Castlemaine Documentary Festival

Castlemaine Documentary Festival 2025
Truth, you couldn’t make this stuff up
Friday 4 – Sunday 6 July 2025

The Castlemaine Documentary Festival (CDoc) returns in 2025 for another powerful weekend of bold, boundary-pushing nonfiction cinema. From Friday 4 to Sunday 6 July, audiences will once again gather at the iconic Theatre Royal to experience stories that surprise, provoke, and connect.

This year’s theme, “Truth – you couldn’t make this stuff up,” speaks to the extraordinary real-life narratives on offer — films that push beyond fact into emotional, political, and imaginative terrain. Whether intimate or epic, playful or profound, the stories on screen explore the truth in all its messy brilliance.

Returning in 2025 is the festival’s cornerstone event LOCALS, a celebration of Central Victorian filmmakers and the diverse stories emerging from the region. This audience favourite grows in scope and ambition each year, and remains a key part of what makes CDoc unique.