This June, the Castlemaine Documentary Festival (CDoc) returns taking over Theatre Royal Castlemaine with a deeply human program of documentary cinema, conversations, music and events.
With Love – the antidote the guiding theme for 2026, this year’s festival brings together a selection of outstanding Australian and international documentaries that move between the personal and the political, the inmate and the collective – revealing just how closely they are connected. Festival highlights include:
Rod Quantock: Comedy Warrior charts the life and career of Australia’s pioneering stand-up comedian, Rod Quantock, and his tireless efforts over five decades to communicate the perils of neoliberalism and the cataclysmic urgency of climate change through comedy.
Agridulce (Bittersweet) is a coming-of-age story set in the Dominican Republic, where a group of aspiring young Bachata artists search for answers to love and life through their music.
How Deep is Your Love follows biologists as they explore the deep sea, where 70% of our planet lies hidden. As they uncover mesmerising creatures and ecosystems thriving in darkness, a looming threat emerges: the prospect of deep-sea mining in this untouched wilderness.
Following and filming friends for nearly fifty-years, The Bend in the River is an exploration of the inexorable flow of aging and the unfinished project of living. Starting in 1978, director Robb Moss documents his friend’s outdoor rent-free life during one clothing-optional rafting trip through the Grand Canyon.
In a remote American fishing village, where life unfolds with the seasons and the sea, Bucks Harbor explores the ways that men & boys understand their roles and themselves in a changing world.
Across the three-day program, audiences can also expect live Q&As, afterparties, food events and community activations woven throughout the weekend.
The Love Compilations
New this year, The Love Compilations brings the festival’s theme to life. Inspired by Wendy Clarke’s Love Tapes – an ongoing video project that began in the 1970s – the project invites members of the Castlemaine community into a simple recording booth to record inmate, three-minute reflections on love.
Each recording is shown in full, unedited, forming a collective video artwork that captures a wide spectrum of voices and emotional truths. Alongside these new works, CDoc will present a curated selection of archival Love Tapes, placing local voices alongside a broader ongoing conversation.
Screening in multiple locations right across the festival weekend, the project creates an evolving portrait of the community. In a significant milestone, the CDoc Love Compilations will be archived with the original collection at the University of Wisconsin – the first Australian contribution to this landmark global project.
LOCALS
A cornerstone of the festival, LOCALS also returns for its fifth year, celebrating regional filmmakers and grassroots storytelling from across Central Victoria. This year’s jury includes Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Katie Mitchell and Sundance-recognised director Noora Niasari.
Now firmly embedded in the festival’s identity, LOCALS continues to champion grassroots storytelling and creative voices from across the region. This year’s jury – including Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Katie Mitchell and Sundance-recognised director Noora Niasari – reflects both the calibre of entries and the growing profile of the competition.
CDoc 2026 also spills out beyond the cinema, with food, music and gatherings woven throughout the weekend. On Saturday morning, audiences can brave the Castlemaine cold for porridge and congee at the Theatre Royal, served up by local icon Duang ahead of The Golden Spurtle screening – a film that takes porridge most seriously.
Friday night’s LOCALS screening culminates in one of the festival’s biggest gatherings, with the Theatre Royal afterparty bringing filmmakers, friends and audiences together in true community spirit. Then on Saturday night, after Move Ya Body: The Birth of House, local DJ legend Jen Moore takes over the decks for a late-night afterparty celebrating the sound that changed nightlife forever.
The festival wraps on Sunday evening with closing night drinks at beloved local brewery Love Shack before everyone heads back into winter.
CDoc remains a highlight of the regional arts calendar, bringing a world-class documentary program to Castlemaine – a town defined by its creative energy and vibrant community.
“Love – the antidote is both a theme and a call to action. These films don’t look away from complexity or conflict – they face hard truths while holding onto connection as something worth fighting for,” said Festival Director Claire Jager.
The Castlemaine Documentary Festival runs Friday 26 to Sunday 28 June 2026. For more information and full program, visit: www.cdocff.com.au for details.
Image: Theatre Royal Castlemaine (supplied)