Brunswick Picture House Melbourne, Australia
25–27 June 2027
Presented by the Sicilian Arts Collective Australia, Cinema Sicilianu brings together audiences and artists who believe cinema can help us better understand the world we share. Inspired by Sicily's long history as a crossroads of cultures, ideas, and experiences, the festival champions films that challenge, inspire, provoke and connect.
Over three days, audiences will experience a program of documentaries, narrative films, experimental works, visualised poetry, filmmaker discussions, and special events exploring contemporary social, cultural, environmental, artistic, political, and human concerns from across the world.
WHY CINEMA SICILIANU?
We believe that Sicily is more than a place. It is a perspective shaped by exchange, creativity, curiosity, resistance and a willingness to engage with complexity.
A meeting point of cultures, ideas, histories, and futures from which important questions can be explored, challenged, and shared. Cinema Sicilianu uses this perspective as a lens through which to engage with contemporary global issues, creating space for diverse voices, experiences, and creative practices.
Our program celebrates artistic excellence, originality, and the capacity for cinema to contribute meaningfully to public conversation.
AWARDS AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS
Cinema Sicilianu is committed to creating meaningful opportunities for filmmakers through a growing network of festival, cultural, and academic partnerships.
Festival awards recognise excellence in independent filmmaking while providing pathways for international screenings, public engagement, cultural exchange, and professional development.
VENUE PARTNERS
Cinema Sicilianu is proud to partner with Brunswick Picture House.
For generations, Melbourne's northern suburbs have been home to significant Italian and Sicilian communities whose stories, institutions, businesses, and cultural traditions have helped shape the social and cultural fabric of the city.
Situated between Melbourne's historic Italian precincts and some of Australia's most culturally diverse communities, these venues provide an ideal setting for a festival committed to dialogue, creativity, and contemporary global perspectives.
GET INVOLVED!
SUBMIT YOUR FILM
Cinema Sicilianu invites filmmakers from around the world to submit original works that engage with contemporary social, cultural, environmental, artistic, political, and human concerns.
Films do not need to be set in Sicily or explicitly about Sicily to be eligible. Cinema Sicilianu welcomes films that engage with contemporary issues through Sicilian perspectives, experiences, creative practices, or cultural connections. A Sicilian connection may be expressed through the filmmaker, the story, the subject matter, the creative process, the themes explored, or the broader perspectives the work brings to contemporary global conversations.
We welcome documentaries, narrative films, experimental works, visual essays, and innovative forms of screen storytelling that demonstrate originality, artistic excellence, and a distinctive perspective on the world around us.
Films must have a running time of between 3 and 25 minutes and must have been completed after 30 June 2021.
Whether your film explores local experiences, global challenges, personal stories, or collective futures, we are interested in work that contributes meaningfully to contemporary conversations and reflects the power of cinema to connect people, ideas, and communities.
Submissions for Cinema Sicilianu 2027 are now open through FilmFreeway.
THE GLOBAL SICILIAN HOME MOVIE PROJECT
Cinema Sicilianu invites all individuals, families, and communities from around the world to contribute to the Global Sicilian Home Movie Project, a collaborative screen work celebrating everyday life, culture, creativity, and community through personal archives.
We are seeking home movie footage of five minutes or less from individuals and families with a Sicilian connection. Footage may be historical or contemporary and can include family gatherings, celebrations, neighbourhoods, work, leisure, traditions, landscapes, daily life, or moments of personal, social, and political significance.
Selected footage will be woven together into a visual essay created exclusively for Cinema Sicilianu and presented as part of the festival's Opening Night. Accompanied by a live musical performance, the work will create a collective portrait of Sicilian experiences across generations and around the world.
Whether your footage was filmed in Sicily, Australia, Argentina, the United States, Canada, Tunisia, Belgium, Germany, or elsewhere, we welcome submissions that contribute to this shared community project.
SUPPORT CINEMA SICILIANU
Cinema Sicilianu is made possible through the generosity of individual supporters, community organisations, businesses, and cultural partners who share our commitment to independent cinema, cultural exchange, and contemporary global conversations.
We are currently seeking sponsorship and partnership support for our inaugural festival. Opportunities are available for individuals, community groups, small businesses, corporate partners, and philanthropic supporters.
Sponsors receive recognition across festival marketing and promotional materials, website
JOIN US
Subscribe to our mailing list to receive festival updates, filmmaker announcements, submission deadlines, screening information, partnership opportunities, and special events.
For all media enquiries, to submit your film, contribute to the Global Sicilian Home Movie Project, or to start a conversation, visit our FilmFreeway page or contact us directly via email for more information.