Funny Shorts Finalists and Final Jury Panel Announced!

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s short film competition is back to help celebrate our 40 years of funny, and our finalists, as well as final members of the jury panel for the 2026 competition have been announced! 

After receiving nearly 150 submissions, a panel of leading comedy and screen industry professionals have whittled it down to just 13 short films. A massive congratulations to all of our finalists, and to everyone who submitted a film - the funny was off the charts! 

A panel of renowned judges, including Kate McLennan (one half of the creative powerhouse behind Deadloch), writer and director Leela Varghese (Lesbian Space Princess), and director, writer and actor Tony Briggs (The Sapphires) have already been announced. We are proud to announce that Australian comedian, author and previous Funny Shorts winner, Frank Woodley (The Adventures of Lano & Woodley), and the award-winning filmmaker and director, Sue Thompson will be rounding out our panel.

The Funny Shorts premiere event screening will take place at 3pm on Sunday 29 March at ACMI, with repeat screenings running at 7pm on Thursday 2 April and 7pm on Monday 13 April at ACMI. 

The overall winner will take home a $5,000 cash prize, and ticket holders will have their say with the Audience Favourite Award for which the filmmakers will receive $1,000, thanks to Funny Shorts’ inaugural partner, .au.

You’ll be able to watch all of these incredible shorts at the Funny Shorts screenings across the Festival. Grab your tickets now!

Funny Shorts is presented by the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and ACMI and is proudly supported by .au

2026 NATIONAL FINALISTS:

The Agreement
Dir. Jemma Cotter, 2026, Australia, 6 mins.
Meg's evening is turning out as planned until two unexpected intruders turn her peaceful evening into every woman’s worst nightmare.

Smokedog
Dir. Andrew Onorato, 2025, Australia, 6 mins.
A chainsmoking dog goes about his day.

Hypothetically, the End
Dir. Lily Drummond, 2025, Australia, 5 mins.
On the brink of the Y2K bug scare, two best friends scramble to get married in the last 5 minutes of 1999.

How To Bail From a Bad Date
Dir. Jackie Hatton, 2026, Australia, 2 mins.
During a bad date with Ben, Julia calls in her housemate Sez to execute their carefully rehearsed emergency escape plan.

Best Man
Dir. Nick Sullivan, 2025, Australia, 5 mins.
A man’s attempt to celebrate his best mate becomes a moving exploration of love, masculinity and friendship.

Virginia
Dir. Isabella Lovett Pawsey, 2025, Australia, 6 mins.
Virginia, along with her creator Alex, shares her life story, living in a world that perceives her as different.

Bond Chooses A Salad
Dir. Rhys McCane, Imogen Behan-Willett & Nic Leggat, 2025, Australia, 4 mins.
Bond is captured and faces a torture method so extreme that she might finally crack.

2 Black 2 Strong
Dir. Nurdewi Djamal, Australia, 10 mins.
After derailing a job opportunity Kevin and Devon team up to take on the unemployment line, but every interview takes them further from work and closer to their true calling.

What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?
Dir. Nathan James Robinson, Australia, 2026, 5 mins.
Captain Kennard learns that even at sea, drinking comes with consequences.

Try It On
Dir. Simon McCulloch, Australia, 2026, 8 mins.
Three couples detonate after revealing their personal apocalypse plans.

Dashcamera Obscura
Dir. Henry Stone, Australia, 2026, 7 mins.
A man desperate to capture a viral moment on his new dashcam accidentally unleashes a car crash day in his personal life.

I Fell in Love with My Sleep Paralysis Demon
Dir. Matthew J. Thompson, Australia, 2026, 7 mins.
Sarah decides to pursue the most emotionally unavailable guy she can find, her sleep paralysis demon.

Stranded
Dir. Reilly Archer-Whelan & Michael Whyntie, Australia, 2025, 10 mins.
When Kelly dumps Brian, his world comes crashing down...again. Just like when their cruise ship sank, leaving them stranded alone on a deserted island.