The best pop-up and outdoor cinemas in Melbourne

A crowd of people sitting on picnic blankets at an outdoor cinema at sunset.

Pop-up cinema season is back! Check out these yearly events and brand new blockbuster experiences.

More of the best TV and film events in Melbourne

Visitors enjoying an evening event at the National Gallery of Victoria, seated on stools under shadowy lighting.
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NGV Friday Nights: Cartier

NGV Friday Nights shine with Cartier, featuring live music, flims, food and drinks.

Parents and child seated in cinema seats, parents holding large striped containers of popcorn, the child in the middle smiling up at the screen.
Until

Library Cinema at narrm ngarrgu

Each month, watch a movie on the big screen, including contemporary, classic and documentary films.

Liza Minelli and Joel Grey performing wearing 1930s vaudeville costume in a still from the movie Cabaret.

Capitol Theatre Orchestra followed by Cabaret Screening

Enjoy a performance of 1920s jazz before entering the decadent world of 1930s Berlin.

A group of people standing around and talking on a darkened stage, with others sitting and talking to a person in a wheelchair.
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Play: Melbourne Fringe Radical Access Movie Nights

Film screenings and panel discussions that embed accessibility at the core of creative process.

A man in 70s clothes holding the trunk of an elephant, another elephant and man behind.
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Focus on Frederick Wiseman

Celebrate the 62-year career of one of the great observers of modern life.

Still from a Japanese Anime movie showing a woman warrior with blood on her face, with the snarling face of a wolf behind her.
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Spotlight on Anime Heroines

A film season showing four decades of Japanese anime, with female protagonists at the centre.

A full orchestra on a stage in front of a large cinema screen showing a still from the movie Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Celebrate 25 years of The Fellowship of the Ring with Howard Shore’s score performed live.

A picture of a dolphin on the Big Screen at Fed Square, people gathered at the foot of the screen to watch, city buildings in the background.
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Outdoor Cinema: Feathers, Fins and Friendship

Catch beloved family-friendly adventure films about human and animal friendships, on the Big Screen.

Still from a film showing a man with a mustache and a brown jacket looking through a shop window.
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Matinees at ACMI Cinemas

Celebrate cinema at a sensible hour with ACMI's thoughtfully curated line-up of films.

Still from Love Actually, Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon waving awkwardly while snow falls.

Love Actually In Concert

The ultimate romantic comedy, with a live symphony orchestra.

A movie poster of Edward Scissorhands showing Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder in a garden setting.
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Edward Scissorhands in Concert

The MSO performs Danny Elfman's ethereal and emotive score live to picture.

A still image from a film showing a woman with her eyes closed and head back as ticker-tape rains down.
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Focus on Lynne Ramsay

A career-spanning season pairing Lynne Ramsay's most celebrated films and ones that inspired her.

On a film set with a crew member shooting stop motion figures.
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Lifelike

Lifelike is a major new exhibition celebrating the magic of movie puppetry in all its forms.

Pianist Mina Yu playing a grand piano while looking up at the ceiling, a single warm light cast down on her.

Korean Drama and Cinema Reimagined in Jazz

Love, destiny and iconic Korean soundtracks transformed with the Mina Yu Ensemble.

Last updated on Tue 6 Jan 2026

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