For over 17 weeks, Lotterywest Films will bring some of the world’s most talked-about films to Perth’s much loved outdoor screen, continuing a Perth Festival tradition that has been a part of the city’s cultural calendar for more than 70 years.
From Cannes and Berlin prize-winners to acclaimed new voices and stories yet to be seen in Western Australia, the program spans continents and decades, with films set everywhere from Kabul and Paris to Norway, the Kimberley, 1930s Spain and contemporary London.
Audiences can expect everything from offbeat comedy and sweeping romance to intimate drama and powerful documentaries, alongside films that are heartbreaking, thrilling and simply unmissable.
Some of the most acclaimed actors will appear on screen with Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close, Juliette Binoche, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem and Adam Driver among the familiar faces featured across the season.
They’ll also be joined by remarkable emerging talent and filmmakers whose work is making its mark on the international festival circuit.
Perth Festival Film Curator, Madeline Bates said:
“The beauty of cinema is its transportive quality – taking us to other worlds and times. On the surface these worlds might appear different to our own but ultimately reveal universal truths about the human experience that grow our capacity for empathy.
Part of programming for Perth Festival is also imagining how these films will play in the natural surrounds of an outdoor auditorium, with the kookaburras in the trees and the stars overhead.
This year’s films might be innovative or classical in form – crowd-pleasers, heavyweight award-winners, light-hearted or provocative – but I hope they all share that transformative quality that makes them, and the experience of watching them in the Somerville surrounds, memorable and unique.”
Kicking off the season is the Australian Premiere of Jesse Eisenberg’s third feature, The Debut, a delightful oddball comedy celebrating the misfits, miscasts and joyful tenacity of community theatre, starring two of the US’s most phenomenal living actors, Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti.
Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close and Julio Torres star alongside Spanish music sensation Guitarricadelafluente in La Bola Negra (The Black Ball), a sweeping, romantic epic spanning three eras of Spanish history and the lives of three young men. Winner of Best Director at Cannes 2026 and the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film is inspired by the myth of one of Federico García Lorca’s unfinished manuscripts.
Set against the breathtaking landscape of the Kimberley, Australian first-time filmmaker Sean O’Reilly’s documentary Guided by Horses follows Professor Juli Coffin and her groundbreaking work with Yawardani Jan-Ga (Horses Helping). The film follows a group of young First Nations teenagers whose lives begin to shift through an unexpected connection with horses.
From Oscar-nominated director and master chronicler of modern Russia, Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan), comes Minotaur, a Cannes Grand Prix–winning, icily compelling noir thriller. A wealthy CEO is instructed to “volunteer” some of his workforce for conscription to the war in Ukraine, while growing suspicious that his wife is having an affair.
Jury Prize winner at SXSW, Wishful Thinking stars Maya Hawke and Lewis Pullman as an influential young couple whose domestic harmony, or lack of it, triggers seismic shifts and directs world events. A novel cinematic take on the idea of manifesting, this film is part sci-fi, part romance, with charmingly refreshing performances and soulful humour that will make you ponder the power of love.
Starring John Turturro in a career-defining performance, alongside Steve Buscemi, Giancarlo Esposito and Jamie Lee Curtis, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York follows an old-school New York hustler who’s carefully ordered life takes a dangerous turn when he steals from the wrong family. Winner of the Golden Eye Award at the 2026 Zurich Film Festival, Noah Segan’s gently charming and ironic heist film captures the creative soul of this incomparable city.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, Christian Mungiu’s Fjord is a psychological thriller starring Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan. When a devout Romanian family relocates to a small Norwegian community, their beliefs clash with the progressive, secular values of their neighbours, sparking a life-altering battle of ideals that challenges you to question your assumptions.
Winner of the Producer Award at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards Celebration of Cinema and Television, James Gray’s Paper Tiger is a moody crime drama set in 1980s Queens, where two brothers, a charismatic former police officer and a diligent engineer and family man, fall foul of the Russian mafia. Hailed as a new classic, the film features artful cinematography, slow-burn storytelling and powerhouse performances.
Winner of the Directing Award at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! stars Oscar-nominated Rinko Kikuchi as Haru, a Tokyo ballroom dancer who retreats into isolation after tragedy strikes. A quirky, bittersweet, magical-realist fable, the film celebrates the healing power of dance and the messy business of finding your way through loss, with a little help from Dirty Dancing.
Women on Trial is a powerful retelling of a landmark trial and the pioneering women who fought for a woman’s right to govern her own body. French icon Charlotte Gainsbourg stars as visionary lawyer Gisèle Halimi, who defends 16-year-old Marie-Claire and her mother (Cécile de France) in their fight to reform the French legal system. It is a rousing portrait of a turning point in French history and the brave women who made it happen.
Winner of Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Screenplay at the 2026 Goya Awards, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s Sundays is a sensitive portrait of young spirituality. 18-year-old Ainara faces big life decisions, but while her family encourages her to explore university, she feels drawn to an unexpected vocation: becoming a nun. This moving, astute family drama explores how we can find common ground even when our beliefs divide us.
Winner of the Revelations Prize at the 2026 Deauville Film Festival, Mouse follows best friends Minnie and Callie, polar opposites whose world is upended one fateful summer in small-town Arkansas. Confused and lost, Minnie seeks guidance from Callie’s poised and thoughtful mum (Sophie Okonedo) in this tender and profoundly moving coming-of-age story about the heartache, hope and joys of adolescence and parenting.
Palme d’Or nominee at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, Beloved sees Javier Bardem give an extraordinary masterclass in film acting alongside his on-screen daughter, played by Victoria Luengo, in this brilliant drama about family and power dynamics. A famed but volatile film director, Esteban casts his estranged daughter in a lead role for his highly anticipated comeback, despite her hesitancy about working with him.
Nominated for Best Film at the 2026 Sydney Film Festival, No Good Men follows Naru, the only female camera operator at Kabul TV, who aspires to more than the ridiculous daytime chat shows she is restricted to. When she goes into the field with the station’s most celebrated journalist, she begins carving her own niche in TV news. This lively and rebellious workplace romcom was the opening film of the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival.
Winner of the Silver Bear Jury Prize at the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival, Queen at Sea stars British acting legends Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall as a devoted husband and wife in this tender drama on consent, caregiving and love in the face of loss. Juliette Binoche plays their daughter in this London-set story that raises questions about living with dignity in the face of a degenerative disease.
Making its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, God Bless You, Mr Kopu is a wildly entertaining comedy thriller with the dark wit reminiscent of the Coen brothers. Mafu Kopu is a timid Tongan man struggling to make a living until he signs up for a get-rich-quick scheme, selling revolutionary cleaning products under a charismatic mentor with a dubious approach to customer relations. Blending dark comedy, social satire and a propulsive thriller, the film explores ambition and identity.
Winner of the Artemis Rising Foundation Award for Social Impact at the 2025 Hamptons International Film Festival, The Cycle of Love is a remarkable true story from Oscar-winning director Orlando von Einsiedel. When Dalit street artist PK meets Swedish student Lotta in Delhi in 1977, he embarks on a 6,000-mile journey on a second-hand bike to find the woman he was prophesied to marry.
Whistle joyfully and hilariously documents the passions, artistry and ambitions of the world’s best musical whistlers as they compete at the Masters of Musical Whistling in LA. Featuring genre superstar Molly Lewis (Barbie soundtrack) and Japanese prodigy Yuki, Australian director Christopher Nelius (Girls Can’t Surf, Perth Festival 2021) has crafted a real-life Christopher Guest film that lovingly portrays this wonderfully weird and devoted community.
Lotterywest CEO, Colin Smith said every Lotterywest ticket contributes to positive outcomes for the WA community:
“Our long-standing partnership with Perth Festival is a powerful example of that purpose in action. Lotterywest Films is one example of how those returns help create opportunities for Western Australians to connect, be inspired and enjoy world-class cultural experiences.
It’s about making inspiring and accessible experiences available to more Western Australians and contributing to a vibrant cultural life across our State.”
Lotterywest Films runs as part of Perth Festival from 23 November 2026 – 21 March 2027. UWA Somerville, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Godroo / Crawley WA 6009.
Website: https://www.perthfestival.com.au/program/season-2027/lotterywest-films
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/perthfest/ and https://www.instagram.com/lotterywest/
Images supplied.
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