follow the screenings, featuring director Kimberley Benjamin, producer Kalinda Palmer, and actor and cultural leader Lisa Maza. Together, they will reflect on the stories, challenges, and significance of First Nations women’s voices in film.
The Edge of Seventeen (June 9) tales of love, juvenile delinquency, rebellion, identity, longing and more make up this heartfelt program bursting with youthful energy.
Festival Mixtape at the Market (June 12) brings an evening of films to light up the South Melbourne Market. With a fantastic mix of exhilarating drama, gothic horror, brilliant animation and the downright unusual, this program offers beautiful and unexpected cinema in an iconic space. Wine and food from market traders will be available before and during the screening.
Analogue Experience (June 14) commemorates love for old-school films with many shot on both Super 8 and 16mm. Through brilliant colour and grain, with the classic screen ratio, enjoy the rich and dreamy dramas, stories of youth, dystopian love stories, sci-fi freak-outs and much more.
Under the Radar (June 12) discovers the future of Australian cinema by showcasing bold and original short films by emerging filmmakers under 21 in the Youth Short Film Category.
Shifting the Gaze presented by WIFT Vic (June 14) returns to St Kilda Film Festival, bringing a stunning body of work from female and gender-diverse practitioners. Watch the best of female-led stories from across the nation, then have the opportunity to hear from many of these talented filmmakers in a post-screening Q&A.
Made in VIC Part 1 & 2 presented by VicScreen (June 15) showcases local filmmakers as a testament to the artistic and cultural strength of Victoria in 2025. This session is packed with a selection of some of the best films in the program across brilliant two-handers, analogue wonders, and stories that will transport you to far-off places and the distant past.
Richard Sowada, SKFF Director said, “What an absolutely ripping year for Australian short-form films. We had a record number of films entered so we’re busting out the festival’s biggest program to date with more than 150 of them across all genres. The strength and confidence across them all is astonishing and I’m proud to have the opportunity to be associated with such creative power by bringing them to audiences over the 10 days of the fest”
For more information on screenings and bookings, visit: stkildafilmfestival.com.au
St Kilda Film Festival (SKFF) returns to the big screen across Thursday 5 June – Sunday 15 June 2025. SKFF is Australia’s longest-running short film festival, recognising the genre of short film, including music videos, gaming and immersive forms, celebrating some of Australia’s best local short filmmakers and screen artists
