Step into a world where real-life stories are wilder than fiction—right in the heart of Castlemaine this July.
The 2025 Castlemaine Documentary Festival (July 4-6) isn’t your usual cinema trip. Think jaw-dropping data conspiracies in opening night world premiere Human Algorithm, a performance artist literally turning his body into living art in Stelarc – Suspending Disbelief, poetic laser-lab voyages in Tracing Light, and three generations of Hazara women forging resilience in Writing Hawa.
When night falls, the CDoc team crank it up: silent-film masterpiece Man With a Movie Camera gets a live electronic music score with beloved Melbourne band, Underground Lovers Moda Discoteca; and on Saturday, the boundary-blurring hybrid doco-musical Reas transforms a Buenos Aires women’s prison into a stage of song and dance, followed by a live performance by the local glam-pop band, Sugar Fed Leopards which will have you up and dancing.
You don’t have to be a film buff—or even a film fan—to get hooked. These stories are high-voltage adventures featuring espionage, cosmic marvels, and encounters with the unexpected. Plus with Friday and Saturday ending with a late-night disco who says documentaries can’t conclude with a dance party?
Sunday the adventure continues with the screening of Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story which tells the tale of the controversial Irish writer, powerful archival doco Soundtrack to a Coup d’État, The Wolves Always Come at Night the story of young nomads in Mongolia, and Look Into My Eyes which examines the work of psychics and mediums.
Swap your usual weekend on the couch for a festival that blends mind-blowing visuals, real-life drama, and live music.
The team from Castlemaine Community House will also have their pop-up kitchen operating in the Theatre Royal Garden offering soup to warm the soul and raising funds to support the CCH Food Pantry.
Tickets are on sale now: Single Sessions, Day Passes, or go all-in with a Full Festival Pass (complete with prize-draw entry and exclusive food & drink deals).
To see the full program, head to www.cdocff.com.au
Ready to swap scripted drama for actual wonder? Discover CDoc 2025 — where truth is stranger, funnier, and more thrilling than any blockbuster.
