Noosa International Surfilm Festival

04/06/2026

Meet the Judge: Mick Sowry 🎥🌊

Mick Sowry () has spent a lifetime observing the ocean and the culture that grows around it.

A surfer, photographer, filmmaker and writer, Mick’s work captures the deeper rhythms of coastal life. His films The Reef and Musica Surfica, created in collaboration with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, brought Surf Films into dialogue with classical music and visual storytelling in a way few projects have attempted.

Beyond filmmaking, Mick is the founder and creative force behind Great Ocean Quarterly, a journal dedicated to art, ideas and life by the sea. His photography and writing have appeared in The Surfer’s Journal, Surfing World and Surfline, with large-format works exhibited in galleries across Australia.

In 2022 he published a spark becomes an is, a deeply personal collection of photographs and reflections written after the loss of his wife Sue in 2019. The work reflects on grief, love and the quiet ways creativity helps us move through both.

Based in Jan Juc near Bells Beach, Mick continues to create work that sits at the intersection of ocean, art and story.

We’re honoured to have him join the judging panel again for NISFF 2026.

Learn more about the full judging panel:
👉 www.nisff.com.au/judging-panel-2026

🎟️ Early Bird tickets are now available
👉 www.nisff.com.au

31/05/2026

Antarctica. Surfing. Science. Conservation. Narration by Kelly Slater.

ANTARCTICA: DOMAIN ONE comes to Noosa this Wednesday 3 June for its Australian Premiere, presented by NISFF at The J.

This is one of those Surf Films that feels much bigger than a single screening. It takes you into the White Continent, follows the Gauchos del Mar brothers on an extraordinary expedition, and asks what care for the ocean looks like when the story is happening at the edge of the world.

A big screen, a Noosa audience, and a film that will stay with people after the credits roll.

🎟️ Last few days to book:
https://www.thej.com.au/antarctica-domain-one/

29/05/2026

Meet the Judge: Tom Wegener 🏄♂️

Tom Wegener () has spent decades shaping boards, stories and the culture around surfing.

Originally from California, Tom first came to Noosa in 1998 with his surf film Siestas & Olas. Not long after, he settled on the Sunshine Coast and began shaping boards that would go on to influence surfers around the world. From his workshop in Cooroy, Tom Wegener Surfboards became known for reviving traditional single-fin longboards and pioneering hollow wooden surfboards.

His work sits at the intersection of craft, sustainability and surf history. Tom is deeply committed to environmentally conscious board building and to passing knowledge forward to the next generation of shapers and surfers.

Alongside shaping and filmmaking, Tom has also served the local community as an elected Noosa Shire Councillor and continues to contribute to conversations around coastal culture and the future of surfing.

We’re honoured to welcome Tom again to the judging panel for NISFF 2026.

Learn more about the full judging panel:
👉 www.nisff.com.au/judging-panel-2026

🎟️ Early Bird tickets are now live
👉 www.nisff.com.au

28/05/2026

Submissions are officially closed for NISFF 2026!

This year, 52 Films were submitted, with stories arriving from Australia, the United States, Germany, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Sweden, Argentina, Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Denmark, Greece, Indonesia, Mexico, Vanuatu and beyond.

That includes 27 short films, 15 mid-length films and 10 feature films, each one bringing its own relationship with surf, place, culture, community and the ocean.

A huge thank you to every filmmaker who trusted us with their work. We know how much goes into making a film, from the first idea to the final cut, and it is always a privilege to see the way people around the world are telling Surf & OceanFilm stories in their own way.

Selected filmmakers will be notified in early July.

For now, big love to everyone who submitted. We cannot wait to start shaping what the NISFF 2026 program becomes.

26/05/2026

Some stories remind you how connected everything is.

A wave in one part of the world. A glacier changing somewhere most of us will never stand. A krill population under pressure. A scientist taking measurements in the cold. A surfer looking at the ocean and understanding that adventure and responsibility can sit very close together.

ANTARCTICA: DOMAIN ONE moves through all of that.

The film follows Gauchos del Mar brothers Joaquín and Julián Azulay through the White Continent, alongside scientists, biologists and conservationists working to protect Antarctica’s future. It brings together surfing, sailing, research, climate pressure and the urgent need for Marine Protected Areas, without making the story feel distant or abstract.

That is what makes this screening feel so important for NISFF.

It is not just about watching something spectacular on screen. It is about sitting with a story that asks us to think more carefully about the ocean, the places that shape it, and the futures we are all part of.

ANTARCTICA: DOMAIN ONE screens at The J on Wednesday 3 June for its Australian Premiere.

🎟️ Come see it with us:
https://www.thej.com.au/antarctica-domain-one/

24/05/2026

Some of the best parts of NISFF happen before the films even begin.

A familiar face. A proper hug. A quick laugh before heading inside. That easy feeling of being among people who get it is a big part of what makes this festival special. It is not just about the films on screen, but about the people who return each year, the conversations that pick up right where they left off, and the sense that everyone is here to share something meaningful together.

This is the kind of festival moment we love most. Real people, real connection, and the feeling that you are part of something bigger than a night at the movies.

22/05/2026

“All of the fauna depends on Antarctic krill.”

A short glimpse into ANTARCTICA: DOMAIN ONE, a Surf Film that brings together ocean life, conservation, adventure and the urgent call to protect Antarctica through Marine Protected Areas.

Screening at The J on Wednesday 3 June, presented by NISFF.

🎟️ Tickets are now live:
https://www.thej.com.au/antarctica-domain-one/

18/05/2026

ANTARCTICA: DOMAIN ONE is coming to Noosa for its Australian Premiere.

Presented by NISFF, this one-night screening brings the new Gauchos del Mar film to The J on Wednesday 3 June, with narration by Kelly Slater.

After six films and 66 international awards, brothers Joaquín and Julián Azulay return with their seventh feature film, this time taking audiences into Antarctica through sailing, trekking, surfing, science and conservation.

The film sits with big questions, but it does not lose the human thread. It follows the adventure of the Gauchos del Mar brothers, the work of biologist Rodolfo Werner, the research of scientist Manuel Novillo, and the wider mission to protect one of the most fragile environments on the planet.

It is a Surf Film, but it is also a story about responsibility, connection and the future of the ocean systems we all rely on.

Wednesday 3 June at The J.

Make a night of it with us.

🎟️ Book your tickets here:
https://www.thej.com.au/antarctica-domain-one/

Antarctica Domain One

17/05/2026

NISFF is not the kind of festival where people quietly sit in neat rows and leave the second the credits roll.

People stay. They laugh. They swap stories. They talk about the film they just watched, the person they saw in the crowd, the line they loved, or the moment that caught them by surprise. That is part of the fun too, because the festival is as much about the people in the room as it is about what is on the screen. It has that easy, local, summer-in-winter kind of feeling where everything feels a little more open, a little more social, and a lot more memorable.

If you have been craving a festival that feels warm, lively and genuinely enjoyable, this is it.

🎟️ Early Bird tickets are now live at www.nisff.com.au

15/05/2026

Not every Surf Film begins somewhere warm.

Some take you to the edge of the world, where the water is colder, the stakes feel heavier and the relationship between humans and the ocean becomes impossible to ignore.

ANTARCTICA: DOMAIN ONE is the new film from Gauchos del Mar, following brothers Joaquín and Julián Azulay on a sailing, trekking and surfing expedition through the White Continent. Narrated by Kelly Slater, the film moves through adventure, science and conservation with a story that feels both wild and deeply urgent.

It looks at Antarctica not as some distant place, but as part of a bigger ocean system we are all connected to. Climate change, krill populations, Marine Protected Areas, and the people working quietly and persistently to protect a continent that belongs to all humanity.

This is a big one for NISFF.

The Australian Premiere screens at The J on Wednesday 3 June, and it is the kind of film that deserves to be seen in a room full of people who care about surf, ocean stories and what happens beyond the shoreline.

🎟️ Tickets are now live:
https://www.thej.com.au/antarctica-domain-one/