The Fourth Edition
"What a wonderful festival that does an incredible job celebrating independent film. The communication and promotion leading up to the festival were superb, with trailers and interviews celebrating the program. It was great to take part in a filmmaker Q&A and have the opportunity to meet lots of other filmmakers at the festival."
Georgie Smibert
2025 Official Selection Filmmaker
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The 2026 Adelaide Independent Film Festival will showcase 17 remarkable short films at the heritage-listed Capri Theatre, attracting a passionate audience and bringing together local and interstate filmmakers with industry professionals.
About the Capri Theatre
The Capri Theatre is a charming 1941 heritage-listed, single-screen art deco cinema with 750 seats across two floors. It also has the second-largest theatre organ in the Southern Hemisphere!
For the first time, the Adelaide Independent Film Festival will host a new industry-focused day packed with talks, Q&A sessions and local screenings at The Mercury on 4 October 2026. Hear from AACTA Award-winning filmmakers and industry leaders as they share their insights, experiences, and creative journeys across a range of topics.
About the Mercury Cinema
The Mercury is an independent and community focused cinema that runs a weekly screening program of the best in local and international cinema, as well as a film industry development program supporting the pathway for emerging filmmakers to a screen career in South Australia.
Official Selection
From powerful stories to fresh perspectives, the 2026 Official Selection brings the world of independent cinema to the heritage-listed Capri Theatre on 3 October.
Chrysalis
Enmeshed
Fight Like A Girl
Half Past Midnight
I’ve Never Seen A Straight Banana
If / When
Like Friend, Like Deer
Not In The Mood
Print-Friendly
Reliefs
Run Koala Run
Shadow Of Hope
The Wedding Day
Ya Hanouni
Phone Wallet Keys Door
The Cranker
Stone Memory
Guest Programmer
Anthony Frith
Writer & Director
Anthony Frith is a documentary writer and director obsessed with absurd pop-culture anomalies. His work has taken him from studying the art of churning out hundreds of novelty songs with cult musician Matt Farley in Lessons From A Middle Class Artist to making his feature debut with The Land That Time Forgot for the legendary studio The Asylum, which he directed simultaneously with his own behind-the-scenes documentary, Mockbuster.
Jury
Tilda Cobham-Hervey
Tilda Cobham-Hervey is an actor, director, and writer with a rich body of work across film, television, and live theatre. She began her career with Force Majeure in The Age I’m In before
co-founding the award-winning circus ensemble Gravity and Other Myths in 2009. Tilda gained recognition with her role in 52 Tuesdays (2011) and later appeared in One Eyed Girl and Girl Asleep. Her television debut came in The Kettering Incident and Barracuda (2016). In 2017, she was nominated for a Helpmann Award for Things I Know to Be True. Tilda directed A Field Guide to Being a 12-Year-Old Girl, which won the Crystal Bear at Berlinale in 2018. She starred as Helen Reddy in I Am Woman (2019) and co-directed the short animation Roborovski (2020). In 2022 she acted in the TV series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart and the feature film Young Woman and the Sea. In 2024 she returned to the stage with The Dictionary of Lost Words for State Theatre of South Australia and Sydney Theatre Company (2024). She was most recently seen in the Netflix series Apple Cider Vinegar (2025), and feature films Jimpa (2026) and Alphabet Lane (2026). Later in 2026 her directorial debut, It’s All Going Very Well…, which she also starred, wrote and produced, will be released.
Alies Sluiter
Alies's Academy Award® qualified debut short, AYAAN screened worldwide, winning 30+ awards, including an ADG Award, a National Board of Review Award, Best International Short at Show Me Shorts Festival, and Best Short Film at CinefestOz. It was also nominated for an AWGIE, a Dendy Award at Sydney Film Festival and the Grand Prix at the Tampere International Film Festival. Similarly, her second short, MYTH won the ADG Award and the Flickerfest Rebel8 Outstanding Emerging Female Director Award. BOY ON FIRE recently won the Academy Award® qualifying LUMIX Award for Best Australian Film at Flickerfest. Alies is also a BAFTA Newcomer program and Berlinale Talent alumni and John Monahs Scholar.
Before transitioning to filmmaking, Alies garnered acclaim as an AACTA-nominated film and TV composer and musical director for multiple Laurence Olivier Award-nominated productions and performed in over 55 countries. She has several projects currently in development.
Damon Herriman
Damon Herriman is an acclaimed actor, working consistently in Australia and the U.S. In 2025, he won the AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, following a Best Lead Actor win for Judy & Punch in 2019. He was seen most recently on screen in the horror-comedy feature Together alongside Alison Brie and Dave Franco and on stage in the Australian tour of Art alongside Richard Roxburgh, and Toby Schmitz.
His U.S. credits include playing Charles Manson in both Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon aTime in Hollywood and Netflix’s Mindhunter, Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, The Bondsman opposite Kevin Bacon, The Bikeriders (directed by Jeff Nichols), The Underground Railroad (directed by Barry Jenkins), Mortal Kombat 2, Neagley, Breaking Bad, Perpetual Grace Ltd, Flesh and Bone, Quarry, and therecurring role of Dewey Crowe in the critically acclaimed series Justified.
In Australia, Damon’s television credits include Mr Inbetween, The Tourist, The Artful Dodger, Lambs of God, Riot (AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama), No Activity, Secret City (Logie Award for Most Outstanding Supporting Actor and AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Drama), INXS:Never Tear Us Apart, The Outlaw Michael Howe, Rake, The Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting, Laid and Love My Way.
In 2018, Damon was honoured with the Orry-Kelly International Award for his contribution to the Australian and U.S. screen industries. He has received 15 AACTA nominations for his film and television work.
Travis Jeffery
Travis Jeffery is an Australian actor, writer and producer known for his work across international and Australian film and television. His credits include Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes for 20th Century Studios, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Unbroken, and Preacher, as well as Australian titles such as Birthright (Tribeca Film Festival 2025), Heartbreak High, and Love Child.
Alongside his acting work, Jeffery is an emerging filmmaker. He wrote, produced and starred in the multi-award-winning short Dusty, which earned Best Actor at the Liverpool Film Festival & Adelaide Independent Film Festival, Best International Film at the Manchester Film Festival and Best Australian Short Film at Brisbane International Film Festival & Adelaide Independent Film Festival.
He will next appear in the absurd dark comedy Forever Young and in Greyhound 2 opposite Tom Hanks.
Emerson Hoskin
Emerson is a director of photography who has worked across many commercial and narrative projects. In the past 5 years his work has been awarded by the ACS 14 times, he has won best cinematography and the Mercury Rising award at the 2024 SASAs, and at the start of 2025 was awarded best Documentary Cinematography alongside Geoffrey Hall ACS at the AACTA awards.
Preselection Committee
The Adelaide Independent Film Festival is pleased to extend an invitation to the following filmmakers to join the 2026 Preselection Committee
Please note: the 2026 Preselection Committee does not finalise the official selection. Final decisions will be at the discretion of the AIFF.
Georgie Smibert
Actor, Writer & Producer
Greg Holfeld
Director, Animator, & llustrator
Fletcher Turale
Director & Producer
Biographies
Preselection Committee
Georgie Smibert
Georgie is a Melbourne-based actor, producer and writer with credits across Australia and the United Kingdom spanning feature films, short films and live television. She began her career in independent film in 2008 as a Production Manager on Six Lovers and has since starred in multiple international feature films, including Edge of Extinction and Cleavers: Killer Clowns. As a producer and first assistant director, she has worked across short and feature productions in both Australia and the UK. Most recently, Georgie wrote, produced and starred in the award-winning short film Choice, which screened in the Official Selection at AIFF 2025, exploring love, terminal illness and the decisions we make for the ones we love.
Greg Holfeld
Greg has had a 35+ year career as an animator and illustrator. Along the way he has directed a number of short films including the AACTA winning Pinchpot, Tropfest’s first animated finalist Love Stinks’ and (in a poorly arranged deal with Satan) the Annecy Cristal awarded educational film ‘Tom’s Toilet Triumph’.
He was born in Canada but has spent most of his life in Adelaide, which he highly recommends.
Fletcher Turale
Fletcher is an Australian Director & Producer. Having graduated from the Australian Film, Television & Radio School in Sydney, Australia, the South Australian spends his time between the two states. His works spread across genres and formats, with an emphasis on artistic integrity & unique storytelling. His short film The Line We Walk screened in the Official Selection at AIFF 2025.