The Melbourne International Film Festival has wrapped its 2026 awards, with French filmmaker Marine Atlan’s La Gradiva taking home the festival’s prestigious Bright Horizons Award and its $140,000 prize.
Announced at the MIFF Awards ceremony at Rydges Melbourne on Saturday night, La Gradiva was selected from ten films competing in this year’s Bright Horizons program, which showcases first and second features from emerging filmmakers around the world.
The jury praised Atlan’s assured filmmaking, describing the film as deeply moving and highlighting its cinematic craft, young ensemble cast and shifting perspectives between characters.
The win continues the Bright Horizons program’s role as one of MIFF’s key showcases for emerging international filmmakers. Last year’s prize went to Colombian director Simón Mesa Soto for A Poet.
The Fox wins Best Australian Director
Australian filmmaker Dario Russo was named the winner of the Blackmagic Design Best Australian Director Award for The Fox.
Alongside a $50,000 cash prize, Russo takes home a fully kitted Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K camera valued at $27,500.
The jury singled out The Fox for its “weirdness” and inventive storytelling, particularly Russo’s handling of the film’s talking fox and magpie characters within what they described as a distinctly Australian modern folktale.
Russo won the award ahead of fellow nominees Hyun Lee (French Girls), Maddelin McKenna (Mad Rush) and Harvey Zielinski (Sweet Milk Lake).
Talia Liddle takes home Uncle Jack Charles Award
The Uncle Jack Charles Award, which recognises outstanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander screen creatives, was awarded to Talia Liddle for Protest on the Dance Floor.
Liddle receives a $20,000 cash prize for the film, which screened as part of MIFF’s inaugural Sovereign Shorts program.
The award jury described Liddle as “a striking new voice in Australian filmmaking”, praising the confidence of her visual and narrative language and her potential to develop a distinctive body of work.
Audiences choose Hard as Puck
MIFF audiences had their say too, with Isaac Elliott’s Hard as Puck winning the Intrepid Audience Award.
The documentary follows the Garden Island Pirates and connected strongly with festival audiences, with Intrepid describing the film as a “hilarious, heartfelt and inspiring” story.
One lucky audience voter will also receive two spots on an Intrepid trip of their choice.
Sad Girlz wins MIFF Schools Youth Jury Award
The MIFF Schools Youth Jury Award, presented by Collarts, went to Fernanda Tovar’s Sad Girlz.
The film was selected by a three-person jury drawn from the 2026 Top Screen cohort, with Jake Symes, Zoe Bryant and Andrew Nguyen choosing the winner from the MIFF Schools program.
Josef Gatti’s Phenomena received a special mention.
Celebrating MIFF’s short filmmakers
The festival’s short film awards were also handed out during MIFF, with a $56,000 prize pool recognising filmmakers across the festival’s short-form program.
New Zealand filmmakers Nick Mayow and Prisca Bouchet won the City of Melbourne Grand Prix for Best Short Film for Lion’s Rock.
The inaugural Armani Beauty Talent of Tomorrow Award, a new $10,000 prize recognising an emerging filmmaker from the MIFF Accelerator Lab, went to Andrew Dang and Jak Scanlon for Last Chance to Evacuate Earth.
Winners in key short film categories are eligible for submission to the 98th Academy Awards and consideration for the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards.
MIFF’s 2026 winners
- Bright Horizons Award: La Gradiva – Marine Atlan
- Blackmagic Design Best Australian Director: Dario Russo – The Fox
- Uncle Jack Charles Award: Talia Liddle – Protest on the Dance Floor
- Intrepid Audience Award: Hard as Puck – Isaac Elliott
- MIFF Schools Youth Jury Award: Sad Girlz – Fernanda Tovar
- City of Melbourne Grand Prix for Best Short Film: Lion’s Rock – Nick Mayow and Prisca Bouchet
- Armani Beauty Talent of Tomorrow Award: Last Chance to Evacuate Earth – Andrew Dang and Jak Scanlon
With MIFF’s in-cinema program now wrapped for another year, the festival continues online nationally through 30 August, with a selection of festival highlights and short film programs available through ACMI’s Cinema 3 platform.
For CultureMad, the standout takeaway from this year’s awards is perhaps the same one MIFF has been pushing through its Bright Horizons program: Melbourne remains a serious destination for discovering filmmakers before their work reaches a much wider audience.
