The 19th edition of the Western Australian festival will feature more than 100 Australian films and TV projects, with Rachel House, Gregor Jordan, Katie Milwright and Mark Coles Smith joining Simpkin on the Film Prize jury.

CinefestOZ has unveiled its 2026 program, with more than 100 Australian feature films, shorts and television projects set to screen across Western Australia’s South West from Aug. 28 to Sept. 6.

At the centre of the 19th edition is the festival’s $100,000 Film Prize, with producer Greer Simpkin appointed chair of this year’s jury.

Simpkin, one of the producers behind the upcoming film adaptation of Prima Facie starring Wicked‘s Cynthia Erivo, will be joined by New Zealand actor and director Rachel House (Heartbreak High, Hunt for the Wilderpeople), filmmaker Gregor Jordan (Ned Kelly, Dirt Music), cinematographer Katie Milwright (The Artful Dodger, Goolagong) and actor Mark Coles Smith (Mystery Road: Origin, We Bury the Dead).

Together they will select the winner from four shortlisted films: Wilderness, The Fox, Yesterday Island and MIFF@CinefestOZ selection Sweet Milk Lake.

“It’s a huge honour to be invited to serve as Jury Chair of the CinefestOZ Film Prize Award,” Simpkin said.

“I have attended the CinefestOZ Film Festival many times over the years and loved it, so to have the opportunity to return to the South West of WA as the Jury Chair makes the invitation all the more special.

“Australian filmmaking is in an exciting place so I’m eager to experience the work of the finalists of the Film Prize this year.”

Simpkin said she was looking forward to “the conversations, the discoveries” and the difficult task of choosing the eventual $100,000 winner alongside her fellow jurors.

Several of the filmmakers and actors behind the four finalists will also head west for the festival. Western Australian filmmaker Harvey Zielinski will attend with Sweet Milk Lake, while Orange Is the New Black star Yael Stone will be on hand with Wilderness. Writer-director Dario Russo and actor Damon Herriman will represent The Fox, while writer-director Sam Voutas will attend with Yesterday Island.

The Film Prize program will include red carpet premieres, filmmaker Q&As, after parties and In Conversation events with the filmmakers and talent behind the shortlisted productions.

Beyond the competition, CinefestOZ’s 2026 program takes in more than 100 new features, shorts and television projects, with screenings and events staged across cinemas, galleries, breweries, bars and restaurants in Bunbury, Busselton and Margaret River.

This year’s selection also places an emphasis on the Australian landscape, with stories set everywhere from Tasmania’s King Island and Victoria’s Alpine region to South Australia’s Barossa, Queensland’s Mount Isa and Western Australia’s Ningaloo Coast and Kimberley.

CinefestOZ CEO Cassandra Jordan said the locations featured throughout the program often become integral to the stories themselves.

“We have stories from nearly every corner of our beautiful country this year,” Jordan said. “From the rugged beauty of Tasmania’s King Island, and Victoria’s Alpine region, to South Australia’s Barossa, Queensland’s Mount Isa, and Western Australia’s stunning Ningaloo Coast and the Kimberley, these incredible locations become characters in their own right.

“They provide the backdrop for stories that explore every human emotion from love, loss and heartbreak to hope, humour and joy.”

The 2026 edition comes as CinefestOZ continues to expand beyond its flagship South West festival. The organisation now presents CinefestOZ Albany and CinefestOZ Broome, the latter staged with Indigenous-owned and operated Goolarri Media, and this year launched its new On the Road regional touring program.

CinefestOZ 2026 runs from Aug. 28 to Sept. 6 across Western Australia’s South West.