This week the Adelaide Film Festival announced the five projects selected for this year’s ‘Adelaide Goes to Cannes’ which is the Festival’s partnership with Cannes’ Marché du Film due to take place 15-18 May 2026. The partnership in its third year aims to showcase bold, independent Australian films at the world’s most influential film market.
Mat Kesting, AFF CEO & Creative Director, said: “This year’s lineup spans continents and themes – from geopolitical conflict and exploitation in Polina and Death of a Shaman, to intimate explorations of relationships and grief in Wilderness, River and Tiber. Each project is marked by ambition, craft and a distinct cinematic voice.”
“Adelaide Goes to Cannes, alongside additional international festival ‘bridges’ programs established by AFF such as our partnership with JAFF in Indonesia, help connect Australian filmmakers to the global marketplace and build partnerships with international colleagues and distributors. Significant success has been achieved by films that engaged with these programs.”
The filmmakers and their projects selected to attend are Dan Jackson (director) with the feature documentary Death of a Shaman, Michael Wrenn (producer) with the feature documentary Polina, Dominic Allen (director) with the feature film Tiber, Mat Govoni (producer) with the feature film Wilderness and Zane Borg (director) with the feature film River.
Death of a Shaman, produced and directed by Dan Jackson explores where ancient wisdom meets modern revolution as a shaman’s family rise against IMF-backed oil forces, catalysing an Indigenous uprising that seeks to oust the Ecuadorian President.
Polina, directed by Agnes Burrell, follows 10-year-old Ukrainian girl Polina, whose village near Kyiv is destroyed in 2022 and her family is forced to live beside the remains of their home. War becomes her everyday environment and the setting of her adolescence.
Tiber, directed by Dominic Allen, is a story about art historian Marco, after losing his job in Rome he returns to Tuscany and sets out with his young daughter Lucia toward the River Tiber. Travelling through an Italian summer shaped by art, history and memory, he is drawn toward a reckoning with the loss he has long tried to contain.
Wilderness, directed by Martin McKenna, is about Allie, whose poor choices unshackle her from life as a doctor, a mother, and a wife. When she ventures into the Victorian high country with former school friend Kaz, the trip soon spirals into conflict, danger, and near disaster – forcing Allie to confront her life and discover the power of listening.
River, directed by Zane Borg, is about 16-year-old River, after her mother’s death she struggles to navigate a teenage existence reshaped by grief. She finds solace in an unlikely friendship with Marcus, a troubled teen with wounds of his own. Together, they steal a car and drive to South Australia, in search of Marcus’ estranged mother.
Minister for the Arts Kyam Maher, said: “Congratulations to the five projects participating as part of the Adelaide Goes to Cannes program leading on from the success of the last two years of the activity. I’m thrilled to see Adelaide Film Festival continue to support Australian stories reach international audiences at the Marché du Film, Cannes Film Festival, the world’s largest film market.”
