The London Australian Film Festival returns to Finsbury Park Picturehouse this summer with four days of Australian features, shorts, documentaries, live Q&As, special guests, industry networking, raffle prizes and Australian snacks.
Running from 16–19 July, LAFF26 will showcase new Australian cinema alongside cult favourites, anniversary screenings and a major 4K restoration.
The festival opens with the UK cinematic premiere of The Travellers, attended by director Bruce Beresford, and closes with the UK premiere of Alphabet Lane, winner of this year’s LAFF Cris Jones Debut Director Prize.
LAFF26 programme
Thursday 16 July, 7pm
The Travellers
Opening Gala + Q&A
UK cinematic premiere
With Bruce Beresford in attendance
Bruce Beresford’s latest feature stars Luke Bracey, Susie Porter and Bryan Brown. It follows a successful stage designer who returns from London to his small Australian hometown to farewell his dying mother, only to be pulled back into family tensions, old friendships and unresolved parts of his past.
Friday 17 July, 6pm
All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane
European premiere
A witty indie romcom and spiritual sequel to the 2007 cult comedy All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane. After being dumped by her fiancé in London, lawyer Cris returns home to Queensland and finds herself back among familiar faces, old complications and a life she thought she had left behind.
Friday 17 July, 8.15pm
Birthright
UK premiere
Zoe Pepper’s pitch-black comedy takes aim at Australia’s housing crisis and the widening financial gap between ageing parents and their adult children. The film screens in LAFF’s “future cult classic” slot.
Saturday 18 July, 2pm
Red Dog
15th anniversary screening
The much-loved family drama returns to the big screen for its 15th anniversary. Based on the legendary true story of a free-spirited red kelpie, the film follows the dog who roamed the Australian outback and united a remote mining community.
Saturday 18 July, 4pm–5pm
Industry networking drinks
LAFF’s popular networking drinks return for Australians working in film and television in the UK, with places strictly limited.
Saturday 18 July, 5.30pm
Short Film Showcase
New Australian shorts + in-person Q&As
A showcase of new Australian short films, spanning a range of styles and genres and offering a glimpse of emerging screen talent from Australia. The screening will be followed by in-person Q&As.
Saturday 18 July, 7.30pm
Life Could Be a Dream
UK premiere + in-person Q&A
A timely Australian drama about a woman escaping a toxic relationship and trying to find the best path forward for herself and her son.
Sunday 19 July, 2pm
Yurlu / Country
London premiere
A powerful Walkley Award-winning documentary directed by Yaara Bou Melhem and co-created with Banjima Elder Maitland Parker. The film follows Maitland’s fight to heal his ancestral lands in Wittenoom, one of the largest contaminated sites in the Southern Hemisphere.
Sunday 19 July, 5pm
Ten Canoes
20th anniversary screening
UK premiere of new 4K restoration
Rolf de Heer and Peter Djiggir’s landmark work of First Nations cinema returns in a new 4K restoration. Set in Arnhem Land, the film tells a layered cautionary tale of forbidden love, storytelling, law and community.
Sunday 19 July, 7.30pm
Alphabet Lane
Closing Gala + Q&A
UK premiere
Cris Jones Debut Director Prize winner
The debut feature from writer-director James Litchfield is a darkly funny thriller about Anna and Jack, a young couple whose innocent joke begins to threaten their relationship.
Across the festival, LAFF will also screen a selection of student short films from the Australian Film Television and Radio School before feature presentations, supporting emerging Australian screen talent.
Audiences can also expect LAFF’s much-loved raffles before screenings, plus Australian snacks and lolly bags available in the foyer.