Festival information

The Multicultural Mental Health Film Festival (MMHFF), facilitated by the Mental Health Foundation Australia (MHFA), is a bold and inclusive celebration of mental health storytelling across cultures. The 2025 edition is scheduled to take place across two nights: October 30 and 31 at a prestigious venue in the heart of Melbourne.


The 2025 Multicultural Mental Health Film Festival is honoured to present a panel of award-winning filmmakers, writers, advocates, and community leaders from diverse cultural backgrounds, including Persian, Ukrainian, Indian, and European, with lived experiences encompassing migration, disability, queerness, and mental health advocacy. Each jury member contributes a unique perspective to the powerful intersection of culture, mental health, and storytelling.

Opening Date - June 10, 2025

Earlybird Deadline - July 30, 2025

Regular Deadline - August 30, 2025

Notification Date - October 6, 2025


Event Dates: October 30 & 31 2025

Best Narrative or Experimental Short Film – Australian

Entrants must either be from or currently live in Australia, or the film must have been produced in Australia.


Best Documentary Short Film – Australian

Entrants must either be from or currently live in Australia, or the film must have been produced in Australia.


Best Narrative or Experimental Short Film – International

Entrants can apply from anywhere in the world, except Australia.


Best Documentary Short Film – International

Entrants can apply from anywhere in the world, except Australia.


For details about fees for each categories, head to https://filmfreeway.com/MulticulturalMentalHealthFilmFestival

Please ensure you read and understand all the guidelines thoroughly. We’re deeply grateful to all filmmakers who share their work with us, and we look forward to celebrating your stories.

For details on guidelines for submissions, head to Rules & Terms in https://filmfreeway.com/MulticulturalMentalHealthFilmFestival

All selected films receive:

  • An Official Selection Laurel
  • Promotion via MMHFF and Mental Health Foundation Australia platforms (Filmmakers will be asked to provide social media handles to help us spotlight their work)
  • All selected filmmakers will receive complimentary access to Day 1 and Day 2 of the festival.

Winners of each category will receive:

  • A handcrafted, engraved trophy designed by independent artist Rhys Purton
  • An official commemorative certificate recognising the recipient as a champion of multicultural mental health cinema
  • Cash prizes

Hear from the past filmmakers & attendees..

Incredibly grateful to have had our film 'Brothers and Fathers' premiere at the Multicultural Mental Health Film Festival and to win Best International Short Documentary. Matthew Keisoglu did a great job leading this festival and maintained warm and efficient communication throughout. The team did a fantastic job and I look forward to attending in the future.

Imoje Aikhoje

January 2025

It was a truly enriching experience to attend the awards ceremony. Such an inspiring festival dedicated to raising awareness about mental health!

Kasiani Koutris

December 2024

A young film festival with a bright future ahead - super professional, well-organized, friendly, and with excellent communication. I highly recommend submitting your work to this festival if your film addresses topics such as mental health.

Matez Garci

November 2024

I'm deeply honored that my film was awarded Best International Experimental Short Film at the Multicultural Mental Health Film Festival. This festival provides a vital platform for diverse, meaningful stories on mental health, and it was a privilege to be part of it.

This festival is doing important work in raising mental health awareness across cultures, and I highly recommend it to filmmakers seeking engaged, diverse audiences. Thank you to the entire team for this memorable experience.


Chandan Gomes

November 2024

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Multicultural Mental Health Film Festival and especially to Matthew Keisoglu for the unique opportunity to be a part of this incredible event, even though I was not able to come in person. The festival impresses not only with its flawless organization but also with its warm, almost familial approach to every participant. Here, one truly feels that every film and every story is valued and cherished.

Palina Ramashka

November 2024

This was such a lovely first festival to show my film Compass in Hand, Matthew is an amazing director, host and communicator, pre festival communication was clear and empathic, much needed as I'm an emerging film maker and new to all the lingo of film festivals. The venue was community orientated, with amazing snacks and food provided, (next level would be in a cinema with a cinematic experience for the visuals and sound) most importantly, the films shown were amazing, heart felt, enchanting, funny and I really enjoyed being able to watch the films alongside seeing mine presented to audiences for the first time.

Josie Alexandra

June 2024

Fantastic communication, care and professionalism. A festival with lots of heart that evidently believes in the power of film for social change and specifically shining a spotlight on mental health. Would absolutely recommend.

Kaylene Tyler

November 2023

remarkable festival. wonderful communication throughout and amazing hospitality to our film rep who attended the event.

Radheya Jegatheva

November 2023

MMHFF was an amazing experience and wonderful space to share our diverse story and shed an important light on health story with audiences. It was an honour to have our film screened. Congrats to Matthew and the team for organising such a great Film Festival to share multicultural stories with a very important message.

Kamil Domaradzki

November 2023