Sydney Film Festival 2025 guide: Dates, top events and tickets

The 72nd Sydney Film Festival is here, and it’s packed with powerful, must-see films, including body horror masterpieces, compelling documentaries and animated musicals about lesbian space princesses.

Get ready for the film festival with our ultimate guide, your go-to resource for screening schedules, important dates and ticket details.

What is Sydney Film Festival?

The Sydney Film Festival is one of Sydney’s most celebrated cultural events and an opportunity to experience some of the world’s best cinema, including 17 world premieres and 137 Australian premieres this year. More than 200 films will show at this year’s Sydney Film Festival, uniting cinephiles across the city.

See the highly anticipated Opening Night film Together by Australian writer-director Michael Shanks and starring real-life couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Other exciting films on the programme include the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon and the body-horror Slanted by director Amy Wang, who is a writer on the upcoming Crazy Rich Asians sequel.

The Sydney Film Festival returns this Wednesday, June 4 and will run for 12 days until Sunday, June 15. Showtimes vary daily based on the film and venue.

Program highlights

Presenting 201 films from 70 countries, including 17 world premieres, six international premieres and 137 Australian premieres, the festival is one of Sydney’s most celebrated cultural events and is an opportunity to experience some of the world’s best cinema.

Some of cinemas big names, including Tom Hiddleston, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Dave Franco and Alison Brie, will appear on big screens across the city, and many directors will make their feature debut. The program also includes 15 films that will come direct from the Cannes Film Festival, too, including Kelly Reichardt’s 1970s-set art heist drama The Mastermind.

The films that have generated the most buzz this year include:

• On Swift Horses starring Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Will Poulter.
• Fwends by Melbourne-based Australian writer, director and editor, Sophie Somerville.
• Lesbian Space Princess written and directed by Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese.
• Slanted by director Amy Wang, who is a writer on the upcoming Crazy Rich Asians sequel.
• Together by Australian writer-director Michael Shanks and starring real-life couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco.
• How to Train Your Dragon live-action remake, directed by Dean DeBlois, who also directed the original animated film.
• The Friend by Scott McGehee and David Siegel and starring Naomi Watts, Bill Murray and Constance Wu.
• Blue Moon by Richard Linklater and Ethan Hawke, starring Margaret Qualley and Andrew Scott.

Here we have the full list of the feature films set to screen at this year’s Sydney Film Festival. This doesn’t include the documentaries, of which there are around 60 to choose from.

Sydney Film Festival Venues

Films will be shown citywide at a variety of 13 different venues. These include:

• State Theatre, Sydney CBD
• Sydney Opera House Playhouse, Circular Quay
• Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney CBD
• Dendy, Newtown
• Sydney town Hall, Sydney CBD
• The Hub, Lower Town Hall
• Ritz Cinemas, Randwick
• Palace, Norton Street
• Hayden Orpheum, Cremorne
• Palace Central Cinemas, Chippendale
• Event Cinemas, Sydney CBD
• State Library of NSW, Sydney CBD
• City Recital Hall, Sydney CBD

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How to get tickets

Tickets can be purchased on the official Sydney Film Festival Website. Head to the ‘Films A-Z’ section to explore all showings, select your chosen film and purchase with ease. You’ll receive an email with your tickets, or you can download and print them out straight away.

Ticket prices are as follows:

Adult: $26
Concession/ Senior: $22
Youth (17 and under): $20

Flexipasses

If you’re planning on seeing more than one film or are going with a big group, flexipasses are the most valuable option. With a Flexipass, you can redeem up to four tickets per standard session to share with family and friends. Follow the same instructions for buying regular tickets, except instead of selecting a ticket type, simply enter your flexipass code into the ‘Book on a Pass/Discount Code’ section.

For more information on purchasing using a flexipass, click here.

There are four different passes:

The Youth Pass 6 – $90

For ages 15–24. Score 6 tickets at $15 each, with the option to redeem up to 2 per session.

Flexipass 10 – $195

Grab 10 tickets at $19.50 each.

Flexipass 20 – $360

Get 20 tickets for just $18 each.

Flexipass 30 – $495

Get 30 tickets for just $16.50 each.

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Sydney Film Festival

When: Wednesday, June 4 to Sunday, June 15.
Where: 13 venues across Sydney, including State Theatre, IMAX Sydney and the Art Gallery of NSW.
Price: Standard adult tickets are $26.

For more information and the full program, visit sff.org.au