Four Melbourne Restaurants, Four Must-See Films: Inside MIFF’s Food & Film Program

The best films leave you with plenty to think about – and at MIFF’s Food & Film program presented by MINI and Broadsheet, the conversation starts before the opening credits. For 2026, the festival is once again pairing some of Melbourne’s finest restaurants with films that speak to what they do best. The idea is simple: settle in for lunch or dinner before the screening, then head to the cinema with the meal still fresh in your mind.

Each experience bundles the whole outing into a single ticket, with the pairings thoughtfully chosen so the food and film echo one another. Here are four worth booking in for.

Saadi x The Cycle of Love

Saadi has never taken the easy road. The kitchen made its name as a pop-up before landing on Punch Lane, and it channels that same restlessness into food that puts a fresh spin on South Asian flavours, drawn from the seasonal produce of small local farms across Victoria. The set menu runs from joojeh kebab (Persian wood-fire grilled spatchcock) through to a Swedish rhubarb cake with cardamom custard – a nod, perhaps, to a film that ends up in Sweden itself. It's a fitting match for The Cycle of Love, a heart-warming documentary following one man's epic journey of romance from Delhi to Sweden in 1977. Lunch 1.45pm at Saadi; screening 4pm, Kino 2. $95 per person. Saturday August 8.

Supernormal x We Are All Strangers

Supernormal is known for its menu of revisited classics and new favourites, best shared over cold beers with a big group. Expect the likes of steamed rice noodles with Corner Inlet calamari and the signature boneless rib eye with yakiniku and nori mustard – dishes made for passing around the table. That spirit runs right through We Are All Strangers, director Anthony Chen’s tender drama, where some of the film’s most revealing moments unfold over hot noodles, cold beers and shared meals. Lunch 1.15pm at Supernormal; screening 3.30pm, The Capitol. $120 per person. Sunday August 9.

Cumulus Inc x Marc by Sofia

Set inside a turn-of-the-century rag-trade warehouse in the heart of Melbourne’s art and fashion precinct, Cumulus Inc brings people together over seasonal share plates and generous hospitality. The Food & Film menu opens with spanner crab on fried bread and moves through roast corn-fed chicken with borlotti beans before a brown sugar custard tart to finish. There’s a natural kinship with Marc by Sofia, Sofia Coppola’s intimate documentary feature about of her long-time friend, designer Marc Jacobs. Enjoy dinner upstairs at the venue’s wine bar Cumulus Up before you walk over to the Forum for the film. It makes for a fittingly stylish night out in a part of town that knows a thing or two about both. Dinner 6.30pm at Cumulus Up; screening 8.45pm, The Forum. $120 per person. Wednesday August 12.

Bossley Bar & Restaurant x The Fox

Bossley Bar & Restaurant celebrates seasonal Australian produce in a room that works equally well for a bustling crowd or a quiet corner. The menu keeps things generous – steak and frites with peppercorn sauce, or a chicken cotoletta with celeriac slaw – washed down with a bloody shiraz gin spritz if the mood takes you. Both moods suit The Fox, Dario Russo’s darkly comic Australian folktale about a relationship on the rocks that’s thrown into further chaos by a sly fox voiced by Olivia Colman. Dinner lands first, then the screening follows – but after this film, you might want to make plans for a nightcap, so you can pick apart everything you’ve just watched. Dinner 7.30pm at Bossley; screening 9.15pm, The Capitol. $80 per person. Friday August 14.

Food & Film Express

If your festival schedule doesn’t quite line up with the featured pairings, Food & Film Express offers a more flexible way to dine during MIFF. Throughout the festival, Elio’s Place is serving a $55 lunch and dinner menu, while Bossley has a $45 dinner menu available each evening. Or head to Apollo Inn after your screening for a bespoke MIFF cocktail menu created exclusively for the festival – the perfect excuse to linger a little longer over post-film conversations.

Broadsheet is a proud media partner of MIFF.