The Castlemaine Documentary Festival kicks off today!
Love – the antidote is the guiding theme for CDoc 2026, and a call to come home to our shared humanity.
Across three days and nights, audiences will gather at the Theatre Royal Castlemaine for a curated program of deeply human nonfiction cinema, alongside conversations, music and events that extend the experience beyond the screen.
Festival director Claire Jager said Love – the antidote was both a theme and a call to action.
“These films don’t look away from complexity or conflict – they face hard truths while holding onto connection as something worth fighting for.”
From today to Sunday June 28, CDoc brings together a selection of 11 outstanding Australian and international documentaries that move between the personal and the political, the intimate and the collective – revealing just how closely they are connected.
CDoc community engagement Randi Wagner said for her the standouts are the Australian premiere of the visually stunning film Buck’s Harbor, created by celebrated photographer Pete Muller, set in a remote American fishing village.
“The film explores masculinity and the ways that men and boys understand their roles and themselves in a changing world,” she said.
“I believe the today’s 2pm screening of Rod Quantock’s Comedy Warrior and Sunday’s 5pm screening of Coexistence, My Ass! will also speak to the strong tradition of activism in our community. The films look at how messages can be delivered in different way, which makes people stand up and take notice,” Randi said.
In its fifth year, tonight’s LOCALS feature has sold out. But if you missed out don’t despair as an encore has been scheduled for July 4 visit https://events.humanitix.com/locals-encore-screening
On Saturday morning, June 27 those lucky enough to have snapped up a ticket will enjoy porridge and congee served up by local icon Duang ahead of The Golden Spurtle screening – a film that takes porridge most seriously.
This will be followed by How Deep Is Your Love and the Australian premiere of The Bend in the River.
Saturday night features another sellout event with the screening of Move Ya Body: The Birth of House followed by local DJ legend Jen Moore taking over the decks for a late-night after party.
Sunday morning We Are Not Powerless follows a group of refugees in Indonesia who, faced with limited access to education and an uncertain future, come together to build a school for their children and will include a live Q&A with the directors.
Another film not to be missed will be Secret Mall Apartment which tells the tale of eight Rhode Island artists who created a secret apartment inside the busy Providence Place Mall and lived there for four years.
Plus you can catch the Love Compilations special feature, enjoy a warming soup at the Community House pop-up soup kitchen, and more.
For tickets visit cdocff.com.au