The Central Coast Film Festival announces its full 2025 program 2025/10/17
The Central Coast Film Festival today unveils the full program for its 2025 edition, running 1–9 November at Cinema Paradiso, Ettalong Beach. Featuring its most ambitious lineup yet, the festival will present a bold mix of local and international cinema, alongside special events, filmmaker Q&As, and classic restorations in partnership with the NFSA Restores program. Excitingly on November 8th, the Festival will host a screening of My Brilliant Career by a special conversation with Gillian Armstrong and cinematographer Donald McAlpine, celebrating the enduring impact of their collaboration.
“I’m incredibly proud of how far this festival has come,” said Festival Founder Timothy Wilde. “We started this festival with an aim to build a foundation for regional screen culture and to give filmmakers a platform for recognition both here and internationally.”
Now the largest film festival ever held on the Central Coast, this year’s program features 24 documentary and narrative features, including Australian premieres of Coroner to the Stars, New Wave, The Strange Dark, Softshell, Room Temperature, Snowland, Big Star: The Nick Skelton Story, and Fantasy A Gets a Mattress. The festival will also showcase 2025 Australian film festival circuit highlights Fwends, Floodland, Yurlu Country, and Iron Winter, bringing the best of Australian independent cinema to Ettalong Beach.
Opening the festival on the evening of November 1st is the Australian premiere of Morgan Evans’s Microbudget. A sharp, self-aware comedy about a filmmaker’s ill-fated quest to shoot a low-budget indie and sell it to a streamer for a “f***-ton of money.” The premiere follows its acclaimed U.S. festival run and a place on the 2025 Popcorn List. The event will be preceded by an opening night mixer at the cinema’s adjoining Bar Toto.
On the 8th of November, the festival is excited to host the Central Coast premiere of The Shirt Off Your Back by Budgewoi filmmaker David Robinson-Smith, following its acclaimed screenings at Sydney and Melbourne Film Festivals. The lineup of 60 short films include a range of mixed shorts screenings and genre specific presentations including: The Animated Shorts event, Freaky Friday Horror Shorts Mix and Documentary Shorts Mix.
Special Presentations this year feature two landmark restorations from the NFSA Restores program:
- Gallipoli – followed by an in-person Q&A with star Mark Lee, reflecting on the legacy of the Australian classic.
- My Brilliant Career – accompanied by a special conversation with Gillian Armstrong and cinematographer Donald McAlpine, celebrating the enduring impact of their collaboration.
The festival is also excited to host a screening of The Onion Presents: A Historic Cinematic Night of Film at the Movies. A deliriously irreverent double feature from America’s Finest News Source. Pairing the satirical “investigative” documentary Jeffrey Epstein: Bad Pedophile with the cult reality parody Sex House, this special presentation promises a wickedly funny, wholly inappropriate night at the movies.
Supported by MUBI and Sara Lee, our film trivia night at Bar Toto on Thursday, November 6th is the perfect mid festival event to connect with other local film fanatics and test your knowledge of cinema.
The festival is also excited to host a filmmaker mixer at Bar Toto before our evening sessions on Saturday, November 8th. All attendees will each be given special name tag stickers created by Letterboxd to list their four favourite films.
In its second year, the 2025 edition marks a major step forward introducing new youth and industry initiatives, and continuing its mission to champion filmmakers from regional Australia. It will see the presentation of the inaugural Central Coast Filmmaker and Young Central Coast Filmmaker of the year awards, each award will present a Coast filmmaker with $1000 and opportunities industry mentorship. Tickets and passes are on sale now at tickets.centralcoastfilmfestival.com