Screen & film

A range of professional development opportunities are offered to local filmmakers as part of the Understory Film Festival. Aspiring young filmmakers in Cairns can also access the screenPLAY program annually, and see their films on a big screen at Cairns Children's Festival.

Check out Councils's film location guide to discover great locations in Cairns.

Understory Film Festival

The Understory Film Festival encourages local independent, student, emerging and professional film makers in the North Queensland region to create short films to enter a competition for screening opportunities, awards and prizes.

The objectives of the film festival are to showcase local talent, build local industry capacity, award achievement and develop the short film culture appetite and audience.

The competition culminates in a red carpet event; the Understory Film Festival Screening and Awards Night, held annually.

screenPLAY

screenPLAY is our film development program for filmmakers aged 8 to 15. The program includes school holiday workshops as well as the opportunity to submit films to be screened at the annual Cairns Children’s Festival and the Understory Film Festival.