Al Cossar- Associate Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Film Festival joined us in studio to talk about the program, 373 minutes of Nic Cage and the best queer films of the festival.

Celebrating its 67th year, The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has unveiled its 2018 program. Featuring 254 feature films, 90 shorts and 19 virtual reality experiences, the festival will include 27 world premieres and 168 Australian premieres over 18 action-packed days of cinema.

In a program hallmarked by its geographic and directorial breadth, the programming team – led by Carey and Associate Artistic Director Al Cossar – has weaved a series of curatorial threads that will enable audiences to experience films from 80 countries.

This year’s audiences will be presented with the festival’s largest ever selection of titles direct from Cannes, along with a collection of recently rediscovered and restored African cinema and a unique look at fashion’s influence on film and film’s influence on fashion.

Elsewhere, there will be a focus on Indigenous stories and storytelling and a retrospective look at the dazzling Italo-Crime genre.

For the first time since 2007, MIFF will take over Melbourne’s grand old picture palace, the Regent Theatre for its entire opening weekend.

In what is set to be one of the most celebratory conclusions to the Festival in years, MIFF will screen The Coming Back Out Ball Movie to bring the festival to a close. Directed by Sue Thomson and supported through the MIFF Premiere Fund, The Coming Back Out Ball Movie is a triumphant and life-affirming love letter to Australia’s original fighters for queer equality – a film that will have audiences laughing, crying and ready to dance, darling.

Check out tickets here.

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