THE 73rd SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL BEGINS

Sydney Film Festival 3 - 14 June 2026

Sydney Film Festival opens with 'Silenced'

The 73rd Sydney Film Festival (3-14 June) officially opened tonight at the State Theatre with the sold-out Australian Premiere of Silenced.

SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA, June 3, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Opening Night & Red Carpet Images HERE 

Festival Director Nashen Moodley welcomed a packed auditorium for the Gala Opening, joined by Silenced director Selina Miles and documentary subjects Jennifer Robinson and Brittany Higgins, who received a standing ovation. 

Sydney Film Festival Board Chair, Darren Dale said, “Sydney Film Festival exists to bring

us together around the stories of other people's lives, and tonight is a perfect example of that shared experience in action. To share a film with an audience is to feel its impact multiply – stories resonate more deeply when they’re seen and felt together. We are proud to open the 73rd Festival with this eye-opening documentary and to share its urgent message."  

Minister for the Arts, John Graham said, “The opening night of the Sydney Film Festival is a big moment for the NSW screen industry and the film loving community. As huge crowds pour into cinemas it is a reminder of the power of film, and why we’re backing the local industry for growth by investing in a second major screen studio in Sydney.” 

Minister for Jobs and Tourism, Steve Kamper said, “Sydney Film Festival is one of the world’s premier film festivals that reinforces Sydney’s reputation as a vibrant global hub for the arts and world-class cultural experiences. For the next 12 days, not only will it showcase outstanding local and international films, but it will also attract thousands of visitors, creating a buzz around Sydney and supporting businesses and jobs across our visitor and nighttime economy.” 

Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore said, “This is one of the biggest and most prestigious nights of the year for our city and our local film industry. It brings together the people who love film with the people who love making it. And it puts our films in direct competition with the world’s best. Over the next 12 days and nights the Sydney Film Festival will host 20 world premieres and a showstopping 135 Australian premieres. The Festival’s films, curated for Sydney audiences, elevate voices that may go unheard, transport us to other worlds and other lives, and give us new and meaningful insights.”  

A Sundance World Premiere, the Australian documentary Silenced follows international human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson as she fights against the weaponisation of defamation laws by perpetrators of sexual violence attempting to silence survivors – and the journalists reporting on their stories. Director Selina Miles (Martha: A Picture Story, SFF 2019) takes audiences inside the courtrooms and behind the global headlines, tracing the cases of Brittany Higgins, Australian survivor and advocate against gendered violence; Amber Heard, whose defamation battle became one of the most high-profile legal cases in recent history; and Catalina Ruiz-Navarro, Colombian journalist and co-founder of feminist magazine Volcánicas, and Inspired by Robinson's book How Many More Women?, co-authored with Dr Keio Yoshida, the film premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. The film will be distributed in Australia by Sharmill Films. 

SFF Filmmaker VIP Guests attending included: Kleber Mendonça Filho (Sydney Film Prize Jury Present), Boo Junfeng (Jury Member and Film Director), Ari Wegner (Jury Member and Cinematographer), Sally Riley (Jury Member and Film Director/Producer)

Additional VIP Guests attending included: Abbie Chatfield, Ana Thu Nguyen, April Rose Pengilly, Arielle Carver-O'Neill, Chika Ikogwe, Claudia Karvan, Ed Oxenbould, Emma Diaz, Helen Thomson, Jillian Nguyen, Kai Lewins, Karla Grant, Lincoln Younes, Lisa Wilkinson, Nicola Forrest, Raelee Hill, Sof Forrest, Tai Hara, Tim Pocock and more.

The full Sydney Film Festival 2026 program can be found online at sff.org.au. 

Sydney Film Festival runs from 3-14 June 2026. Tickets and Flexipasses to Sydney Film Festival 2026 are on sale now. Please call 1300 733 733 or visit sff.org.au for more information or to book.