documentary

If you want to see some of the best documentaries from around the world, mark your calendar for Antenna Documentary Film Festival 2026. Celebrating its 14th edition, Antenna runs 5–15 February 2026 across Sydney, presenting a program that promises to surprise, to spark the imagination, and to expand worldviews.

Festival Director Dudi Rokach said the 2026 program reflects the breadth and depth of contemporary documentary cinema. “Each film is imaginative, cinematic, and has a unique point of view about the world we live in. Together, they show documentary cinema at its most rigorous, cinematic and alive”.

Opening & Closing Films

The festival opens with the Australian premiere of The Last Guest of the Holloway Motel (USA, 2025), a character-driven portrait of Tony Powell, a former football star who vanished from public life in 1970s Britain before re-emerging decades later as the manager and sole resident of a crumbling Hollywood motel. As eviction looms, Powell is forced to confront years of silence and the relationships he left behind.

Closing the festival is Ghost Elephants (USA, 2025), the latest film from Werner Herzog, which follows conservationist Dr Steve Boyes on an expedition into Angola’s mist-shrouded highlands in search of the “ghost elephants,” a legendary herd long believed to exist only in myth.

Highlights

One of the highlights of the program is the Australian premiere of Sentient (Australia, 2026), the debut feature documentary from respected journalist Tony Jones, following its world premiere at Sundance 2026. The film takes audiences inside animal laboratory research, exposing a hidden world in which it’s not just the animals who are getting hurt. Drawing on firsthand testimony and investigative research, the film questions long-held assumptions about scientific necessity and moral responsibility.

Other program highlights include:

We Are Jeni (Australia, 2026) – Directed by Mariel Thomas and Akhim Dev, the film follows Dr Jeni Haynes, whose extraordinary case — in which she testified through multiple alternate identities in an Australian court — helped secure the conviction of her abuser. After surviving extreme childhood trauma by developing more than 2,500 alternate personalities, the film examines memory, resilience and the fight to be believed.

Elon Musk Unveiled – The Tesla Experiment (Germany, 2025) – A new film that pulls back the curtain on Musk’s empire, as close confidants, whistleblowers, victims, and former high-ranking Tesla employees speak out. Their testimonies expose hidden data and buried defects in the race for self-driving cars.

The Clown of Gaza (Palestine, 2025) – After losing his home in Gaza, performer Alaa Meqdad keeps hope alive by becoming Aloosh the Clown, bringing joy to children in hospitals and streets. The Clown of Gaza is a moving celebration of humanity and love in pitch-dark times.

Synthetic Sincerity (UK, 2025) – BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Marc Isaacs examines whether emotional authenticity can be taught to artificial intelligence

An Eye for an Eye (Iran, 2025) – Convicted of murdering her husband, Tahereh served her sentence and now faces a ticking clock to negotiate with her in-laws who, under Sharia law, have the legal right to either execute her or forgive her- for a price. Unfolding like a real-life courtroom thriller, the film examines justice, mercy and survival within a patriarchal religious system.

Trade Secret (Australia, 2025) – A multi-award-winning exposé by cinematographer-turned-director Abraham Joffe, investigating the global wildlife trade and the fight to protect polar bears from international commercial exploitation.

Special Events & Festival Guests

Antenna will welcome renowned filmmaker Kirsten Johnson to Sydney as a special guest. Before directing the acclaimed documentaries, Cameraperson and Dick Johnson Is Dead, Johnson spent decades behind the camera, shaping some of the most influential nonfiction films through collaborations with filmmakers such as Laura Poitras, Michael Moore and Kirby Dick. During the festival, Johnson will participate in an in-depth In Conversation event and curate a special sidebar, Kirsten Johnson Selects, presenting films that have shaped her creative practice. The festival will also mark the 10th anniversary of Cameraperson with a special screening.

The festival will also present a special retrospective, Gillian Armstrong & The Adelaide Three: 50 Years Later. Often described as the Australian 7 Up, Gillian Armstrong’s landmark longitudinal project traces more than three decades in the lives of three Adelaide “Girls” — Kerry, Josie and Diana — and reflects on the evolution of the women’s lives on screen. This rare screening will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Gillian Armstrong, joined by Kerry and Josie, alongside additional members of the Adelaide family.

The Antenna Documentary Film Festival opens Thursday 5 February and runs until Sunday 15 February 2026. Full program details and tickets are available at www.antennafestival.org

 

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