A Weekend of Science Film at The Mill

SCINEMA is a science film festival screening across Australia as part of National Science Week. The Mill hosts a special weekend of FREE film screenings featuring the best of the SCINEMA program.

Festival Director Cris Kennedy introduces each session, with some special guests popping up to say hello. This program is curated as a 'Director's Choice' from the 300+ film entered into SCINEMA (scinema.net) in 2026. The standard of films is very high, but we promise an intimate and informal screening environment in the beautiful Mill Theatre. Visit scinema.net for full film synopses.

Saturday 22 August

12.00 Mini-playlist ‘Best of 2026 short films’: 12.00 Women in STEM at the Royal Australian Mint (5 mins, Australia, Leigh Adey) + 12.05 B-Cells: A Chemotherapy Poem (4mins, USA, William Doan) 12.10 + Soraya in the Land of Nod (3 mins, India, Leela Dutta) + 12.15 Trading Cards (15 mins, Australia, Radheya Jang) + 12.30 Overlooked : A Silent Extinction (25 mins, UK, Cathy Ellington) + 12.55 Burnt Country (17 mins, Australia, Kirsten Slemint) Ends 1.15

1.30 Physics for Poets (90mins, USA, Gina Payzant)

3.15 Filmmaker intro Flightline (19mins, USA, Nisha Balaram) +3.45 Cosmic Coda (86mins, USA, MJ Doherty) Ends 5.15

5.45pm Liz Lea presents Dance on Film program: Dessaim (20mins, France, Maxime Pelletier-Huot) + She Measures the Earth (18mins, Canada, Ching You) + Christopher Knowlton’s Deus Ex Machina Doctrina (8mins, USA, Christopher Knowlton) *World Premiere* Ends 6.45

Sunday 23 August

11.00 Mini-playlist ‘Mexico on screen’: El Chichón is Still Alive (40 mins, Mexico, Ali Zare) + 11.40 Through Abe's eyes (18 mins, Mexico, Melissa Yaeth) + 12.00 It Blooms from Within (21 mins, United Kingdom, Oliver Hill) Ends 12.25

12.45 Mini-playlist ‘Medical Docs’: Social Anxiety Disorder (5 mins, Chih Hao Shen) + 12.50 ‘C’ is for Cherry (9mins, Italy, Francesco Piro) + 1.00 Imperfect Days (27mins, Ireland, David Qualter) + 1.25 Giving Back Breath (20mins, USA, Courtney Crowder & Chad Cohen) + 1.45 Blue Blood (23 mins, UK, Neeve Ó Flynn-Mundin) Ends 2.05

2.30 Hunting Yellow Pigs (71 mins, USA, 2025, Directed by Jon Roberts)

4.00 Guest speaker: Canadian artist & filmmaker Peter McLeish on AI in Art, featuring The None of Us (4mins, Canada, Peter McLeish)

5.00 Prompt: Make a Documentary (95 mins, Australia, Zeke Morgan-Hind)

Each program runtime listed above, separate tickets required for each session.

Audience suitability: Anyone who likes documentaries and films that make you think.

TICKETS

General admission tickets are free but we do ask people to register please!

Tickets are fully transferable up to one day before the event only.

Tickets are for entry only and are available online until one hour before the show. From that point, box office tickets in person are available.

The information below goes into a lot of detail but if you have further questions, please email us at hello@milltheatreatdairyroad.com. A small team can see that inbox and we respond very quickly. The Mill is a very quirky space and we want to welcome you!

SEATING & ACCESS

All tickets are general admission and no seats are reserved so the earlier you arrive, the better position you will have. If you have any access needs and require reserved seating you must email us before the show please hello@milltheatreatdairyroad.com
Seating is on one side for this production.
The venue is fully accessible for wheelchairs with a ramp from the P3 parking spot and same level access from entry into building 3.3 into the theatre all the way to the accessible seating positions inside the Mill. We have two wheelchair seating positions both with very different views. Please contact us at hello@milltheatreatdairyroad.com so we can talk through the options, including adding companion card tickets. All accessible bookings will be reserved.
Every seat in the house has a great view, and a different view. Patrons walk through the set to find your seats, adding to the intimacy of the space. This means, late arrivals or patrons who leave the theatre before intermission or the end will NOT BE ADMITTED TO THE THEATRE.

ARRIVAL & PROTOCOLS

ENTERING

Please head to the Box Office on arrival. You really must do this please. If you have already purchased a ticket, the Front of House team checks off the name of every booked attendee. Please do not try to walk directly into the theatre.
If you haven’t purchased a ticket, you can get one onsite an hour before show time. However, it is a very small theatre and we have started selling out and we do not hold any seats.
The doors open approximately 15 minutes before show time. The Front of House team will let you know when you can enter.

LOCK OUT

Due to the unique layout of the venue, the audience walks through the stage to take their seats. This means we cannot accommodate anyone slipping in late for the beginning of the show or for the return after intermission. This also means, if you need to leave during the show, we cannot allow you back in. If patrons are rude or resistant about this fact then it makes for both an unsafe and unpleasant time for everyone. Please think about this before you book and before you arrive.
The Front of House team rings a bell and counts the audience to ensure you won’t miss out but please don’t tempt fate otherwise you will be locked out and we cannot let you in. We even call any audience who might be running late to make sure you won’t miss the show!

LOCATION

The Mill Theatre is in Building 3.3, the Screencraft and KeepCo building which is a short walk from Capital Brewing. There are two easy ways to approach the Theatre:

PARK in P3 at the back of the precinct. From there you will see building 3.3 which has a large Screencraft sign. The public entrance is just up from that sign (not underneath it!). Once inside, walk about 5 metres and the theatre is to the right, next to Mojo Guitars.

WALK from Capital Brewing or the Less sculpture into the KeepCo building, pass Ramen Daddy and at the end of the corridor we are on the left.

PARKING

All parking in the precinct is free with several accessible parking spots in all the parking locations. The best spot to park is P3 at the back of the precinct. If you park elsewhere please be warned that signage and way-finding around the precinct is extremely difficult. Arrive in plenty of time to possibly get lost, possibly be in a bad mood, and remedy that with a drink at our bar before enjoying a smashing show!

Contact the host of SCINEMA at The Mill 22 & 23 August 2026