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The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up

Director: Singing Chen
Country: Taiwan, Germany

It’s a sign of the times, perhaps, that my number one recommendation for this year’s Melbourne international film festival (Miff) isn’t actually a film – but rather, an astonishing, hour-long virtual reality production that fuses cutting-edge technology with a story steeped in ancient traditions and legends. The narrative follows Guan, a Taiwanese lawyer whose wife dies, leaving behind an unfinished novel, which he becomes obsessed with – entering its world and embarking on a profoundly emotional journey into the mountains. I wrote about this free-roaming production (meaning you’re not just watching, but also walking around) after experiencing it at last year’s Venice Immersive, where it was a hot ticket item. Once experienced, never forgotten.

Minotaur

Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Country: France, Germany, Latvia

The latest from Russian auteur Andrey Zvyagintsev – whose films include the stunning social satire Leviathan – is another no-holds-barred commentary on Russian authoritarianism. Set shortly after the country’s invasion of Ukraine, Minotaur follows a wealthy businessman (Dmitriy Mazurov) tasked with finding men to be drafted into the war, while grappling with the suspicion that his wife is having an affair. The film snagged the Grand Prix at Cannes and earned a five-star review from m’colleague Peter Bradshaw.

Josephine

Director: Beth de Araújo
Country: US

The festival program’s description of this hard-hitting drama as “one of the most essential films of 2026” might have sounded a tad hyperbolic, were it not for a chorus of critics in furious agreement. It’s an “instant classic”, according to Rolling Stone; “masterful”, according to IndieWire; and “stunning”, in the words of this very masthead. Just don’t expect an easy watch: Josephine explores the trauma inflicted on an eight-year-old girl (Mason Reeves) after she witnesses a violent sexual assault while in a park with her father (Channing Tatum).

Hen

Director: György Pálfi
Country: Hungary, Germany, Greece

Just your average film about poverty and people smuggling, told from the perspective of a chicken, visually unfolding from a chook’s eye level. The concept of this surreal drama might sound completely eggs-travagant (apologies), but critics insist it’s no turkey (so sorry), and in fact is cluckingly good (my God, what have I become?). If Hen is half as good as EO – the stunning 2022 film told from the POV of a donkey – we’re in for a treat.

Nuisance Bear

Director: Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman
Country: Canada, US

Winner of the US Documentary Grand Jury prize at Sundance, this film takes its title from polar bears deemed “nuisance bears” after losing their fear of humans and wandering into populated areas. This is, of course, good for neither animal nor human, and a consequence of various factors including climate change. This sounds far from your average cookie cutter doco: there are no talking heads, and narration from Inuit elder Mike Tunalaaq Gibbons is reportedly sparse and reflective.

Nino

Director: Pauline Loquès
Country: France

This Paris-set drama about a man who has just been given a cancer diagnosis seems deliberately designed to invite comparisons with Agnès Varda’s eternally cool and stylish Cléo from 5 to 7 – one of my favourite French films. That makes me a little wary (talk about a tough benchmark!) but mostly intrigued. Théodore Pellerin plays the titular character, who we follow over the weekend of his 29th birthday, immediately after his diagnosis, as he wanders through Paris, spending time with friends and family.

The Airport Chaplain

Directors: Bonnie Moir, Tig Terera
Country: Australia

Before reading about this new Australian TV series, I had no idea that an airport chaplain was an actual job. I suppose it stands to reason, given there are so many reasons to pray: for your flight to be on time; for your luggage to turn up; for a screaming baby not to be sitting next to you. The great Hugo Weaving stars as said chaplain, who is “unorthodox” and will “bend rules to help passengers”, with The Pitt’s Shabana Azeez playing his new, rule-abiding boss.

Portrait of Jason

Director: Shirley Clarke
Country: US

Every decent documentarian understands the value of “good talent” – those subjects whose personalities command the screen. Gay African American performer and self-professed hustler Jason Holliday is an amazing example, holding our attention for virtually all of Shirley Clarke’s 1967 classic – drinking, smoking, and regaling us with stories about his colourful life. This conceptually simple but very captivating film was shot over the course of a single night, during a marathon 12-hour shoot.

Whistle

Director: Christopher Nelius
Country: Australia/US

Having always sucked at sports, I’m partial to documentaries about left-of-centre competitions that involve no athleticism at all (i.e. ones about playing Donkey Kong and cooking porridge). The latest explores the world of competitive whistling, which apparently is a thing, The Masters of Musical Whistling competition taking place biennially in LA, bringing together a range of competitors vying for the title of world champion.

Special Focus: Sarah Watt

Australian film-maker Sarah Watt left us way too early, passing away in 2011 at 53 years old. She left behind some very fine work, including feature films Look Both Ways and My Year Without Sex, and several animated shorts. This year’s Miff offers a rare chance to see them on the big screen; coinciding with The Way of the Birds exhibition, a retrospective at the ACMI which explores the creative process behind Watt’s 2000 short of the same name.