The Filmonik Melbourne and Melbourne Documentary Film Festival Kino-Kabaret (or in short the Filmonik+MDFF Kabaret) is a Thursday July 10 to Sunday July 13 2025 72-hour session of creative, spontaneous, collaborative documentary filmmaking in a fun, shared production environment at Bakehouse Studios in Richmond bringing together filmmakers, actors, musicians, writers, technicians and film aficionados all collaborating freely for the art of documentary storytelling under 5 minutes. The Kino-Kabaret filmmaking session will immediately culminate with a public screening of the produced short films. It's often seen as a video jam-session, and not a competition. This Kabaret is a collaboration with the Melbourne Documentary Film Fest to celebrate their 10-year anniversary. With short documentaries being made over 72 hours, it is expected that filmmakers will come a bit more prepared than usual, with ideas ready to execute, and the weekend is all about learning new skills with peers, gathering cast and crew, and getting it done.
To see the current vibe and scope of these events; the 2024 Kabaret recap video
To see how Bakehouse Studios hosted our event in 2017 and 2018 in this Kabaret recap video:
Key dates:
Thursday July 10: Main Production Meeting and kickoff party at Moon Dog OG 17 Duke St, Abbotsford VIC 3067. Door 6:30pm. Presentation of all participants starts at 7:30pm
Friday July 11: The hub opens to the participants at 12pm at Bakehouse studios; 27-29 Hoddle Street, Richmond, Victoria 3121 (entry from Little Hoddle St near Elizabeth St end). Come write, cast, crew, find your subject, hang out, do pre-prod, test equipment, or even start production if you’re ready.
Saturday July 12: Pre-production, Production and/or Post-Production of the short films. Saturday morning the hub opens at 9am and you should finish writing, prepping, casting and crewing for filming on the same day. There are a few spaces to film, including a cyclorama and green screen.
Sunday July 13: Post-production. The hub opens at 9am and stays open until 5pm for post-production and delivery of films. Premiere screening at Hoyts Vic Gardens at 6pm.
Ticket categories:
- Director ticket, for directors making and screening a 5-minute-or-less short film.
- Crew ticket, for any short film artisan wanting to participate in the production of short documentaries. You're welcome to act in any film on a crew ticket, it's simply that actors who exclusively want to act in short films have to get the limited actor ticket instead and we'll sort them first for roles.
- Actor ticket, for actors ready to jump into any production over the weekend. Please note that the actor tickets are more limited in order to adapt to the realities of documentary filmmaking. A strong push will be made for filmmakers to use re-enactments. This ticket is for actors who aren't particularly interested in crewing, therefore should get offered roles before anyone else.
All tickets include:
- Opening night & production meeting at Moon Dog OG Thur July 10.
- Access to our collaborative space and studio at Bakehouse Studios from Friday July 11 to Sunday July 13 (opening hours apply).
- Entry to the Sunday July 13 short film screening at Hoyts Vic Gardens at 6pm.
Prepare for a weekend of intense collaboration, unconventional storytelling, and the chance to experiment with a variety of documentary styles.
------The theme and artistic direction-------
Documentary Integrity: Aim to treat your subjects and stories with genuine respect, even when bringing in a playful or whimsical tone. Your project should feel more like an artistic exploration than an advertisement — self-promotion and any content resembling an ad are strictly prohibited.
Avoid Talking Heads: This is not a space for traditional interview formats or extended uncut Q&As. Creatively integrate your subjects into the visuals and use their environment, actions, and surroundings to tell a story. Sharp and creative b-roll is your friend.
Re-enactments encouraged: To get actors engaged and busy, please consider telling parts of the story via re-enactments. Get creative so that actors don't miss on any of the fun.
Mockumentaries in Moderation: While mockumentaries are allowed, they should serve as a fallback rather than the main focus. The priority remains on creating genuine, engaging documentaries. However, if your concept veers off into mockumentary territory, embrace it with confidence and creativity. To treat the theme with respect we aim for a screening that has more documentaries than mockumentaries.
No ads whatsoever: It will be tempting to talk about yourself or a peer as a freelancer, or present your business, but ask yourself if the final result will be a proper documentary relevant to a wider public or simply self-serving. The location release and filming permits at Bakehouse covers artistic endeavors only, not ads.
The full survival guide is available at:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yl_6Ou94JRrtt1aF2YwrbjXzP9tTmpYWzRkvOJH-xJI/edit?usp=sharing
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