The Note's Top Music-Related Films To See At This Year's Adelaide Film Festival

Music runs loud through this year's Adelaide Film Festival.

The Music on Film portion of the program takes in core features that could hardly be more different, from a rise-to-stardom drama set in Rio's kinky funk scene and the story of three sisters pushed into a band on the strength of a psychic's prophecy, to a black-and-white portrait of Bill Evans in mourning and a box of Hi8 tapes from backstage at Australia's 1995 Summersault tour.

There really is something for every type of music-loving nerd across the festival's 12-day program that runs from Wednesday 14 to Sunday 25 October.

Keen to make sure you don't miss out on the great selection of films on offer, we've come up with our top music-related films screening across the festival.

The Best Summer

Director Tamra Davis shot this Hi8 footage while touring Australia as part of the 1995 Summersault festival with her then-husband Mike D of the Beastie Boys. It captures backstage life with the Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Bikini Kill, Pavement, Beck and an early Foo Fighters. The footage was rediscovered thirty years later and captures a touchstone moment in alternative music history.

 Buy tickets here.

We Are The Shaggs

In the mid-1960s, three New Hampshire sisters formed a band because their controlling father believed a psychic's prophecy, even though they had no musical training or interest. Most people didn't understand their music, but Kurt Cobain, Patti Smith and Frank Zappa championed it. The Wiggins sisters now tell the story themselves.

Buy tickets here.

Everybody Digs Bill Evans

In the early 1960s, jazz pianist Bill Evans is thrown adrift by the sudden death of his closest collaborator. Rather than following a conventional biopic, this black-and-white film moves in fragments through his grief and withdrawal. It won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival.

 Buy tickets here.

Wolf

This feature documentary finds British avant-pop musician Patrick Wolf looking back on his life and work through his personal archive alongside a candid conversation with his longtime friend Tilda Swinton. He covers identity, sexuality, bullying and addiction in this emotionally raw film.

Wolf makes its Australian premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival, with director Christian Cargill in attendance for the screening.

Buy tickets here.

Funk

Newcomer Duda Santos plays MC Sabrina, who is chasing stardom in Rio's sexually explicit kinky funk scene. She clashes with a bitter mother whose own ambitions never came to anything. The film takes in Brazil's race and class divides without losing its energy. It received a Special Jury Mention at Tribeca.

 Buy tickets here.

The Way We Move

Premiering at SXSW, The Way We Move follows ASL performer and trainer Amber Galloway, who runs a bootcamp for sign language interpreters

Teaching his students to convey the feeling of a song as well as the lyrics for deaf audiences, the film builds towards a climactic performance at Austin City Limits.

Buy tickets here.

Shine: 30th Anniversary 4K Restoration

Scott Hicks' Oscar-winning biopic follows piano prodigy David Helfgott, whose domineering father pushes him toward breakdown before he finally finds redemption and love.

The screening is the world premiere of the new 4K restoration, with Simon Tedeschi AM giving a short piano recital beforehand and Scott Hicks taking part in a Q&A with Russell Torrance of ABC Classic afterwards.

Scott Hicks is also launching his book SHINE: Persistence of Vision on Wednesday 21 October at 4pm at The Mercury Cinema. Entry is free, but you need to register through The Mercury.

Buy tickets here.

Adelaide Film Festival 2026 runs from Wednesday 14 to Sunday 25 October. More information on the program and tickets is available at adelaidefilmfestival.org.