🎬 Muslim Film Festival 2026 (MFF26) *8th Season*

Organized by Badayel House in Australia, the Muslim Film Festival (MFF) is a global platform celebrating independent cinema that reflects Muslim lives, stories, and voices. Now in its 8th year, MFF showcases films by Muslim filmmakers or about Muslims, welcoming creators of all backgrounds.

NOTE: SELECTION DOES NOT GUARANTEE A PHYSICAL SCREENING
Please be aware that a physical screening depends on our sponsors and available funding. While we do our best to celebrate all selected films, we can’t always guarantee a theatrical showing.
If this is a concern, we kindly ask you to consider this before submitting.

MFF26 will take place in Perth, Western Australia, typically in early September 2026, with potential screenings in Melbourne, Sydney, and online. The festival features feature films, short films, documentaries, and animations — all aimed at telling authentic, impactful, and underrepresented stories.

We believe cinema is a universal language, and MFF highlights creativity, inclusion, diversity, and ethical storytelling rooted in or inspired by the experiences of Muslim communities around the world.

Eligibility:

Films must be:

* Created by a Muslim filmmaker, or

* Tell stories about Muslims (regardless of the filmmaker’s background)

Submissions are now open. We look forward to discovering your work and sharing it with audiences ready to be inspired, challenged, and moved.

Awards & Prizes

IMPORTANT for Submitters:
If your film is preliminarily selected, you must supply the following within 1 week:

* Full HD version of the film (4k resolution is a bonus).

* Trailer or teaser

* Poster

Failure to provide these may result in disqualification.

The official selection will be carefully picked by our panel of expert judges and will constitute the films nominated for an award. The films screened at the event will be selected from the official selection and promoted on our social media platforms and website, and the best ones will receive awards at the film festival in a range of categories. The winners will get our official laurels and will be featured on our Facebook page and website and in our media press releases.

The MFF 2026 will have four major awards:

1- Winner of the best feature drama film: $200+ laurel + trophy
2- Winner of the best short drama film: $200 + laurel + trophy
3- Winner of the best documentary film $200 + laurel + trophy
4- Winner of the best short documentary film $200 + laurel + trophy

Note: We may withdraw some awards where the criteria weren't met for some categories.

Rules & Terms

- We only accept films in ENGLISH or with ENGLISH SUBTITLES.

- all film projects should be made (premiered) on or after 1 January 2023.

- Production companies and distributors can submit as many films as they wish.

-We accept only films that comply with Islamic morals and values. Nudity, irrelevant: drug use, explicit sex scenes, vulgar language, and so on are not accepted. If your artwork breaches this condition and you submit it anyway then the MFF committee or jury panel will not accept it for consideration. No refund will be issued.

If you are in doubt please email us before you submit your film on: hello@muslimfilmfestival.com.au
mus.filmfest@gmail.com
Or message us on our Facebook / Instagram pages.

-The Judging panel is not required to give reasons why a particular film was not accepted amongst the MFF official selection. However, the winners may receive feedback explaining why they won.

- Short films must not exceed the 40-minute length requirement.

- Feature films must not exceed 120 minutes in length.

- By submitting to the festival you give us the right to screen your film in front of a live audience at our venues Australia-wide in 2026, namely in Australia's major capital cities such as Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Canberra, and exclusively during the national event of MFF in September up until December each year.

-By submitting your film, you agree to our terms and conditions and permit us to use your press kit for marketing purposes. ( We are certainly not making any money out of your film!!).

Your personal information will never be shared with third parties.

- Selected films will be requested to provide all promotional materials for the promotion of the festival screening. We encourage you to submit a press kit upfront when you submit your film. Any submission missing the media kit by the deadline would be considered INCOMPLETE.

- Media Kit MUST include a minimum of:
a- a trailer of no longer than 2 min, (you can submit two; one for Instagram and a longer one for other social media platforms.)
b- Director's statement,
c- Photos,
d- a FILM POSTER!

- All submitted film files should be DOWNLOADABLE by our staff or jury panel, in FULL HD (but preferably in 4K) and either MOVIE or MP4 files only. No DCP files are required at this stage.

-Any submitted films that are found not downloadable, in FHD or UHD, and not in English or with English subtitles, will be marked as incomplete. If you can not rectify that, the film will be rejected and no refund will be issued.

- Student filmmakers get a concession and they are highly encouraged to submit their films. We may ask for a student card or any other evidence to prove their status as students if needed.

- the filmmakers of the officially selected films will be requested to sign an indemnity form, as well as provide a copy of their photo ID, for security and safety purposes.

- We may have all selected films screened online (MFF COUCHED) alongside our in-theatre screenings, to enable the maximum audience to watch your films. If you have concerns or simply you do not wish to participate in online screening then please let us know. We will send an agreement for this to everyone in due course.

19 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
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Networking
  • Emil Hakimi

    On behalf of my crew, we're highly grateful to be accepted into this film festival. To be put amongst amazing works that expresses so much love and awareness is an eye-opening experience.

    October 2025
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  • Intje Hajri

    The Muslim Film Festival is a very important event that serves as a vital platform to present the diversity and richness of Muslim narratives, culture, and life experiences through the medium of cinema. I am happy that my documentary "KARUNIA" was selected for this festival, thank you.

    October 2025
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  • Reginald Tiessen

    We were honored to screen NAFADA - AN AUDIO UPRISING at this year's Muslim Film Festival. The festival's vision and commitment to showcasing diverse stories from the Muslim community are truly inspiring. Their support for filmmakers, artists, and those working within the Muslim community is unparalleled. It was encouraging to be part of such an inclusive and forward-thinking event, and we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to share our film with an engaged and thoughtful audience. We look forward to seeing the festival continue to uplift and empower voices like ours!

    October 2024
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  • Cenk Ä°zgören

    Perfect festival. Thanks for everthing.

    March 2024
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  • Rostam Nazari

    I am really honored to be part of this film festival. It's an opportunity for filmmakers to share the film among the world wide audience by the festival. Thanks to the team

    October 2023
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