SYDNEY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 20th ANNIVERSARY, RETURNING HOME TO FACTORY THEATRE

Over the last two decades, SUFF have cemented themselves as a force of creativity in Sydney’s arts and culture scene, with programs that continue to promote independent, experimental and provocative filmmaking.

Drawn from the highest ever entries, with over 780 films submitted for consideration, this year's diverse program features films, documentaries, shorts and more that stretch the status quo, exploring the margins of cinematic expression and proving no end of creativity is undeserving of its time in the spotlight.

SUFF are thrilled to bring this festival back to its roots at Factory Theatre, in this homecoming celebration of film at its most creative.

Festival Co-Director Katherine Berger said “It's hard to believe we've made it to festival number twenty. We've always backed bold, strange and independent voices, and this year feels like the perfect chance to celebrate everything SUFF has become. We're taking over The Factory Theatre with an incredible line-up of films, wild Q&As, our first SUFF Market, live music, performances and a few surprises along the way. We hope people come for a film and end up staying all day.”

2026 Festival highlights include:

• Opening Night kicks off with Tura! a documentary based on the shocking true story of Tura Satana, the burlesque legend and cult film icon. TURA! looks beyond Satana's unforgettable performance as Varla in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! to reveal the remarkable woman behind one of exploitation cinema's most enduring legends. TURA! is a wildly entertaining documentary about a woman who refused to play by anyone else's rules. And it wouldn’t be a SUFF Opening Night without a party. The night will also feature performances, music, complimentary drinks from Hawke's Brewing, wine, nibbles and more burlesque inspired fun to kick off the festival.
• Closing Night presents revenge thriller, The Furious. Never before screened on the big screen in Australia, it’s definitely one that you want to enjoy with a crowd. It’s an electrifying martial arts spectacle that puts practical stunt work and breathtaking choreography front and centre, proving there's no substitute for the real thing. Plus, each ticket comes with a complimentary ice cream on entry! And don't rush off after the credits. When the fists stop flying, the music doesn't. FBi Radio's DJ Jack Shit kung-fu kicks on after the film!
• World Premieres of Australian films include the darkly funny debut feature Meat Daddy, written and directed by Branden Wittchen. An awkward weekend meeting the future in-laws soon unravels into a surreal nightmare where everyone has something to hide. Writer and director Andrew Leavold’s The Taller They Come is a genre bending film parody, celebrating the anarchic nature of filmmaking obsession. Watch along as Andrew leads audiences into a wildly entertaining descent into film making madness.
• Australian Premieres include Godhead an exploration of devotion, delusion and the divine, for fans of Bugonia, The Velocipastor 2 a glorious follow up to the cult hit The Velocipastor that includes sex, drugs and yes, more dinosaurs, and in a similar vein Hotspring Sharkattack for fans of all the cult shark spoofs and Barrio Triste, directed by Stillz, produced by Harmony Korine it’s been hailed as a “haunting, poignant coming-of-age story." — Venice Film Festival.
• Body Horror is a genre certainly having its moment in the spotlight, with 2026 Cannes Film Festival favourite Species turning generational anxiety into an exhilarating spectacle in this a horrifying new meaning to the phrase daily grind.
• Sydney gets an 80s double header with two wildly different films both set in Sydney. First up is the cult classic Starstruck directed by Gillian Armstrong and hailed as one of the most eccentric films of the Australian New Wave. Then it’s DJ Maynard spinning some starstruck inspired 80s new wave hits. Then immediately after its Pandemonium by Haydn Keenan, part midnight movie, part apocalyptic comedy, part surreal Australian nightmare, this movie captures Bondi at its most unruly…it’s one of those films you’ll just have to see to believe.
• Tony Kaye has never been a filmmaker interested in subtlety and this year The Trainer and Humpty Dumpty X will both have their Australian premiere at the festival. For The Trainer think a cringey, comedic, satirical piss-take of influencer culture, in this chaotic skewering of celebrity, wellness culture and the intoxicating fantasy that success is only ever one lie away. Humpty Dumpty X opens the vault behind American History X, offering a funny, maddening, and deeply personal glimpse inside one of cinema's most infamous creative battles, by one of cinema's most uncompromising provocateurs.
• The NSW Premiere of Chili Finger is one you won’t want to miss. Led by a terrific Judy Greer and featuring Bryan Cranston, John Goodman and Sean Astin, this deliciously twisted indie feature offers a blend of Midwestern noir, pitch-black comedy, and escalating criminal stupidity.
• Capturing the essence of this festival is WTF Sydney! an exclusive chance for Sydney filmmakers to bring maximum insanity with minimal warning to SUFF audiences. Hayden Keenan’s film Motion Picture will be screened for the first time in 55 years, after David Stratton labelled it the “most offensive film” he had programmed for the Sydney Film Festival. So offensive, the laboratory burned the negative. It may well be the most bizarre 8 minutes of your life, don’t miss it!

The 2026 festival will also bring to the big screen some incredible short films, including shorts to warp your mind and tickle your weird bone in LSD FACTORY, expressions of sexuality in all its forms in LOVE/SICK, genre-crossing shorts from the vanguard renegades of Australian independent cinema in HOMEBAKED SHORTS, the year’s most eye-opening bite-sized documentaries that traverse the personal to the global in STRANGER THAN FICTION, and the return of the much-loved TAKE48 Film Challenge screening for its eighth year, featuring the hilarious and impressive results of filmmakers taking on the challenge of writing, shooting and editing a short film in only 48 hours.

More information and tickets to all films and events are available at: www.suff.com.au

20th Annual Sydney Underground Film Festival
Dates: Thursday 10th – Sunday 13th September 2026
Venue: Factory Theatre - 105 Victoria Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204
Tickets: Standard tickets from $22 and various passes available for further savings including the 3, 5, 10 ticket passes, Sunday day pass and full festival pass.