The fifth edition of Europa! Europa Film Festival takes over cinemas from 19 February to 19 March, expanding into Brisbane, Hobart and Auckland (New Zealand) for the first time alongside screenings in Sydney and Melbourne.
“This year we present our most expansive program yet,” said Artistic Director Spiro Economopoulos. “With 43 films representing 22 countries across Europe, our festival brings the most distinctive voices of a diverse continent to audiences across Australia and New Zealand. From awards contender The Testament of Ann Lee starring Amanda Seyfried, to Willem Dafoe-led thriller The Birthday Party, as well as new films from Europe’s boldest auteurs such as Agnieszka Holland, Albert Serra and Gianfranco Rosi, the program reflects the diversity, audacity, and quality of contemporary European cinema.”
OPENING NIGHT FILM
The 2026 festival opens with the Australian and New Zealand premiere of The Testament of Ann Lee, an ambitious musical drama that premiered in competition at the Venice International Film Festival, earning one of the festival’s longest standing ovations.
Featuring a Golden Globe-nominated performance from Amanda Seyfried, the film presents a bold, subversive portrait of Ann Lee, founder of the religious Shakers movement, reimagining female leadership, faith and rebellion through unconventional cinematic and musical forms.
MODERN MASTERS
The program spotlights new works from some of Europe’s most critically acclaimed filmmakers, whose influence continues to shape contemporary cinema.
Spanish firebrand Albert Serra (Pacifiction) returns with Afternoons of Solitude, a mesmerising observational documentary following world-renowned matador Andrés Roca Rey inside Spain’s bullfighting arenas which won the Golden Leopard at Locarno.
From Golden Bear-winning Italian documentarian Gianfranco Rosi, Below the Clouds is a stunningly shot black-and-white portrait of daily life in Naples, observed beneath the looming presence of Mount Vesuvius.
Locarno Leopard of Honour recipient Lav Diaz presents Magellan, a historical epic tracing the Portuguese explorer’s final voyage while interrogating the moral cost of colonial ambition, starring Gael Garcia Bernal.
French provocateur Quentin Dupieux returns with The Piano Accident, a sharp satire on digital fame and spectacle, starring Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Colour) as an influencer famed for performing outrageous stunt videos because she cannot feel pain.
UNTOLD HISTORIES
This year’s dramatic selections reframe well-known historical figures, shifting focus from public myth to private experience.
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Agnieszka Holland presents Franz, a kaleidoscopic portrait of surrealist writer Franz Kafka, moving between eras to examine his enduring cultural legacy.
Chopin, a Sonata in Paris, directed by Michał Kwieciński, follows composer Frédéric Chopin’s formative years after his move to Paris in the 1830s.
Directed by Fabienne Godet, The One I Loved recounts the tumultuous true love story of Simone Signoret and Yves Montand, a relationship shaped by artistic ambition, public scrutiny and Montand’s notorious affair with Marilyn Monroe.
Making his feature debut, acclaimed opera director Damiano Michieletto presents Primavera, set within Venice’s Ospedale della Pietà, where music, discipline and desire intersect under the mentorship of Antonio Vivaldi.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
The 2026 program also includes a selection of high-profile European titles that have made a strong impact on the international festival circuit and at the box office.
Featuring an arresting performance from Willem Dafoe, Miguel Ángel Jiménez’s The Birthday Party is a tightly wound thriller set within the rarefied world of extreme wealth and public scrutiny, adapted from the novel by award-winning author Panos Karnezis.
Winner of Best European Animation at the European Film Awards and produced by Natalie Portman, Arco is a stunning animated adventure set in 2075, following a young girl who encounters a mysterious boy who has crash-landed from a distant future.
From acclaimed director Maryam Touzani (The Blue Caftan), comes Calle Málaga, a touching and life-affirming drama about age, independence and unexpected romance starring Almodóvar veteran Carmen Maura.
Wunderschöner is Karoline Herfurth’s follow-up German box-office smash Wunderschön, expanding its ensemble story to further interrogate beauty standards, ageing and personal autonomy.
Set against the backdrop of a Transylvanian wedding in 1980, Hungarian Wedding combines romance and social satire, richly infused with traditional Hungarian folk music and dance.
FESTIVAL GUEST
Europa is thrilled to welcome prolific German filmmaker Sönke Wortmann to present his new film The Empty Nesters to audiences in Melbourne and Sydney. Best known for his films The Miracle of Bern (2003) and How About Adolf? (2018), Wortmann has been one of Germany's leading directors since the early 90s.
A hilarious comedy based on the best-selling novel, The Empty Nesters follows writer Hannes, whose perfect life is turned upside down when his daughter announces she’s moving out of home, and his wife decides she wants to join her.
RETROSPECTIVES
Two retrospective strands reflect on the towering legacies of two important figures in European cinema, tracing the enduring impact of filmmakers whose work reshaped modern filmmaking.
Spanning four key works from his artistic peak, Michelangelo Antonioni: Modernist Master revisits the Italian auteur’s defining films starring Monica Vitti, charting his distinctive visual style and lasting influence on cinematic modernism.
Éric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons brings together a quartet of richly drawn comedies released between 1990 and 1998 which mine the perils of romance via a moving romantic tale for each season of the year.
FESTIVAL DATES & VENUES
MELBOURNE
Classic Cinemas, Elsternwick
Thu 19 Feb - Thu 19 Mar
Lido Cinemas, Hawthorn
Thu 19 Feb - Thu 19 Mar
Cameo Cinemas, Belgrave | NEW
Fri 20 Feb - Mon 2 Mar
SYDNEY
Ritz Cinemas, Randwick
Thu 19 Feb - Thu 19 Mar
BRISBANE
Angelika Cinemas, Woolloongabba | NEW
Thu 19 Feb - Sun 1 Mar
HOBART
State Cinema, Hobart | NEW
Thu 19 Feb - Sun 1 Mar
AUCKLAND
Bridgeway Cinemas, Auckland | NEW
Thu 19 Feb - Wed 4 Mar
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