Armenian Film Festival Australia Marks 10 Years With National Expansion and International Filmmakers
The 2026 edition will expand to Perth for the first time, with Inna Sahakyan and Tamara Stepanyan among the filmmakers heading to Australia.
The Armenian Film Festival Australia will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2026 with its largest edition to date, expanding to Perth for the first time and bringing a slate of international filmmakers, Australian productions and anniversary screenings to four cities.
Founded in 2016 as a community-led initiative, AFFA has grown into Australia’s only national festival dedicated to Armenian and Armenian diaspora cinema. The addition of Perth sees the festival extend its footprint alongside established events in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
Among the international filmmakers travelling to Australia are Outliving Shakespeare director Inna Sahakyan and Tamara Stepanyan, whose In the Land of Arto received multiple honours at the 2026 Anahit Awards. Armenian Film Society founder Armen Karaoghlanian will also attend.
The festival will open with Vazgen: The Last Sparapet, a portrait of Armenian military and political figure Vazgen Sargsyan that became Armenia’s highest-grossing film of 2025. Sahakyan’s Outliving Shakespeare will close the festival, with the filmmaker attending in person.
The 2026 program will also mark another 10th anniversary with a special screening of Garth Davis’ Lion. The Oscar-nominated Australian drama, starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara and David Wenham, will be followed by a Q&A with executive producer Shahen Mekertician.
Sydney audiences will have access to an additional music and film event, Cinema and Soul: An Evening with Krista Marina. The program pairs a screening of A Winter’s Song with an intimate jazz performance from Marina, who appears as a vocalist in the film.
AFFA will also place an increased emphasis on Australian filmmaking this year, presenting five locally produced Armenian stories for the first time as part of a dedicated Australian showcase.
Anniversary screenings will revisit films that have played an important role in AFFA’s first decade, including Aram, Aram, the first film screened by the festival, alongside Aurora’s Sunrise and Amerikatsi.
The AFFA Awards return for a second year, with a jury recognising achievement across Armenian and Armenian diaspora filmmaking.
Beyond its cinema program, the festival will again incorporate Armenian food and wine, live music and filmmaker conversations, while returning events include Ladies Night and Flix & Mix for Under 35s.
AFFA co-founders and co-directors Margaret Chater and Hourie Demirjian said the anniversary offered an opportunity to reflect on the festival’s growth while establishing its ambitions for the next decade.
“Ten years ago, we set out to share Armenian stories with Australian audiences,” Chater and Demirjian said. “Today, AFFA has become a celebration of cinema, culture and conversation that welcomes people from all backgrounds. As we celebrate this milestone and expand to Perth, we’re excited to continue building connections through the power of storytelling.”
Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian and Animal Logic co-founder Zareh Nalbandian continue as patrons of the festival.
The Armenian Film Festival Australia will run across Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth in 2026, with individual festival dates and screening details to be announced as part of the full program.