Europe’s premier First Nations film festival marks its 11th edition with new leadership, a bold artistic direction, and an unfiltered spotlight on contemporary Indigenous cinema.
Returning to Paris from December 4–6, 2026, the Festival du Cinéma Aborigène Australien enters its second decade with a renewed creative vision and a powerful lineup showcasing some of the most distinctive voices in global Indigenous cinema.
Presented by the Paris-based association The Cloud Lab, the festival remains the only cinema event in Europe curated and led by Aboriginal storytellers. This year, the festival welcomes award-winning Muruwari and Gomeroi filmmaker, journalist, and writer Allan Clarke as Festival Director and Artistic Director.
For his inaugural edition, Clarke introduces a curatorial vision anchored by the theme KINETIC: Tradition in motion. Cinema in revolt.
"For my first edition, I wanted to champion Indigenous filmmakers who are hijacking classic genre tropes and turning cinema into a tool of cultural sovereignty," says Festival Director Allan Clarke. "For decades, our stories were framed through a colonial lens. Today, First Nations filmmakers are grabbing the camera back and reclaiming narrative authority on our own terms. We come from the oldest storytelling traditions on earth and we are constantly disrupting, evolving, and inventing new cinematic languages to make sure our voices are heard."
Festival Highlights
OPENING NIGHT — WOLFRAM
The festival will open with the Paris premiere of Wolfram (2026), the new film by Warwick Thornton. A filmmaker of Kaytetye heritage, Thornton is one of the leading figures in contemporary Indigenous cinema, widely acclaimed for Samson and Delilah and Sweet Country.
Premiering at the 2026 Berlinale, this Indigenous Western is set in 1932 and subverts the tropes of an iconic cinematic genre.
Through a story of resistance on Country, the film confronts the violence of colonial history while making space for humor and resilience.
EMILY: I AM KAM
After winning Best Documentary at the 2026 AIDC Awards, Emily: I Am Kam (2025), directed by Danielle MacLean, will be presented for the first time in Paris.
The film offers an intimate portrait of Emily Kam Kngwarray, an artist from Utopia whose work achieved global acclaim, notably through her major retrospective at the Tate. The film premieres in Paris following its regional French debut in Saint-Tropez.
SPECIAL SCREENING - THE SAPPHIRES
The Sapphires (2012), directed by Wayne Blair, returns to the big screen in Paris for a special revival evening.
Inspired by a true story, the film follows four young Aboriginal women who, in 1968, form a soul music group and travel to perform for American soldiers in Vietnam. Blending music, humor, and emotion, the film is a celebration of family, solidarity, and self-expression.
PROPER LOVED UP
Subverting classic romantic comedy tropes through an Indigenous lens, the Proper Loved Up initiative presents a series of short bold love stories.
The lineup includes Siena Mayutu Wurmarri Stubbs' Maŋutji (Catching Eyes) (2026), a Sydney Film Festival award winner, is a delicate Yolŋu love story navigating teenage attraction in Arnhem Land.
FACING THE NUMBERS
A confronting hybrid documentary by Tyson Perkins and Kieran Satour, Facing the Numbers (2026) delivers a cinematic reckoning with systemic injustice.
Blending archive, reenactments, dance, and personal testimony, the film deploys bold visual storytelling and premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 to widespread acclaim.
THE DARK EMU STORY
A revelatory award wining investigative documentary directed by Allan Clarke, The Dark Emu Story (2023) re-examines Bruce Pascoe’s groundbreaking book and the fierce national debate it ignited.
Interweaving history, science, and Indigenous knowledge, the film illuminates pre-colonial Australia's agricultural sophistication to deconstruct myths and reclaim ancient history.
Dates: December 4–6, 2026
Venues: Cinéma L'Arlequin | Cinéma Reflet Médicis (Paris) Website: cinemaap.com
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